Advent Waiting

Monday December 17, 2007

*you will need a paper & pencil, and a Google Earth map of your neighborhood (move it to dec 19 after this lesson)

amos 9

The time is surely coming, says the Lord,
   when the one who plows will overtake the one who reaps,
   and the treader of grapes the one who sows the seed…

Make a list of all the things you ate today.  Where did they come from?  Who do you think planted and picked them?

I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
   and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
   and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
I will plant them upon their land,
   and they shall never again be plucked up
   out of the land that I have given them,
says the Lord your God.

Like bananas are best grown in places like Costa Rica or peanuts are best grown in Georgia God promises to plant you where you grow best. We’ve been planted in Capitol View in Atlanta, Georgia. Print out from Google Earth a map of where you live.  Look at the map and ask what else do you think Jesus is planting here? Put the map in the December 19th space.  I wonder how our neighborhood will grow to fit God’s promise?

Sunday December 16, 2007

*you need a bulb (paperwhite narcissus are the easiest to force, they do not have to be kept in dark or chilled before being potted) and glass and rocks to "force" winter bloom.  You also need paper and crayons for drawing.

isaiah 35:1-10

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
   the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly,
   and rejoice with joy and singing…
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
   the majesty of our God.

Strengthen the weak hands,
   and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
   ‘Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God…

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
   and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then the lame shall leap like a deer,
   and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
   and streams in the desert;
the burning sand shall become a pool,
   and the thirsty ground springs of water…

A highway shall be there,
   and it shall be called Holy Way highway;
the unclean shall not travel on it,
   but it shall be for God’s people;
   no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.

Have you ever been away from home for a long time and couldn’t wait to get back?
What do you miss from home when you are away?

The family of Israel was a long way from home and thought they would never get back. There didn’t seem to be any roads leading home.  God promises to make a highway home.  This is a poem of what it looks like on that highway home.

Let’s read it again and draw the promises God describes for the Holy Way Highway.

In Advent some people are still waiting for these promises to grow.  Plant this bulb and wait for it to bloom.  Let it remind you that we are all waiting for God’s promises to come true.  I wonder how Jesus will make that happen?

Tuesday December 4, 2007

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves. He said to them, ‘It is written,
“My house shall be called a house of prayer”;
   but you are making it a den of robbers.’

Ask: what things are happening in the temple that made Jesus upset?

The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that he did, and heard* the children crying out in the temple, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’ [Hurray it’s the hidden king of God’s house!] they became angry and said to him ‘Do you hear what these are saying?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Yes; have you never read,
“Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies
   you have prepared praise for yourself”?’

Ask: What things did the children see in the temple that told them God’s king was here?  Where are these things happening around you?  Thank God for these things.  The hidden king Jesus is just around the corner!

We got em hung

It took 'til midnight last night and still the numbers are not on every pocket.  but it was fun to have them up this morning and send eve on her erund.  She asked if the pockets had "mysteries" in them, so we went along and talked about the triumphal entry in terms of the mysterious appearance of the messiah.  Well, this week will be a hic-uppy start with me gone to denver monday night and in minneapolis thursday and friday night.  But we'll do our best, and keep you posted.

Monday December 3

* if you have toy kings/knights/princesses that you can put in the pocket this may get the idea across of “kingdom”

2 peter 1

God’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness, through the knowledge of God who called us by his own glory and goodness.

God is leaving clues for us to learn how to be God’s partner.

Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises… so that we can become participants in the divine nature.

We’re going to learn about God’s promises and how we are part of those promises.  Tell the story of Mary and how she heard from the angel about her participation in God keeping his promise.

Here’s more of that poem (continuation of 2 peter 1) from the Bible about being ready for God’s promises…

For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ… For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.

Talk about kings, Queens and kingdoms. Jesus is king, but during Advent, Jesus’ power is hidden.  Like people waiting for the king, we look for clues to finding and joining king Jesus.  These clues are usually promises.  What are some promises that you have been told?

Many of God’s promises have been written in the Bible for us to be ready to join king Jesus. Mary knew the promises in the Bible and was waiting for this king and she realized her part because she trusted God to give her clues.

a cool way to do advent boxes

Kelley found this link to Ali Edwards a DYI guru showing how to make various advent calendars.  This one's from Martha Stewart:

Sunday, Dec 2

*You might want to write a note to mail, so include stationary, pens, and stamps.

Parents read and paraphrase/retell verses 1-9 and read the bold (vs10) outloud.

Matthew 21:1-11
When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, “The Lord needs them.” And he will send them immediately.*’ This took place to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,
‘Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you,
   humble, and mounted on a donkey,
     and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,

Read what the crowds said:
‘Hosanna to the son of David [the king]!
   Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!’

When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, ‘Who is this?’

Recall as a family when your child has been sent to do something.  You may want to send your kid on an errand to begin this exercise.

In Advent we are waiting for the messenger sent by God, Jesus.  Jesus arrives on Christmas morning. As Jesus grew up more and more people would realize that he was sent from God.
Play the telephone game to talk about how we send messages. Or write a message to mail to a friend/family member. 

Discuss how scripture can also be a testimony or messenger and that you will read a message each day until Christmas that will give us more clues to what it means for Jesus to come on Christmas.

Down Load the whole season

Each day has a verse of scripture taken from the lectionary for 2007 (year A in the three year reading cycle of the church scheduled for these four weeks anticipating Christmas).  Each day has an activity or ritual tht you can do with your family.

click here to  Download combined_advent_2007.doc . Otherwise we'll post the next days a day ahead.  We'll also post pics of the things we make with our kids and invite you to email them to troy if you wanna have your pic posted.

Here's a pic of what we made last year, more to come...

Intro

Do-It-Yourself Advent for young families
This is a combined effort by three families for our kids who are ages 1-5. We wanted to teach them expectation around the coming of Jesus, and to join Christians around the world who are reading these same scriptures on these days of Advent.

What is Advent?
Advent has traditionally been considered the new year of the Christian calendar.  Maybe you remember an advent calendar as a kid, counting down the days to Christmas.  Well, Advent is all about expectation, but mostly about expecting the messianic age, the promised king who will restore God’s world.  Advent ties our here-and-now to God’s coming promised finished creation.  It helps us re-capture what Jesus’ birth must have meant to the people of Israel, to his families and disciples. Advent helps us to look again with compassion and hope on those in need of rescue.  For the families in Capitol View, Atlanta, it gives us eyes of compassion and hope toward our neighborhood’s prostitutes, drug addicts, and trashed foreclosed homes––not to mention our own addictions and despair.  Some times we think of heaven as a place in the clouds and “the end times” as an airlift out of a world “going to hell in a hand basket.”  But the kingdom promises of Jewish prophets, and of the king who came in a humble stable, reminds us of the importance of the here-and-now.  Jesus would teach over and over, look around, heaven is breaking through.  So, Advent moves our eyes out of our own problems or the impossibility of every day life up to the hills, to the horizon, ahead of us “from which our help comes.” 

Nuts and Bolts
Each family has a invented a type of Advent calendar–envelops, pockets, boxes, whatever– with the day of the month on it leading up to Christmas morning. Each day has a verse of scripture taken from the lectionary for 2007 (year A in the three year reading cycle of the church scheduled for these four weeks anticipating Christmas).  At the beginning of each day are the things you will need to place in each pocket or box or envelope for the day of expectation. Oh, you will need one nativity set to use specifically for this month starting on Sunday December 9th.  Then pieces of it will be put out from then on.  Place the baby Jesus of this nativity set in the December 25 pocket or put it out on Christmas Eve when your kids are sleeping. You also may want to read ahead and plan (such as on Dec 20 you’ll make or buy a Gift for Jesus that you’ll then consider giving to a thirsty or hungry person –it will be helpful to know ahead of time so you might buy the gift as a family on the weekend before).

Story Telling
Parents, read these stories and scriptures ahead of time so you can paraphrase them when it’s helpful. Also let the kids get into the story by luring them in, “do you want to know what happened next?” or, “we’ll tell the rest of the story tomorrow.” The point of the Christian Lectionary is to string together Bible stories in a way that tell the Big Story (which we celebrate in Advent as The Anticipated Coming King.)