Advent Event on Sunday: Joy to the World!
This Sunday, from 4-6pm, we invite you to a free event, with food, singing, crafts, Christmas decorating and more, in our Fellowship Hall.
This year, our event features traditions from around the world--you are encouraged to bring a snack or dessert from your own tradition/culture to share. We will also have soup to share.
The free crafts are fun for people of all ages--making gingerbread houses is always a favorite!
This year, here are some service options: help decorate the church for the holiday, or help pack care packages for our college students.
Besides the beautiful handmade fair-trade gifts from Ten Thousand Villages that will be for sale, you can make gift donations to ministries like Shared Bread as a different way of giving at Christmas.
Our youth band will lead some carols, and Pastor Molly will read a Christmas story.
It's not too late to sign up to help with the event, and we're also looking for people to bring supplies for the gingerbread houses. (Please bring them by Sunday morning.) We hope you'll join us--bring friends!
Free Advent Devotional!
We prepared a free devotional for you to use at home this season--find it online or download and print it. There's a page in the devotional for each week, plus a page for drawing and creating; every day, we will upload an inspiring story, too.
Joy
building Love
singing Peace
preparing
growing
hope
making Christmas meaningful
An Invitation to Make Things This Advent
There are many things I love about all the activity and festivity that comes with Advent!
I love giving gifts and planning parties, twinkling lights and familiar carols. Sometimes, though, it seems like it distracts my prayer life, and I have trouble connecting to the powerful message God is speaking in Christmas.
This year, I want to invite you to come with me on a journey to try to make all this season of busyness even more meaningful. Not just lovely, but life-changing. Not a burden of obligations, but a life-giving invitation to be a part of what God is doing.
Because I love all the energy of planning and preparing for Christmas, this year I invite
you to join me in the work of preparing for Christ’s coming. I believe we can use all the
activities of the season for something more than a Christmas party; I believe we can use it to help make the world ready for the coming of Christ’s kingdom.
Advent as a Christian practice has long been a season in tension with our culture: it
speaks of longing, of patience and of waiting. For four weeks, we light candles on dark nights to remind us of God’s promise, which brings hope, peace, joy and love into our broken world.
Each week during Advent, this devotional invites you to focus on one activity word
(growing, preparing, building, singing) that gives us real ways to use our time and
energy to help show mercy, share love and work for justice. I hope you will use it at
home, on your own or with your family, as a way of focusing yourself on Christ’s coming.
You will find a page of reading and conversation for each week of Advent. Please adapt it to what works for you. We will post additional stories that relate to the themes on our Facebook page every day--follow us at facebook.com/beachfaith. At the end of each
week’s devotional is a prayer to say as you light candles in your Advent wreath. The first week, light just one candle; each week, add one more candle’s light until your whole wreath is glowing at Christmas. There is also a page for drawing with each week’s devotional.
I encourage you to post your drawings to our Facebook page or tag us on Instagram:
#beachfaithchurch[Pastor Molly Vetter]
These resources are also available online: www.beachfaith.com/Advent
growing
hope
Advent 1: Growing Hope
for the week beginning November 27
Scripture
He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.[Isaiah 2:4]
Reflection
Planting a garden is hard work--it can include preparing and enriching the soil,
digging holes, planting, covering and watering. When you plant seeds, you have to
wait for them to grow. Advent is a time for that kind of waiting. Planting seeds is not
nearly as immediately satisfying as buying things full-grown; it requires trust and
hope.
The slow-growing work of gardening, though, leads to something incredible:
nourishing food, delicious fruit, and beautiful flowers. Our scripture for this week talks about God’s vision for the world, when the quick-working tools of violence (like the sword and spear) are turned into tools for farmers (like ploughs and pruners).
-Have you ever planted a garden? Or visited one? Tell about a garden memory.
-In what other ways are swords and spears different from ploughs and pruners?
-What modern-day tools might you add to either list?
-Go for a walk. Observe what is growing, looking for plants you hadn’t seen before.
Stories to Inspire Us
We will share stories every day on Facebook: www.facebook.com/beachfaith
Read about turning guns into garden tools, refugees growing their own food, & more
Prayer for Lighting Your Advent Candles
Hope, like a seed buried deep within the earth; hidden covered by layers, disappointment, struggle, pain; buried yet stretching, growing and becoming.
Hope like a seed becoming new life. we light a candle for hope.(prayer by Katherine Hawker, found on www.liturgyoutside.net)
Draw a picture of a beautiful garden--what plants and flowers would you grow?
Peace
preparing
Advent 2: Preparing Peace
for the week beginning December 4
Scripture
The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.[Isaiah 11:6-7]
Reflection
There are so many delicious things to make and eat at Christmas time! More than any other season, people make food to share with others. We sometimes use the metaphor of “breaking bread” together to describe eating together--and we believe that sharing meals with others is not so very different from what happens when we share Christ’s grace at the communion table in broken bread and a shared cup. Isaiah the prophet described a vision of a wildly new, beautiful world--where wolves and lambs live together in peace, and cows, bears and lions all eat grass together. It’s strange to imagine how this works--it certainly requires a change of diet for wolves and lions and bears! It reminds us that God is doing a new thing!
-Share a favorite memory of a holiday food. Who made it or taught you to make it?
-Thinking about wolves and lambs, come up with a list of people who fear for their
safety in communities around the world. What would it take for them to be safe?
-Make a loaf of banana bread from too-ripe fruit and share it with a neighbor you
don’t know well.
Stories to Inspire Us
We will share stories every day on Facebook: www.facebook.com/beachfaith
Read about sharing communion through the border fence, redemptive jam making
and more!
Prayer for Lighting Your Advent Candles
As we prepare for Christmas, Let us make space at the table for everyone. Give us grace to change our plans So we can be a part of what you’re doing Here, and everywhere.
We light a candle for peace. Fill this table with a delicious feast, to share with everyone.
Advent 3: Building Joy
for the week beginning December 11
Scripture
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.[Isaiah 35:10]
Joy
building
Reflection
To help get people ready for Jesus, John the Baptist preached a stirring message of change. Quoting the prophet Isaiah, he told people to “Prepare the way of the Lord.”
This getting ready for Christ’s coming requires a building project! The imagined
highway that we build, according to Isaiah, makes way for the safe return of all of
God’s family.
In a small way, the things that people enjoy building and making as holiday crafts
and gifts are a symbol of this same spirit: we make and share them with the hope
that they will offer safety, that they will strengthen our connection to each other
(even when we are absent), and that they will bring joy.
-What is a favorite handmade gift that you’ve received? What do you like to make?
-Search out a story about someone who is a refugee. Include them in your prayers.
-Look in your recycle bin or trashcan, and see if you can make something out
of things you’ve discarded. One idea: make a paper chain decoration out of
advertisements from the mail or newspaper.
Stories to Inspire Us
We will share stories every day on Facebook: www.facebook.com/beachfaith
Read about building houses, welcoming refugees, radical recycling and more!
Prayer for Lighting Your Advent Candles
Joy is found in the moment when the tables turn and the veil of denial is lifted displaying vulnerability and fear, colliding with hope and promise, mingling together.
a tingle growing warm, lurching forward is joy.
We light a candle for joy.(prayer by Katherine Hawker, found on www.liturgyoutside.net)
Draw a map of an amazing city. What kinds of buildings and spaces are in it?
Love
singing
Advent 4: Singing Love
for the week beginning December 18
Scripture
And suddenly there was with the angel a
multitude of the heavenly host, praising
God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!’[Luke 2:13-14]
Reflection
There’s something powerful about singing--it transforms what we say, affecting our whole bodies and adding incredible power and beauty. There’s something even more powerful about singing together with others. Whether at a rock concert or in worship, it creates a unity among people.
The Christmas story includes description of a heavenly choir that appeared to shepherds as they announced Jesus’ birth, singing together in praise to God. At that moment, it is as if all of earth and heaven are singing one song: a song of glory. They sing not because all the struggle is over, but because God’s glory is present in the very midst of the world (in the fragile, precious form of a newbory baby).
-What is your favorite Christmas song? Why? Where did you learn it?
-What do you think the angel choir sounded like? Do you think anyone sang along?
What do you imagine the shepherds were thinking?
-Go Christmas Caroling--find a small group of people and go visit the home of someone who’s been going through a tough time, who is homebound, or who you don’t know well.
Stories to Inspire Us
We will share stories every day on Facebook: www.facebook.com/beachfaith
Read about people who sang in unlikely times, stories of Christmas Carols & more!
Prayer for Lighting Your Advent Candles
Dear God,
This Advent, grant us the courage to share your love: Love for the unexpected challenge, Love for the vulnerable one. Love for the presence of God. We light a candle for love. Amen.(adapted from a prayer by Katherine Hawker, found on www.liturgyoutside.net)
Listen to a favorite Christmas song, and draw a picture while it plays.
Christmas: Sharing Grace
for the week beginning December 25
Scripture
And the Word became flesh and lived among
us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as
of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
[John 1:14
Reflection
Christmas celebrates the radical love of God, who dared to become human as an affirmation of the gift and blessing of life that we share. In Christ’s birth, God moves into the world to be with us. God is not some distant, abstract force, but a visible, tangible, embodied love. We celebrate Christmas each year when the nights are long, to remind us that God arrives in the world in the very midst of brokenness. A fragile baby, he was born to migrant parents living under the power of the Roman empire, laid in a manger and celebrated by shepherds, angels and magi.
We are invited to celebrate Jesus’ birth by living out grace, wherever we are, with
unexpected and unusual partners. If Jesus could come into the world in such difficult
circumstances, surely we can find the courage and vision to share the gift of God’s
unconditional love here, too. We sometimes name of gift of God’s love as grace:
it comes to us because of who God is, not because of who we are or what we
deserve. It’s a free gift. It affirms that God is with us, and loves us. All of us.
-Read the Christmas story in Luke 1:1-2:20.
Luke 1:1 Dear Theophilos:
Concerning the matters that have taken place among us, many people have undertaken to draw up accounts 2 based on what was handed down to us by those who from the start were eyewitnesses and proclaimers of the message. 3 Therefore, Your Excellency, since I have carefully investigated all these things from the beginning, it seemed good to me that I too should write you an accurate and ordered narrative, 4 so that you might know how well-founded are the things about which you have been taught.
5 In the days of Herod, King of Y’hudah, there was a cohen named Z’kharyah who belonged to the Aviyah division. His wife was a descendant of Aharon, and her name was Elisheva. 6 Both of them were righteous before God, observing all the mitzvot and ordinances of Adonai blamelessly. 7 But they had no children, because Elisheva was barren; and they were both well along in years.
8 One time, when Z’kharyah was fulfilling his duties as cohen during his division’s period of service before God, 9 he was chosen by lot (according to the custom among the cohanim) to enter the Temple and burn incense. 10 All the people were outside, praying, at the time of the incense burning, 11 when there appeared to him an angel of Adonai standing to the right of the incense altar. 12 Z’kharyah was startled and terrified at the sight. 13 But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Z’kharyah; because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elisheva will bear you a son, and you are to name him Yochanan. 14 He will be a joy and a delight to you, and many people will rejoice when he is born, 15 for he will be great in the sight of Adonai. He is never to drink wine or other liquor, and he will be filled with the Ruach HaKodesh even from his mother’s womb. 16 He will turn many of the people of Isra’el to Adonai their God. 17 He will go out ahead of Adonai in the spirit and power of Eliyahu to turn the hearts of fathers to their children[Luke 1:17 Malachi 3:23–24(4:5–6)
] and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready for Adonai a people prepared.”
18 Z’kharyah said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? For I am an old man; my wife too is well on in years.” 19 “I am Gavri’el,” the angel answered him, “and I stand in the presence of God. I was sent to speak to you, to give you this good news. 20 Now, because you didn’t believe what I said, which will be fulfilled when the time comes, you will be silent, unable to speak until the day these things take place.”
21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Z’kharyah; they were surprised at his taking so long in the Temple. 22 But when he came out unable to talk to them, they realized that he had seen a vision in the Temple; speechless, he communicated to them with signs.
23 When his period of his Temple service was over, he returned home. 24 Following this, Elisheva his wife conceived, and she remained five months in seclusion, saying, 25 “Adonai has done this for me; he has shown me favor at this time, so as to remove my public disgrace.”
26 In the sixth month, the angel Gavri’el was sent by God to a city in the Galil called Natzeret, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man named Yosef, of the house of David; the virgin’s name was Miryam. 28 Approaching her, the angel said, “Shalom, favored lady! Adonai is with you!” 29 She was deeply troubled by his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Miryam, for you have found favor with God. 31 Look! You will become pregnant, you will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Yeshua. 32 He will be great, he will be called Son of Ha‘Elyon. Adonai, God, will give him the throne of his forefather David; 33 and he will rule the House of Ya‘akov forever — there will be no end to his Kingdom.” 34 “How can this be,” asked Miryam of the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered her,
“The Ruach HaKodesh will come over you,
the power of Ha‘Elyon will cover you.
Therefore the holy child born to you
will be called the Son of God.
36 “You have a relative, Elisheva, who is an old woman; and everyone says she is barren. But she has conceived a son and is six months pregnant! 37 For with God, nothing is impossible.” 38 Miryam said, “I am the servant of Adonai; may it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
39 Without delay, Miryam set out and hurried to the town in the hill country of Y’hudah 40 where Z’kharyah lived, entered his house and greeted Elisheva. 41 When Elisheva heard Miryam’s greeting, the baby in her womb stirred. Elisheva was filled with the Ruach HaKodesh 42 and spoke up in a loud voice,
“How blessed are you among women!
And how blessed is the child in your womb!
43 “But who am I, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For as soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy! 45 Indeed you are blessed, because you have trusted that the promise Adonai has made to you will be fulfilled.”
46 Then Miryam said,
“My soul magnifies Adonai;
47 and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior,
48 who has taken notice of his servant-girl
in her humble position.[Luke 1:48 1 Samuel 1:11; 2:1]
For — imagine it! — from now on, all generations will call me blessed!
49 “The Mighty One has done great things for me!
Indeed, his name is holy; 50 and in every generation
he has mercy on those who fear him.[Luke 1:50 Psalms 103:17; 111:9]
51 “He has performed mighty deeds with his arm,
routed the secretly proud,
52 brought down rulers from their thrones,
raised up the humble,
53 filled the hungry with good things,
but sent the rich away empty.
54 “He has taken the part of his servant Isra’el,
mindful of the mercy
55 which he promised to our fathers,
to Avraham and his seed forever.”
56 Miryam stayed with Elisheva for about three months and then returned home.
57 The time arrived for Elisheva to have her baby, and she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard how good Adonai had been to her, and they rejoiced with her.
59 On the eighth day, they came to do the child’s b’rit-milah. They were about to name him Z’kharyah, after his father, 60 when his mother spoke up and said, “No, he is to be called Yochanan.” 61 They said to her, “None of your relatives has that name,” 62 and they made signs to his father to find out what he wanted him called. 63 He motioned for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s surprise he wrote, “His name is Yochanan.” 64 At that moment, his power of speech returned, and his first words were a b’rakhah to God. 65 All their neighbors were awestruck; and throughout the hill country of Y’hudah, people talked about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard of them said to himself, “What is this child going to be?” For clearly the hand of Adonai was with him.
67 His father Z’kharyah was filled with the Ruach HaKodesh and spoke this prophecy:
68 “Praised be Adonai, the God of Isra’el,[Luke 1:68 Psalms 41:14(13); 72:18; 106:48]
because he has visited and made a ransom to liberate his people
69 by raising up for us a mighty Deliverer
who is a descendant of his servant David.
70 It is just as he has spoken
through the mouth of the prophets from the very beginning —
71 that we should be delivered from our enemies
and from the power of all who hate us.
72 “This has happened so that he might show
the mercy promised to our fathers —
that he would remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath he swore before Avraham avinu
74 to grant us that we, freed from our enemies,
would serve him without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness
before him all our days.
76 You, child, will be called a prophet of Ha‘Elyon;
you will go before the Lord to prepare his way[Luke 1:76 Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 40:3]
77 by spreading the knowledge among his people
that deliverance comes by having sins forgiven
78 through our God’s most tender mercy,
which causes the Sunrise to visit us from Heaven,
79 to shine on those in darkness, living in the shadow of death,[Luke 1:79 Isaiah 9:1(2)]
and to guide our feet into the paths of peace.”
80 The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he lived in the wilderness until the time came for him to appear in public to Isra’el.
2:1 Around this time, Emperor Augustus issued an order for a census to be taken throughout the Empire. 2 This registration, the first of its kind, took place when Quirinius was governing in Syria. 3 Everyone went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 So Yosef, because he was a descendant of David, went up from the town of Natzeret in the Galil to the town of David, called Beit-Lechem, in Y’hudah, 5 to be registered, with Miryam, to whom he was engaged, and who was pregnant. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth; 7 and she gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him in cloth and laid him down in a feeding trough, because there was no space for them in the living-quarters.
8 In the countryside nearby were some shepherds spending the night in the fields, guarding their flocks, 9 when an angel of Adonai appeared to them, and the Sh’khinah of Adonai shone around them. They were terrified; 10 but the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, because I am here announcing to you Good News that will bring great joy to all the people. 11 This very day, in the town of David, there was born for you a Deliverer who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 Here is how you will know: you will find a baby wrapped in cloth and lying in a feeding trough.” 13 Suddenly, along with the angel was a vast army from heaven praising God:
14 “In the highest heaven, glory to God!
And on earth, peace among people of good will!”
15 No sooner had the angels left them and gone back into heaven than the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go over to Beit-Lechem and see this thing that has happened, that Adonai has told us about.” 16 Hurrying off, they came and found Miryam and Yosef, and the baby lying in the feeding trough. 17 Upon seeing this, they made known what they had been told about this child; 18 and all who heard were amazed by what the shepherds said to them. 19 Miryam treasured all these things and kept mulling them over in her heart. 20 Meanwhile, the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen; it had been just as they had been told.
What were some of the challenges that
Mary, Joseph and Jesus faced?
-Think of someone who you have lost touch with or who might be lonely--call them,
or send a card, letting them know you are thinking of them.
GRACE
sharing
Draw a Christmas nativity scene, if Jesus had been born today. Who do you think would come see him?
Join us at church this Advent!
Sunday, November 27: Pick up your devotionals and supplies for a home Advent wreath at church! Worship with us at 8:30am and 10:30am.
Sunday, December 4: Worship with us at 8:30am and 10:30am. Join us for our All-in-One Advent Fun Event, from 4-6pm in Fellowship Hall. This year’s theme is “Joy to the World,” and our celebration is going global!
All are welcome to this free event, with crafts, songs, and Fair Trade Gifts to purchase from Ten Thousand Villages. Soup is provided--you are invited to bring a snack or dessert from your own culture’s tradition.
Sunday, December 11: Worship with us at 8:30am and 10:30am.
During the 10:30 service, our Chidlren’s Ministry will present our annual Christmas Pageant. This year, they’re taking us Down
Under for an Australian celebration!
Sunday, December 18: Worship with us at 8:30am and 10:30am. At 10:30am, our Chancel Choir will present “The Christmas Story,” as arranged by Roger Wagner; also, our Walk to the Manger brings a live nativity scene
into worship! In the afternoon, from 3-5, Pastor Molly invites you to the parsonage for an Open House and Caroling to some of our homebound members.
Saturday, December 24: Share in candlelight
Christmas Eve worship. At 5pm, our family service includes carols, candles and the Christmas story.
At 11pm, our choir will sing and we will share in Holy Communion, too. All are welcome.
Sunday, December 25: Worship with us at 10:30am--we have just one combined
service on Christmas morning!
First United Methodist Church of Redondo Beach
243 South Broadway
Redondo Beach, California 90277, United States
* 310.372.8445
www.beachfaith.com * www.facebook.com/beachfaith
This year we're Making Christmas Meaningful, as we cook, create and grow not only holiday celebrations, but also the Kingdom of God!
Help us spread the word--forward this invitation to your friends and neighbors!
First United Methodist Church of Redondo Beach
Now on Jewish.TV: Severe Blessings: The mystical dimension of Yitzchak’s awesome blessings - Moishe New from Jewish.TV - Chabad.org Video of Brooklyn, New York, United States for Wednesday, 23 November 2016
