Lighting the
Advent Candles
Advent 2000
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|
| The First Sunday in
Advent |
|
After the candle
is
lit... |
| Voice
1 |
We light this first candle, remembering all God’s
people who wait in hope, trusting God’s word, “I will make a good,
Godly branch sprout from King David's family. He will do what is fair
and right.” |
 |
| Voice 2 |
But I want to ask “How can I be sure of this?”
These words are fine, but where is the proof, what reason is there to
be certain? |
| Voice 3 |
It’s not just the words, but who makes the
promise.
Our faith is in the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who says, “Heaven and earth will pass
away, but my words will never pass away.” |
| The
Second
Sunday in Advent |
|
After the candles
are lit... |
| Voice 1 |
We light this second
candle, remembering God speaks to us through ‘A voice of one calling in
the desert, “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.
And humanity will see God’s salvation.’” |
 |
| Voice 2 |
But like Mary, we
ask,
“How will this be?” The things God promises seem
impossible in our selfish world! Why
can we trust His word? |
| Voice 3 |
“God chose the foolish things of the world to
shame
the wise; He chose the weak things to shame the strong.” by His word
“He
has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the
humble.” |
| The Third
Sunday in Advent |
|
After the candles
are lit... |
| Voice 1 |
We light this third
candle, remembering John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin. His father,
speechless until his birth, his mother, nursing a baby in old age.
God’s thoughts and ways, are not our thoughts and ways. |
 |
| Voice 2 |
Everyone asked, “What then is this child going to
be?” When he was fully grown the crowd asked “What should we do then?”
to his
message calling people back to the Lord and His ways. |
| Voice 3 |
Like John, we learn to do what is right in God’s
eyes and trust God’s promise
though him that “I baptise you with water. But Jesus will baptise you
with the Holy Spirit and
with fire.” |
| The
Fourth
Sunday in Advent |
|
After the candles
are lit... |
| Voice 1 |
We light this fourth
candle, remembering God provided Jesus with a mother and earthly
father, from great King David’s family. God says, “from you, Bethlehem,
will come one who
will rule Israel for me.” |
 |
| Voice 2 |
But what will occur and when will it happen? How
can it be and who will know
first? I have so many questions I need to ask before I can be sure that
I can believe any of this. |
| Voice 3 |
God’s messenger, an angel, appeared to Mary and
Joseph, saying, “Do not be afraid - the holy one to be born will be
called the
Son of God.” Terrified shepherds were the first to learn the
news;
again an angel told them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of
great
joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a
Saviour
has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to
you:
You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” |
| Christmas
Day |
|
After the candles
are lit... |
| Voice 1 |
“The people walking
in
darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land
of the shadow of death a light has
dawned. We light this final candle to celebrate the birth of
Jesus, God’s Son. |
 |
| Voice 2 |
Yes! But when and where does all this become true
and more than a story? Why should God bother? What have I done to
deserve it? Who can tell me the facts? How can I know Him for myself? |
| Voice 3 |
Once, when Caesar Augustus was emperor, Jesus was
born in Bethlehem the town
of David. Now, when you put your trust in the child in manger who
became the man on the cross. The Lord knows that all people sin and are
far from God’s glory. He longs for you to invite Jesus to be your focus
this Christmas. Then, “the grace of God that brings salvation and has
appeared to all people” will yours, too. |
| The material is
designed to work equally well with following the traditional Advent
pattern recalling aspects of Advent preparation, with the Revised
Common Lectionary readings for “Year
C” and the 2000 Scripture Union SALT
notes themes.
All liturgy copyright © David Miller /Anlaby Park Methodist Church , November 2000.
All Rights Reserved. There is no fee for reproducing
this material, but please do not reproduce
without seeking permission .
Also
available in WordPerfect , RTF
and ASCII formats
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to Advent resources |