FAITH AT HOME IN ADVENT

FAITH AT HOME IN ADVENT

By Margaret Pritchard Houston

Children's Mission Enabler, Diocese of St Albans

Dear parents and carers,

What is this about?

This is a free resource to help you and your children journey together through Advent. It was designed in 2019 to complement a set of devotions being put together for adults by Red Letter Christians, and updated for 2020, independently of RLC.

Red Letter Christians are a network of Christians who believe that Jesus' life and words move us to respond to poverty, injustice, and exclusion with compassion and action. This resource is designed to connect the Christmas story to issues of justice and inclusion, in a child-friendly way.

What's involved?

Each week has a Bible reading or two. There is a family activity suggested for Sunday ? Friday of every week. Sunday is always reading and talking about the story together. You don't have to do every activity! There may be many days when you don't have the time or the energy. That's fine. The activities all stand separately from each other.

Some of the activities that rely on discussion and abstract thinking may be tough for toddlers. You may want to replace some of those activities with some from here: if you have primarily very young children in your household.

Do I need to buy a bunch of stuff?

You don't need anything new or expensive to do the activities ? paper, marker pens or coloured pencils are the main things used. When there may be things you don't have (for example, a Nativity set), alternatives are suggested.

If you have any suggestions or feedback, I'd love to hear them so I can make this better for future years. Email me at cme@stalbans. or find me on Twitter at @stalbansCME.

Thanks are due to the Rev Luke Larner and the Rev Tim Lomax for supporting the development of this resource.

May you and your family have a blessed Advent and a joyful Christmas.

- Margaret

Week One: Longing/expectation

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT (November 29th):

Read Luke 1:26-56 together.

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you." But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God." Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed

that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."

Mary's Song of Praise

And Mary said,

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,

for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;

he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,

according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

Ask the following questions and allow anyone who wants to to share an answer (there are no right or wrong answers). I wonder what your favourite part of that story was. I wonder what the most important part of that story was. I wonder why Mary sang that song. I wonder how Mary felt when the angel came. I wonder why Mary said yes.

MONDAY: Take one piece of paper for each member of the family. As a family, make a list of everything in the world that's hard or sad or scary. Write some of these things on each piece of paper. Then, turn the paper over, hand one paper to each person, and draw what you think God wants the world to be like (you can add words to your picture if you want). Finish by sharing what you drew and praying together for God to change the hard and scary places into what you've imagined.

TUESDAY: If you are able to donate food: re-read these lines from Mary's song as a family: "He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away." Choose a box from around your home and place it by the door. Every time you go to the shops between now and Christmas, get something extra and put it in the box. Around Christmas Eve, take the box to your local foodbank (find your nearest one here: )

If you are not able to donate food: Re-read these lines from Mary's song as a family: "He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away." Take a walk around your neighbourhood and find any places where this is happening (or look on Google maps, if you have it and prefer to stay indoors). Where are people's bodies and souls being fed? Where are people being cared for and lifted up? Stop and pray for those places. You could even write a blessing and slip it through the letterbox if you like.

WEDNESDAY: Talk together: What are you waiting for in your life right now? What do you want God to do? Pray for these things together.

THURSDAY: Look together at photos of mum when she was pregnant with each of the children. If your children are fostered or adopted, and you have photos of their birth mother during pregnancy, you may share these if appropriate. Look at photos of when each child had just arrived into the family, whether through birth, fostering, or adoption. Share stories of the time spent waiting for each child, and what it felt like to wait, and long for, and expect them. (If there are children in your family who have died, you may also want to include stories about waiting for them, and share memories.)

FRIDAY: Look back at the pictures you made on Monday. Is there anything we can do to help make the world more like that?

SATURDAY: Rest and wait.

Week 2: Voices from the Margins

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT (December 6th): Read Luke 2:1-20 together.

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered.

Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." 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 favours!"

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the

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