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.