Welcome
Bring your family’s advent wreath to the center of your gathering. Make sure you have matches or a lighter.
One: Our first week we lit the Advent candle that reminded us of God’s promises during this special season.
(light the candle from the first week)
Our second week we lit the Advent candle that invited us to proclaim the coming of Jesus.
(light the candle from the second week)
Our third week we lit the Advent candle that invited us to praise God for the coming of Jesus our Messiah, Savior and…
(light the candle for the third week)
Our fourth week we lit the Advent calendar that invited us to rejoice in knowing
All: Emmanuel, God with us.
(light the candle from the fourth week)
One: Our circle reminds us of God’s unending love and presence.
All: Emmanuel, God with us.
One: The evergreens to remind us the hope we find in Jesus is eternal.
All: Emmanuel, God with us.
One: The four candles mark the four weeks of joy and anticipation as we ready our hearts and lives for the babe in the manger and the coming of Christ again.
All: Emmanuel, God with us.
One: The candles remind us that Jesus is the light of the world.
All: Emmanuel, God with us.
One: Four candles are blue or purple as a reminder to prepare for Jesus’ coming.
All: Emmanuel, God with us.
One: One candle is white, in the center of our wreath, a symbol for the purity of Jesus
All: Emmanuel, God with us.
One: Tonight, we light the center candle and give thanks for the love of God made known to us in
All: Emmanuel, God with us.
(light the center candle)
God sightings and prayer offerings
Invite each person to share where they saw or experienced God this week. Invite each person to share something – a person, community, experience, event, etc. – for which they want to offer prayer.
Good and gracious God, we thank you for all the ways you were and are present in our lives and in the world … [Invite each person to say aloud the sighting they named earlier.] We bring our prayers to you, prayers for … [Invite each person to say aloud the prayer need they named earlier.]. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Connecting with Scripture — John 1:(1-9), 10-18
Read the scripture aloud the first time using the New Revised Standard Version or the Common English Bible.
For the second reading of the text, invite those gathered to listen for the ways in which we can live like the Christ child lived.
As you listen to the scripture read a second time, make a list of all the things God does – all the ways in which God acts in this passage.
Connecting through story
Read Sally Lloyd Jones’s children’s book The Song of the Stars.
- What are the stars announcing that has creation and creatures so excited?
- What is the light that comes into the world according to the story?
Connecting with our Lives
Engage in dialogue
- What purpose do words serve and why are they important?
- Why do you think John would refer to Jesus as the Word of God?
- What words would you use for God and Jesus?
- What is the significance of Jesus being present at creation?
- Why do you think God became human (became flesh) and came to live among us?
- What did it teach God about humanity?
- What did it teach humanity about God?
- Why does John refer to Jesus as the light of the world?
- What is the darkness where the light of Jesus needs to shine?
- In what ways do you walk in the light of God?
- In what ways do you join Jesus and shine a light in the world?
Teaching Points that can be incorporated into your discussion
- The first verses of the Gospel of John are often called his “prologue.” John does not include the story of Jesus’ birth; however, the first eighteen verses are a theological creed that sets the stage for the rest of the gospel. Jesus is not simply a baby born into the world who will do great things, but he is the physical embodiment of God (incarnation) and who was present with God at the beginning of creation.
- John refers to Jesus as “the Word,” which in Greek is “logos.” Biblically and theologically, it means the Word of God although it can also mean “speech,” “thought” or the regular meaning of “word.”
- The concept of God’s Word or the Word of God is not new in the Judeo-Christian faith as it also appears in the Old Testament. The incarnation of the Word in Jesus is new.
- John wants Christians to understand that Jesus existed in and with God from the very beginning, participated in creation and should be glorified and honored as one would do with God.
- The poetry of these opening verses invites the reader to immediately connect with the opening verses of Genesis…“in the beginning,” and connect it with Jesus as a new beginning for the world.
- The connection to Genesis is also present in the correlation of God’s creation of light and darkness and Jesus as the eternal light that comes into the world and illuminates every darkness.
- This light does not simply shine from above the world as stars do but this light became flesh, became human, and lived among us as one of us…in other words, Jesus moved into the neighborhood, lives in our community and invites us to live in the light of God. By living among us, walking with us, experiencing life the way we as humans experience it, God’s compassion and care became even stronger.
- The Christ child’s advent into the world, his life, death and resurrection is as radical a reorientation for the world as the original creation event. Jesus comes to redeem humanity and to light our way to faithfulness. This is no ordinary baby nor birth – this is the new creation for every single person for all of time. This, John tells us, is grace. Grace upon grace. What a gift beyond measure.
Sing along with traditional South African song, translated into English, “Siyahamba” (We are Marching in the Light of God.) You can find it on page 853 in the Glory to God hymnal.
Prayer
Close your time together by praying for one another, your neighbor, community and the world.
