Year A, Advent 4, Children’s Sermon

Year A, Fourth Sunday of Advent

“Adoption”

Matthew 1:18-25

Object:  Gather at the manger scene and focus on Joseph.

Today, I want to talk with you about adoption.  You might know some children who are adopted.  They needed parents, and some very good adults did a wonderful thing to welcome children into their lives as a real part of their family.

Our sons are adopted.  Before we could adopt them, they had to live with us for a little while as foster kids.  They actually came to live with us one week before Christmas.  A few months later, it was time to adopt the boys as our sons.  We had to hire a lawyer and go to court so the boys could legally become our sons.  That was a busy and important day, and we were a little nervous because we had never done this before and we didn't know what would happen.

As part of the adoption, we decided to give our sons middle names which were names from our families, and they would share our last name, too.  During the adoption procedure in the courtroom, the judge got to the part where the new names would become the boys’ legal names.  She asked me, “I see you are changing the boys’ names?”  I said yes, and then she went on, “Starting with the oldest boy, please tell me their new names.”  I began to recite my sons’ new names—and then it caught me!  I was doing what all parents had done for ages.  I was naming my children, and on this particular occasion, I was telling the whole world they were mine—and their mother’s too, of course.  I have to tell you, that was a very amazing feeling.  I cried a little bit.  OK, I cried a lot.

In the story of Jesus’ birth in the gospel of Matthew, Joseph finds out that Mary is going to have a baby.  An angel tells Joseph that the child is not his, but is from the Holy Spirit.  Matthew tells us that Joseph was a righteous man, so he married Mary, and when the baby was born, he named the boy Jesus.  Now here’s something wonderful that we might not notice when we read this story every Christmas.  When Joseph named the baby, do you know what he did?  He adopted Jesus.  He gave him his name, and by doing so, he made a clear and loving choice to welcome Jesus into his life and into his family as his very own.

Joseph is a good example for us.  He looked a Jesus and said, “He is mine.”  Funny, Joseph adopted Jesus and that Child became the way through which God adopts all of us.  Through Jesus, God says to everyone, “You are mine.”  And now, it is important for us to respond to such good news.  God would love nothing more than for each of us to welcome Jesus into our lives as our very own, to see the Savior born in Bethlehem and say, “He is mine, too.” When we “adopt Jesus”, we find out that God did the very same thing for us a long, long time ago.  God made the clear and loving choice to welcome us as his very own children.

Dear God,

Thank you for loving us and claiming us as your family.  Bless us and bless our families as we celebrate how you chose us all to be your children.  It’s in the name of your Son, our Brother, we pray.  Amen.

Year A, Advent 4, Candle Lighting

Lighting of the Fourth Advent Candle

from Isaiah 7:10-16, Romans 1:1-7 and Luke 2:12

Reader 1:  Advent is a season of waiting and watching with anticipation and hope.

Reader 2:  It is a season of symbols, and we find them in evergreen trees and wreaths, in chrismons and candlelight. 

Reader 1:  We wait and watch for the coming of Christ.

Reader 2:  Every sign we see, whether from the deepest valley or the highest mountain peak, directs our attention to our Savior.

Reader 1:  “This will be a sign for you,” a holy messenger said, “You will find the child swaddled in cloth and lying in a manger.”

Reader 2:  Unto us is born a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

Reader 1:  He is the good news of God, promised by the prophets.

Reader 2:  The Son of David according to the flesh.  The Son of God with power, according to the Holy Spirit (Lights the fourth candle). Come let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Unison Prayer:  O Lord God of Hosts, your face has shined among us.  In Christ we are saved.  Through him we have received your grace.  For his name’s sake, we are sent out to live in faith and call others to come to faith.  Bless us to remember the gospel, that you call us to belong to Christ, being set apart through the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Year A, Advent 3, Children's Sermon

Year A, Third Sunday of Advent

“Waiting, Waiting, Waiting”

James 5:7-10

Objects: a calendar and some seeds or acorns

(Show the children a December calendar with large, red X’s through the preceding days.)

            Can you believe Christmas is only 10 days away?  The first two weeks of this month have flown by so fast!  We have been so busy, and December 25^th will be here before we know it!

            Looking at you, I don’t think you share the same feelings as I do.  I get the impression that some of you think 10 days is an awfully long time to have to wait.  You might be happier if Christmas were here already. 

            I have to agree with that, too.  It really is hard to wait.  We all, children and grownups alike, get excited about Christmas.  We can’t wait for it to be here.  Some of us can’t wait for presents, or the time with our families, or for special services at church.  This is a season in which we are filled with anticipation, and like the old song says, “We can hardly stand to wait. Please, Christmas, don’t be late.”

            Only 10 days?  Yes, it probably feels like forever.

            Here’s a word from the Bible for all of us who might have a hard time waiting.  In James 5, we are told to be patient.  It says, “Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord.”  We have to be patient, the Bible says so.

            This message in James goes on to encourage us, saying, “The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and late rains.  You also must be patient.  Strengthen you hearts for the coming of the Lord is near.”

            I have a pack of seeds here.  If I planted these seeds today, should I call everyone to come over tomorrow to eat a big feast from the crop that will come in?  Of course not!  It takes time, and we need to be patient.

            Everyone is anxious for Christmas to be here, but we need to be patient.  We need to wait, but that doesn’t mean we just sit around with nothing to do.  We can do good things while we wait.  James says “don’t grumble with one another” and “take the prophets”.  We know what “don’t grumble with one another” means, but what does “take the prophets” mean?  It means listen to what they had to say and follow their instructions.  Isaiah, for example, said, “Cease to do evil and learn to do good.”  While we are waiting, we can spend our time well, doing good things for others.  When we do this, we plant seeds of hope in other people’s lives, and they will spring up in peace, joy and love.  I can’t wait to see that happen!

Dear God,Give us patience as we wait.  We can’t wait to celebrate that Jesus has come.  While we do wait, give us faith.  Bless us to do good work as Jesus’ followers until he comes again.  We pray in his name.  Amen.

Year A, Advent 3, Candle Lighting

Lighting of the Third Advent Candle

from Isaiah 35:1-10, Psalm 146, Matthew 11:2-6, and Luke 1:46-47

Reader 1:  The joy of Advent is that Christ has come and Christ will come again.

Reader 2:  What God has done illuminates our hope and our anticipation for what God will do.

Reader 1:  Christ is our hope, and because of this, God’s past and God’s future contribute to the present.

Reader 2:  Christ has come and Christ will come again.  Currently, we live between his appearings.  How should we wait?  What does the Lord’s “one day” have to do with today?

Reader 1:  Isaiah spoke of a highway, but the path of righteousness is as much a present reality as it is an ideal for which we hope.

Reader 2:  We are redeemed, therefore our waiting involves us walking along God’s way.

Reader 1:  For as much as Christ enables us to do so, we find our happiness in God.

Reader 2:  We keep faith.

Reader 1:  In the name of the Lord we execute justice for the oppressed.

Reader 2:  We give food to the hungry.  We set prisoners free.

Reader 1:  We help the blind to see.  We lift up those who are bowed down.

Reader 2:  We look out for the needs of the stranger, and we uphold the orphan and the widow.

Reader 1:  We walk the Lord’s highway as living examples of the rule and reign of our God.

(Light the first three Advent candles.)

Reader 2:  Come let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Unison Prayer:  O God of everlasting joy, we celebrate that Christ has come.  We have no need to wait for another.  Even now, in the actions of your faithful people, we see glimpses and hear indications of your eternal glory.  In hope we declare Christ is coming again.  Therefore, our souls magnify you, our Lord, and our spirits rejoice in you, our Savior.  Amen.

Year A, Advent 2, Children's Sermon

Year A, Second Sunday of Advent

“Christmas Stumps?”

Isaiah 11:1-10

Object: gather around the Chrismon tree.

Have you decorated your Christmas stump yet?

A Christmas stump?  That really does sound silly!  We decorate Christmas trees; not Christmas stumps.

One of our Bible lessons today talks about a stump.  Isaiah tells us that a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse.  If we take a look at Jesus’ family tree, we learn that one of his ancestors was a man named Jesse.  Jesse was King David’s father.  When we read the Christmas story from the gospel of Luke, we learn that Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father, was “of the house and line of David”, and if we go one back generation from David, it takes us to his father Jesse.  We can see that Jesus was the shoot, the young branch, that grew from the stump of Jesse.

When we think about tree stumps, we might think about something that is dead.  The tree has been cut down and all that’s left is a stump.

On the other hand, when we think about trees, we think about life.  We decorate our homes and churches with evergreen trees.  They stay green all year round. They don’t lose their leaves in the fall.  They look alive in every season.  For Christians, the evergreen tree represents life—eternal life—the gift God sent Jesus to give us.

Jesus came to make a big difference in our lives.  Something alive and life giving has sprung up from something that was cut down and considered as good as dead.  Jesus even taught that he came to give us life, an abundant life at that.  That sounds like a flourishing, evergreen life.  When we welcome Jesus into our lives, we move from death to life.  We have God’s promise of eternal life.

Decorating stumps sounds like a silly idea, but today we thank God for the life of Jesus that sprang up and gave us all life.

Dear God,Thank you that you are the Lord of life.  You give us eternal life through Jesus.  Because of his life, we are able to live differently in our world.  Please bless us to show signs of his life in our own.  Bless us to be generous.  Bless us to care for others.  Bless us to love one another as much as Jesus loved us.  It is in his name we pray.  Amen.

Year A, Advent 2, Candle Lighting

Lighting of the Second Advent Candle

from Isaiah 11:1-10 and Romans 15:4-13

Reader 1:  Is there hope for our world?

Reader 2:  Well, of course, there is hope for our world.  Jesus is that hope, and he came to give hope to the whole world, not just part of the world. 

Reader 1:  He is our hope.  The spirit of the Lord rests on him.  He delights in reverence.  He works in favor of the needy and the meek.  He is dressed in righteousness and faithfulness.

Reader 2:  Jesus brings peace—unheard of, unimaginable peace.  The wolf will live with the lamb.  The leopard will lie down with the baby goat.  The calf and the lion will dwell together in peace.

Reader1:  For as much as that scene seems miraculous, why do we find it so hard to imagine peace in our time?

Reader 2:  Too often we resign to the fatalistic notion that real peace is impossible.  We have a hard time wrapping our minds around so many different people, whether by age, gender, nationality, race, culture or religion, celebrating a common bond of peace.  The world is far more complicated than the greeting cards we send with the picture of a vulnerable, little lamb cuddled up to a powerful lion—we believe that scene might actually happen.

Reader 1:  Is there hope for our world?

Reader 2:  Of course there is.  Jesus is our hope.  “A little child shall lead them.”

Reader 1:  Isaiah directs our attention to hope in the Child in the manger.

Reader 2:  And there is more.  Because of Christ, we can hope in every child.  Jesus taught us the kingdom belongs to them.

Reader 1:  For every grown up that means we must work to instill the hope of Christ in every girl and boy we meet.  The pathway to peace begins with how we welcome these little ones.

Reader 2:  We care for and provide for them.  We nurture them and teach them.  We talk with children, and more importantly, we listen to them.  In Christ, they are well equipped to be leaders who can proclaim his peace.  “A little child shall lead them”, and we would do well to follow their lead.

(At this point a child should come forward and light two candles in the Advent wreath.)

Child:  Come let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Unison Prayer:  Mighty God of peace, we bow our heads and give ourselves to be led by your Child the Christ that we might have hope.  Bless us to welcome children just as Christ welcomed us.  Bless us to welcome their uncomplicated, idealistic, beautiful, faithful leadership.  Fill us all with the joy and peace of believing so that with one voice the whole world will glorify you the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Year A, Advent 1, Children's Sermon

Year A, First Sunday of Advent

Children’s Sermon: “Where You Got Your Shoes”

Psalm 122

Object: shoes, a shoe box, a bag from a shoe store, or even point out the shoes the children are wearing.

            I have a friend (it was me) who went on a mission trip to New Orleans when he was in college.  He and his fellow missionaries met a man on a street in the French Quarter.  They had been warned to watch out for people who would play tricks on them.  The man presented them with a challenge, “I bet you a dollar that I can tell you where you got your shoes.  I can tell you the city, state and address where you got your shoes.”  This seemed impossible, so the students told him to go ahead, feeling strongly that there was no way this stranger would have any clue about where they were from or the shoe stores where they shopped.  The man replied, “You got your shoes on your feet, in New Orleans, Louisiana, on St. Peter Street near Jackson Square!”  They gave him a dollar.  They could not argue with him, because he was exactly right.  Their shoes were right there on their feet.

            Take a look at where we’ve got our shoes today.  We are inside a church building.  We are inside a sanctuary.  We are inside a place of worship.  Take a look around.  It’s the first Sunday of Advent.  The sanctuary is decorated with greenery, candles, purple cloth and symbols because we are celebrating the coming of Jesus Christ and living in hope that he is coming again.  Our shoes have brought us into a very special place today.

            The psalm (Psalm 122) for today begins by saying, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’  Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.”  This person had been invited to go to the temple in Jerusalem for an important time of worship.  When he set his feet—when he “got his shoes”—inside the temple, he was ready to spend time celebrating what God had done for him and for everyone.

Advent is a very special time of year.  We might say it is an important time for worship.  We are counting the days leading up to Christmas, and at the same time we make our days count because Jesus is coming again.  Perhaps these Sundays during Advent are times when we really need to be here in worship.  Maybe we can say to each other and to God, “Our feet are standing inside the Lord’s house, and we are glad to be here.”

Have you ever heard of the church building and the sanctuary being called “the Lord’s house”?  That is one way that we can honor God.  We can worship God and show respect to God by remembering that this place of worship is the Lord’s house.

But you know what?  Haven’t you also heard people say that God is everywhere?  Of course, you have!  Earlier in the Psalms we can read this verse, “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it (Psalm 24:1).”  That tells us the whole world is God’s house.  Wherever we go, God is there.  Wherever we are, we are in God’s presence.

Advent is about Jesus coming into the world.  He came to be God with us.  Because of Jesus, we always get to be in the presence of the God who sees us, knows us and loves us.  That is true, and that is something to celebrate no matter “where you got your shoes”!

Dear Lord,

It is good to be in your house as we worship together, but, God, it is good to be in your house wherever we are.  Please guide our feet as we walk through this season of Advent.  Bless each step we take that we would remember that you are there wherever we go.  We pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Year A, Advent 1, Candle Lighting

Lighting the First Advent Candle

From Psalm 122, Isaiah 2 and Romans 13

Reader 1:  Advent begins with a bidding prayer.  The worshiper is invited to come into God’s house. 

Reader 2:  The psalmist said he was glad to have been invited.  Certainly, once he arrived at the temple, he gave thanks for being able to be there in the place where God’s presence dwelled.  But there is more to his story than simply showing up, being there in body. 

Reader 1:  The prophet Isaiah preached that worship attendance and participating in the rituals would never be enough.  The people learned in the presence of God, and then they were further challenged to “walk in the light of the Lord.”

Reader 2:  Advent is about the coming of Christ.  We prepare to celebrate his first coming as these days lead toward Christmas, and this is our opportunity to be reminded that Christ will come again.

Reader 1:  There is more to the coming of Christ than simply his showing up in bodily form.  We describe the incarnation declaring, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  Because of Jesus, we are held to a higher standard.

Reader 2:  This is a season in which we could wonder, “What does the coming of Christ have to do with us?”  To rearrange the question offers its own challenge, “What do we have to do with the coming of Christ?”  The easy answers are salvation and witness.  We know what Christ has done for us and therefore we respond.

Reader 1:  We “lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” as the apostle Paul says.  We “walk in the light of the Lord”. 

Reader 2:  Walking in the light of the Lord turns swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. 

Reader 1:  Walking in the light of the Lord makes peace much more than an overused worship theme for one dedicated Sunday of Advent, but the peace of Christ is the redeemed focus in which we live and work. 

Reader 2:  Walking in the light of the Lord is not a passive experience, as if peace could be achieved through inactivity.  Through Christ the weapons of war and darkness have been transformed into valuable tools which must be used in order to make peace.

Reader 1:  Neither hope, peace, joy nor love have any meaning unless God’s people actually work for their reality. 

(Light the first candle in the Advent wreath.)

Reader 2:  Come let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Unison Prayer:  We pray for peace, O God, but as surely was our feet are within your house today, we pray that we would also walk for peace and work for peace.  Help us to live honorably, to seek the good of our neighbor in need, and through Christ, bless us to lay aside darkness and put on light.  We pray in the name of the One who has come to be our Light and our Salvation.  Amen.

Mama's Advent Sweater

Here's a short sketch for the First Sunday of Advent.  One key prop is Mama's purple Advent sweater complete with battery operated lights.
If you use this, I would love to see some pictures from your performance.
Enjoy.

Mama’s Advent Sweater

The scene opens on Mama sitting in her living room after a long weekend of entertaining most of her family.  She’s wearing a gaudy, purple sweater which is decorated with greenery, wreaths, trees, holly and chrismons.  The doorbell rings.  Mama opens the door to see her son Raymond coming for a holiday visit.

Mama: Oh, Raymond!  What a surprise!  So good to see you!

Raymond:  Happy Thanksgiving, Mama!

Mama: Thanksgiving was Thursday, son.  Now I know you had to go with your wife to visit her parents this year, but the Mayflower has sailed here, so let’s put that behind us and move on.

Raymond:  Thanks, Mama.  Uh… you got anything to eat?

Mama:  Nope.  We ate the last of the turkey this morning in some kind of a hash your brother dreamed up using the leftover dressing and green bean casserole.  But speaking of turkey, how is your father-in-law?

Raymond:  He’s fine, Mama, but let’s put that behind us and move on, OK?

Mama:  I’ll leave it alone if you can, son.

Raymond (noticing the sweater): Wow, Mama, that sure is some Christmas sweater!

Mama (offended): It is not a Christmas sweater.

Raymond: Yes it is.

Mama: No, it isn’t.

Raymond: Stop teasing, Mama.

Mama: I am not teasing.

Raymond: I don’t think I’ve ever seen a purple Christmas sweater.

Mama: It is not a Christmas sweater.

Raymond:  Sure it is.

Mama: No. It. Is. Not.

Raymond: How can you say that, Mama?  It’s got wreaths and holly and a tree… and I even see a few snowflakes—

Mama: Those are not snowflakes! They’re chrismons.

Rayond: Chris-whats?

Mama (pronouncing the word): ChriSSS-mAAAhns.  They’re symbols that teach us something about Jesus, and the same goes for the wreaths, the holly and the tree.

Raymond: Oh, Mama, couldn’t you just go with a nice, red “Reason for the Season” Christmas sweater like everyone else?

Mama:  Well, I’m not everyone else, and this is not a Christmas sweater—it’s an Advent sweater.

Raymond: Ad-what?

Mama:  Now why did I even blink at the notion that you’d know what Advent is—that church you go to?  Y’all probably sang a whole bunch of Christmas carols this morning, didn’t you?  I wouldn’t be surprised if you did “Here Comes Santa Claus” before the children’s sermon—

Raymond (offended): We did not sing “Here Comes Santa Claus” in church… (embarrassed) It was “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas”.

Mama: That’s the problem with folks.  They don’t know how to be patient.  They don’t know how to wait.  It won’t be long  before y’all start crankin’ up “Away in a Manger” as soon as you see a Christmas tree next to the candy corn display in Wal Mart in September.

Raymond:  Now, Mama, you’re exaggerating… I think…  besides, what’s waiting got to do with Christmas anyway?

Mama:  Advent!  Aaaad-veeent, son.

Raymond:  What’s Advent?

Mama:  In my church, we take the four weeks leading up to Christmas as a time to prepare and wait with 

hopeful expectation.

Raymond:  What are you waiting for?

Mama:  Well, Jesus, of course.

Raymond:  But Jesus already came, Mama.

Mama: Exactly!

Raymond:  Huh?

Mama:  The church year begins with this anticipation of the celebration of Christmas, but while we’re focusing on the first coming of Jesus, it’s a very good time to remember that Jesus is coming again.  That’s Advent.

Raymond:  But when do you celebrate Christmas?

Mama:  Why December 25, just like everyone else, unlike those heathens who want to sell you a nativity scene along with your back-to-school supplies.  Except, I guess, we do cheat a little.  We get very Christmassy on Christmas Eve, but I reckon that’s so the pastor can enjoy Christmas Day getting woken up by his children at 4:30 a.m. like the rest of us normal folks.

Raymond:  OK, Mama, so it’s Advent.  What’re you supposed to do during Advent?

Mama:  Get ready, of course.  You know, “prepare the way of the Lord”!

Raymond:  You mean Christmas shop and wrap presents?

Mama: No, you bozo!  It’s not about that!  If we’re taking this time to point ahead to when Jesus comes again, then we’re supposed to be getting ready for that.  Christmas day doesn’t catch anyone by surprise—it’s December 25^th just like it was last year.  By the way, what day is my birthday?

Raymond:  Uh…

Mama:  Exactly!

Raymond:  Could you get back to the Advent stuff?  Please?

Mama:  Sure.  So, we take the time while the whole world’s remembering the first coming of Jesus, and we look forward to the second coming—a little taking advantage of an opportune time.  It kind of makes you think, you know?

Raymond:  What do you mean?

Mama:  Well in the gospel of Matthew it says, “But about that day and hour, no one knows… therefore you also must be ready.”  Sometimes I worry Jesus might pop back in on us when I’m having “one of those days”.

Raymond:  You mean like when you start screaming at the people who wave you through the 4-way stop even though they were supposed to go first?

Mama:  Now, there are things even Jesus wouldn’t put up with—if it’s a tie the car to your right goes first.  How hard is that to remember?  You pull up to the stop signs at close to the same time, and for some reason it turns folks into complete idiots.  It’s a simple enough solution, but then they give you that little “come on” wave…

Raymond:  Mama, I believe you we’re filling me in on Advent and being ready?

Mama:  Oh, yes, of course.  Excuse me, Raymond.  Christians live in hope that Jesus is coming again, and that will be a glorious day, a day when God sets the world right.  But, you know it is also referred to as judgment day, don’t you?

Raymond:  You don’t want to get caught unprepared for that.

Mama:  Exactly, son.

Raymond:  So, what do you do to get ready?

Mama:  Well, I like what old Paul has to say about it.  Kind of poetic.  Here, read this (hands Raymond an open Bible).  Romans 13:11-12, read that for us.

Raymond: "Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep.  For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near.  Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light."

Mama:  Do you understand that?

Raymond:  Yes.  It’s like what Isaiah says in the Old Testament, “Cease to do evil; learn to do good.”  And John the Baptist told all those folks that repentance was about sharing, not being greedy, and making things right.  That sounds to me a lot like laying aside the works of darkness and putting on the armor of light.

Mama:  I think you've got it, son.

Raymond:  Mama?  Do you mind if I ask you one more Advent related question?

Mama: Shoot.

Raymond: What if Jesus comes back and catches you wearing that awful, purple sweater?

Mama:  To each his own, son.  Besides, I’m sure it separates me from the whole “Reason for the Season” crowd.  Oh, and speaking of putting on the armor of light… (Mama flips a switch under the sweater’s waistband and the whole thing lights up).