Lesson/Family Home Evening: Advent 1 (Hope)

Opening Check-Ins

We support each other no matter what.  Invite everyone to share something that makes them hopeful.  They don't have to share if they don't feel led.  We are here to support each other in prayer and presence.

Centering in Silence and Song

If you have a household altar, I recommend using it.  If not, a sense of ritual and sacred time can be initiated by lighting a candle and ringing a bell (three times is usually a good way to help everyone settle into silence). Share a few minutes of silence together. You may sound the bell again when silence is over.  Children often enjoy the responsibility of these tasks (and should be supervised and assisted as appropriate).

This week, I changed the color of our altar cloth to blue, a seasonal color for advent.  You might also discuss any altar changes and their symbolic meaning.

Prayer of Jesus

If you have a particular version of the prayer that you use, you are encouraged to use it.

This is the "children's translation" that I wrote and use with my students:
God all around us with many sacred names
We roll up our sleeves to create a beautiful world with you
Please care for us and our needs and forgive us when we don’t do our best
Please help us to be forgiving of others, too.
Help us to be good, loving, and safe so we can help create a loving and safe world for everyone.
Amen.

Sacred Story

Background:

Today is the first Sunday in Advent. In church, we have different seasons, kind of like there are seasons in Nature. Seasons in nature let us know what to expect about weather and maybe let us know what holidays are coming. The church calendar is similar. The church calendar can also tell us what holidays are coming, but we might think of church seasons as seasons of the heart, times during which we talk about certain kinds of stories and feelings.

The season of Advent lasts from December 1 to Christmas Eve.

Advent is the season of “waiting.” When we think about the season, we are kind of waiting for warmth and the sun to come back. But we are also waiting for the birth of Jesus and Christmas.

The color for the season is PURPLE or BLUE, even though we often see lots of red and green at this time of year. We used blue on our altar. Blue is a color that is symbolic of hope. Each Sunday of Advent, we celebrate a different theme. Today we’re going to talk about hope.

Why do you think we celebrate hope during advent?

We celebrate hope because we have hope for the birth of Jesus and we have hope for a better world with God.

Today we’re going to read one of our scripture stories from the Book of Isaiah.

Bible Story:

Story:  Read together Isaiah 2:1-5

Story:  Read together “Walk in the Light of the Lord” in “Shine On: A Story Bible” (p. 136-137)

Conversation:

Why do you think light is a symbol of hope?

We can see light from far away. So we know that even if we will have to journey to get to it, we will get there. It can help lead our way and show us that way forward to a bright future.

Today we are going to learn a carol about the wise men following a star. They followed that star toward hope.

We're also going to read a story about hope called “Butterflies Under Our Hats.”

Story:  Read together “Butterflies Under Our Hats” by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso 

Conversation:

Hope is something we can’t necessarily see. The people in Chelm didn’t need to see the butterflies to have hope. Really, they just needed to change their way of thinking, right?

Sometimes we just need a reminder to be hopeful. So we will make candle holders today to help us remember to be hopeful. We have hope for Christmas. We have hope for warm weather again! We have hope for Jesus. Sometimes we just need to see a bit of light to remind us to be hopeful.

Read together "God is light" in Images of God for Young Children (p. 12-13)

Closing Prayer:

“Dear God, thank you for the season of Advent. Thank you for teaching us about hope. We ask for your help in remaining hopeful even when it seems hard. Help us to ignite hope in others by following Jesus’ example and walking in the light of God. Amen.”

Craft:  Tissue Paper Candle Holders

You can find an instructional video here:

Closing Carol

Instead of a standard prayer, during Advent, we are singing Christmas carols together.  Because our theme is hope and light, we sang together "We Three Kings."  If you don't feel comfortable leading song, you may prefer to listen to the song together in silence as closing.

Curriculum texts used:  

• Shine On: A Story Bible
• Images of God for Young Children by Marie-Helene Delval

Special Texts used:

• "Butterflies Under Our Hats" by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso