Worth Waiting For!

WORTH WAITING FOR!

CONNECT - for mid-week/Home League groups

Fellowship Session - Special Days

It's Christmas!

Summary

Create a reverse Advent calendar
Get creative with Christmas props and decorations
How can we share God's love and hope and light in our world?

Organise a group ‘reverse Advent calendar’: decorate a box or basket and ask members to donate items required by a local foodbank, women’s refuge or other local project
Invite a speaker from the organisation you are donating to (optional)
Prepare to share the preview video during the Bible thought Come thou long expected Jesus by The Skit Guys
Prepare a Nativity photobooth with a Christmassy backdrop, a camera or camera/phone and gather a supply of props, eg tea towels, crowns, angel wings …
Provide resources to make Christmas decorations, eg a selection of baubles, pencils, white, gold and silver markers, gel or paint pens
Cut out holly leaves and berries from green and red paper and provide writing pens and a glue stick
Organise some Christmas food and drinks to share

Online groups

Invite members to dress up as a Nativity character
Give members baubles and pens in advance or send a paper version
Give the holly leaves and berries to members in advance (optional)

PHOTOBOOTH

Create a Nativity photobooth. Provide an appropriate Christmas backdrop and props for members to dress up in and take photos/selfies before your session starts. If possible, share the photos on the big screen!

ONLINE GROUPS

Invite members to dress as a character from the Nativity story.

CRAFT

Make Christmas baubles. Using a pencil write Christmas words/messages on plain baubles, then use markers, gel or paint pens to colour the wording. Add some extra decoration. These could be given away as gifts to other people.

ONLINE GROUPS

Give members baubles and pens in advance or send a paper version

ADVENT CALENDAR

Organise a group ‘reverse Advent calendar’. Decorate a box or basket and ask members to donate items required by a local foodbank, women’s refuge or other local project in the days leading up to Christmas.

You could invite a representative recipient as a speaker, for now or at a future session, and learn more about the organisation and people you have helped.

DISCUSS

Find out what Advent means to your members.

What is Advent?
Who is good at waiting patiently?
How can we use the time of Advent?

FESTIVE FEAST

Enjoy festive food and drinks together!

Our experience of living through Advent for another year is so different from that of the people of Israel we read about in the Old Testament. We are so used to hearing these familiar two verses from Isaiah 9:6-7, but for the listeners of the day, they were still waiting for their Saviour to come!

‘For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders.

And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.

He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and for ever.

The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.’

(Isaiah 9:6-7)

Thousands of years elapsed between the creation of the nation of Israel and the birth of Jesus, and throughout this time people were waiting for the Messiah – the anointed one – to come and save the world.

VIDEO

Watch the preview video Come thou long expected Jesus and ask members to take note of some of the characters and events they might recognise from the Bible who were part of the story of God’s chosen people long before the coming of Jesus.

ONLINE GROUPS

Screenshare the video.

We are living more than 2,000 years since Christ’s coming. Every year the time of Advent reminds us that, as well as preparing and getting ready for another Christmas, we should prepare again for Jesus to come into our lives and change us for the better so that we share God’s love and hope and light in our world.

PRAYER

Invite members to write on the paper holly leaves the first names of people they want to pray for, situations they are concerned for, or prayers for themselves they are willing to share on the holly leaves. Combine the leaves and the berries to create a prayer holly wreath to display. Take a photo of the wreath and send it round to members so they can keep praying during the Advent season.