First Sunday of Advent
Theme: Hope, Advent, Christmas
Scripture: Jeremiah 17:7
Need: A wrapped gift box with candy inside (if possible, have one for each child)
Sermon
Today, we begin our four week celebration of Christmas, the birth of Jesus. You will notice that our Advent wreath has five candles. Each week a new candle is lit, and on Christmas day, the last candle is lit. Each candle helps us remember a certain word for that week. Today, we lit the first candle. This candle is the candle of hope. (Take out the gift box) Let’s pretend this box is a Christmas gift. If it was sitting under the tree, you might wonder what was in it. You might pick it up to see how heavy it is (do as you say), shake it to see if it makes any sound, turn it around and look at every side to get any kind of clue what is inside. You might begin to think about the things you asked for, and begin to hope that one of them is inside.
However, when we talk about hope at Christmastime, we are not talking about a wish, like when we think about what is in the box. Now, imagine, I told you that there was candy in the box. Now, you know what is in the box. You begin to look forward to opening the box and getting the candy. This is the hope of Christmas. Not a wish, but knowing something is coming. We know Jesus was born, and now, we look forward to the day he returns. In Jeremiah 17:7, we read about our hope –that is the trust– we have in God. (Have one of the older children read Jeremiah 17:7 or read it yourself).
Prayer
Dear God, we thank you for Jesus. We thank you for hope. Help us to trust you and your words found in the Bible. Amen.
Notes
I used the NLT for Jeremiah 17:7 because it used hope (instead of confidence) in the second phrase. The KJV or NKJV would also work well for this same reason.
For the gift boxes, I made origami Sonobe Cubes.