Advent Week 1: HOPE

Advent comes from the Latin word “adventus” meaning coming.  During the season of Advent, we prepare and wait with hope to celebrate Jesus’ birth at Christmas. Advent can be a season where we open our hearts to the presence of God.

 As we sing in “Silent Night,” Jesus is “Son of God, Love’s pure light.”  We are people of the light, who are called to share the light of Christ out into the world. Through our small acts of service, love, and care, we bring the light of Christ to give hope to the hopeless.

The prophet Isaiah writes:

Thus says God, the Lord,
    who created the heavens and stretched them out,
    who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
    and spirit to those who walk in it:
⁶ I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;
    I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
    a light to the nations,
⁷     to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
    from the prison those who sit in darkness.  (Isaiah 42:5-7).

In many churches, lighting a candle on an Advent wreath is an important part of Advent services. The wreath is a circle, because God’s love for us is forever. The greenery symbolizes life. Each week we light a candle to remind us of the hope, peace, joy, and love that God gifts us.

Prayer: God of Hope, fill me with your hope, that I may share your light of hope this Advent season. Give me the courage to respond to your call, and open my eyes and hearts to the people you place in my path. Amen.

Activity: Create an Advent Wreath. As you create it and use it this season, know that you are one of God’s beloved children.

1. Make with materials you already have:

5 Vases and colored ornaments – 3 purple (or blue), one pink, one white

Candles -3 purple (or blue), one pink, one white

Use an Advent wreath you already have

• Cardboard Tube Advent Wreath

Cardboard Tube Advent Wreath

Materials:

1 paper plate

1 sheet of green construction paper, 1 1/4 sheet of white and pink, 1 sheet of blue or purple

3 empty paper towel tubes cut in half  OR 5 empty toilet paper tubes.

5 strips of yellow tissue paper

Scissors

Glue

1. Cut out the center of the paper plate to make a ring/wreath.
2. Use the green construction paper to cover the wreath. (Extra: trace handprint and glue hands on paper plate.)
3. Cover three tubes with blue or purple paper.
4. Cover one tube with pink paper.
5. Cover one tube with white paper.
6. Place the 3 purple and 1 pink tube on the wreath.  Place the white tube in the center.
7. Each week use a strip of tissue paper to “light” your candle. Week 3 is the pink, and the white is lit on Christmas Eve or Day.

Advent Candle Lighting at Home Liturgy

Read: Jeremiah 33:14-16 – The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.  In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.  In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety.  And this is the name by which it will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”

Light the first candle, the candle of hope.

Reflect: Having hope is not being overly positive that everything will turn out all right. Nor is it just a wish list of what we want to receive this Christmas. Hope comes from our trust in God. Whenever I am overwhelmed with all the problems around the world, I remind myself that God is near. I look for the ways I see God at work in, around, and through others. I see the way people bring those who cannot drive to church. I feel the compassion from a friend when I am having a tough day. I listen for stories of human goodness, both locally and globally.  All that gives me hope. Christmas comes during the darker times, shorter days, in the Northern hemisphere.  Amid all the darkness, both literally and figuratively, we prepare to celebrate that Jesus is the Light of the World.

Pray: God of hope, you are steadfast and remain with us. Help us to turn to you in our moments of sadness. Fill us with your spirit so that we are not only hopeful, but ready and willing to do the work to make our hopes a reality. Prepare our hearts this Advent to receive the gift of Jesus. Fill us with your light of hope. Amen.