Category Archives: Advent

Advent is the beginning of the Church Year. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day and ends on Christmas Eve.

Advent 4B

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Day: Advent 4B

Lectionary Passage: Luke 1:26-38

Scripture Focus: Luke 1:26

Object: Paper airplane

Preparation: Before this lesson, practice making a paper airplane. For instructions, visit a website like http://www.funpaperairplanes.com.

This morning, I’ve got a piece of paper with me (show the kids the piece of paper). Now, I know what you’re thinking: it’s just a plain old ordinary boring piece of paper. You’ve seen that a thousand times. But, you know, sometimes the most ordinary things can become something amazing (begin making an airplane).

That happened in the Bible you know. At least one time it happened with an ordinary girl named Mary. God sent the angel Gabriel to tell her she was chosen by God to have a son named Jesus. Well, you can bet Mary was surprised. After all, she was just like you and me, a regular ordinary person.

But, you know what? God could see something extraordinary in Mary and that’s why God asked Mary to be Jesus’ mom. And it turned out that she was a great mom who loved and cared for the baby Jesus.

Just like that plain old piece of paper didn’t seem like much, on the outside Mary is just ordinary, but when she said “yes” to God she became an extraordinary part of God’s plan. Kinda like how that ordinary piece of paper can turn into a great airplane (fly the airplane)!

Let’s pray: God, help us be courageous and faithful like Mary so that when you call on us, we will say “yes” too. Amen.

Advent 3B

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Day: Advent 3B

Lectionary Passage: John 1:6-8, 19-28

Scripture Focus: John 1:6-8

Object: A pointer stick (or a laser pointer)

Good morning boys and girls. I bet you have all seen one of these pointer sticks before (reveal the pointer). They are used to draw attention to something important, something that shouldn’t be missed by anyone (point to each child). But have you ever noticed that a pointer never points to itself (try to point the stick at itself to show it doesn’t work). It can’t! It’s job is to point to something else, something other than itself.

And that reminds me of our story for today. It’s about John the Baptist. He was given an important job from God: To point other people to Jesus who is the light of the world. John never pointed to himself. In fact, he was pretty clear that he wasn’t the important one. John wanted everyone to know that the important person was coming and his name is Jesus! Just like a pointer stick draws attention to something important, John the Baptist pointed out that the Messiah, the savior of the world, was coming and that we better be ready for him.

But John isn’t the only one who points the way to Jesus. We have to do that too! Each of us is like a pointer stick for others to follow Jesus. We point to Jesus whenever we do good works or show kindness and love in his name. Just like John, it’s our job to point others to the light of the world, Jesus Christ!

Let’s pray: Give us the courage to point others to Jesus so that through us everyone will know he is the savior of the world. Amen.

Advent 2B

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Day: Advent 2B

Lectionary Passage: 2 Peter 3:8-15

Scripture Focus: 2 Peter 3:14

Object: Bowl of water, tablespoon of black pepper, and liquid dish soap

Preparation: For this lesson you will conduct a simple science experiment the power of soap. Fill a large, clear bowl with water. Prepare the black pepper and liquid dish soap.

Good morning! Today we are going to conduct a science experiment to learn about the power of being clean. I brought a bowl of water with me and we’re going to add some pepper (sprinkle black pepper onto the water). The pepper is everywhere. Now, watch what happens when I add just a squirt of soap (add a drop of liquid dish soap to the middle of the bowl of water). Whoa! The pepper instantly scurries away from the soap! Now wherever the soap hit, the water is clean and spotless!

That reminds me of our Bible passage. It talks about being spotless and pure, which is kind of like saying we need to be clean. Of course, the Bible isn’t talking about being spotless on the outside. It’s talking about being spotless on the inside. That means we can’t use soap to help us. We’ve got to use something much, much stronger…. we need to pray! Prayer makes spots caused from sin scurry away. Sin is that bad stuff that we do from time to time, like not listening to our parents, or lying, or being mean to others. Just like that black pepper covered the water, sin can cover everything. But when we pray to God to say we are sorry for sin, then we are made clean and spotless. Prayer is soap for our souls to keep us spotless and pure.

Let’s pray: Thank you God for giving us the power to pray because we want to be spotless and pure every day. Amen.

Advent 1B

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Day: Advent 1B

Lectionary Passage: Mark 13:24-37

Scripture Focus: Mark 13:35-37

Object: Advent calendar

Preparation: Provide a printable Advent calendar for each child to color and assemble throughout the season.

Good morning! I brought a very special calendar with me this morning. It’s not a typical calendar with 365 days. It only has 28 days. It is called an Advent calendar. An Advent calendar is a special calendar that is used to celebrate the days of Advent as we wait for Christmas Day.

While we are waiting for Christmas, we should also remember that we are waiting for Jesus’ return. That’s what our Bible story is all about. It tells us that Jesus is coming back to earth one day and we have to stay alert and be ready for his return. We don’t know when that will be, but we can be ready by giving our hearts to God and following Jesus’ teaching of how to live. So as you are waiting for Christmas and getting ready for all the fun, remember to stay alert and be ready for Jesus’ second coming.

Let’s pray: Thank you God for sending Jesus to be born on Christmas Day. We are excited to celebrate his birth on Christmas but also to get ready for his return one day in the future. Amen.


Advent 4A

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Day: Advent 4

Lectionary Passage: Matthew 1:18-25

Scripture Focus: Matthew 1:21-23

Object: Book of names

Raise your hand if you know the meaning of your name. (If some kids raise their hands, then pick a few to share.) Luckily there are books like this that are filled with names and what they mean. Let’s look one up… (you can either pick a child or another adult like a pastor or pianist). Let’s see what Caleb means… “faithful.” The name Caleb means faithful. That’s pretty cool. I love that each and every name has a meaning.

And that reminds me of our Bible story for the day. It tells us about the meaning of Jesus’ name. His name means “God saves.” And that’s exactly what Jesus does! Jesus saves us from our sin. He shows us how to love God and to love others. Jesus saves us!

Let’s pray: Thank you God for sending Jesus to be born so that we could be saved from our sins. Help us to remember that his birth is the most important part about Christmas. Amen.

Advent 3A

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Day: Advent 3

Lectionary Passage: James 5:7-10

Scripture Focus: James 5:7-8

Object: Timer and candy

This morning I’ve brought some candy with me to share with all of you. But, you have to wait for it. I’m going to set my timer for 90 seconds and when the bell goes off, then we can have candy.

While we wait patiently, let me tell you about our Bible story. It explains that Jesus is coming soon but we have to wait patiently for his arrival. Patience is a hard thing. Like waiting for this candy! But sometimes the best things in life come after we have waited patiently. That’s certainly true about Jesus. We’re waiting to celebrate his birthday on Christmas. I’m sure we’re all excited about Christmas, but we’ve got to remember to be patient. Sometimes, keeping busy helps us wait patiently. Our story tells us to “strengthen our hearts” while we wait. That means we’ve got to get ourselves prepared to love Jesus. We can do that by praying, coming to church, and learning more about Jesus from our teachers and parents. (Keep going along this line until the timer goes off…)

Time’s up! You all waited patiently for your candy and now you get to enjoy it! Let’s remember that we need to wait patiently for Jesus and to prepare our hearts for him.

Let’s pray: God we give you thanks for Jesus Christ. Help us, Lord, to wait patiently for Christmas and to prepare our hearts to love Jesus always.


Advent 2A

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Day: Advent 2

Lectionary Passage: Matthew 3:1-12

Scripture Focus: Matthew 3:1-6

Object: Picture of John the Baptist

This morning I want to tell you about a pretty interesting fella from our Bible passage for the day. His name was John the Baptist. His mom and dad were Elizabeth and Zechariah who were very, very, very old when he was born — way older than Mr. Thomas (name an older member of the congregation who won’t mind being an example). When John grew up, he went out to the desert to start preaching. John didn’t wear a robe (or suit or whatever your preacher wears). Instead, he wore clothes made out of camel’s hair! I bet he looked a little funny. But, his message wasn’t funny. It was serious. It was about the coming of the Messiah. Do you know who the Messiah is? …. That’s right, it’s Jesus! John was telling people to prepare for the coming of Jesus. He wanted people to know that the savior was coming and they needed to be ready.

He told them the only way to get ready was to repent. Whoa! That’s a big word. It means to say you’re sorry for your sins — all that bad stuff you’ve done — and asking God to forgive us. Can you say the word “repent”? Good! John wanted everyone to repent and be ready for Jesus.

When people repented, John would baptize them in the Jordan River. That’s how he got the name John the Baptist.

It’s important for us to remember John and his message. We all need to get ready for Jesus by saying we’re sorry for our sins and asking God to forgive us.

Let’s pray: God thank you for sending people like John the Baptist to show us the way to prepare for the coming of Jesus. Help us all remember that Jesus is the reason for Christmas and that we need to get our hearts ready for him. Amen.


Advent 1A

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Day: Advent 1

Lectionary Passage: Matthew 24:36-44

Scripture Focus: Matthew 24:42-44

Object: A  long “to-do list” and a marker

Preparation: Tape together several sheets of paper so that you make one very long “to-do list.” Then, roll the paper up so that you can dramatically unroll it during the sermon.

Wow, there is a lot to get done before Christmas! Look at all this stuff that I have to do… (unroll the list) put up the Christmas tree, hang lights outside, bake cookies, send cards, go caroling…. it goes on forever and ever. But, what’s this? Here at the very bottom of my list… it says: “Prepare for the Birth of Jesus.”

That’s exactly what our Bible passage for today says, too. It tells us that we have to prepare for Jesus’ coming so that we don’t miss it. All of us have got to get ready for Jesus’ birth! I bet we can do that by coming to worship every week even though this is a very busy time of year. And, I think we can prepare at home by reading or listening to Bible stories about Jesus and praying. If we do those things, I know we’ll be prepared for Jesus’ birth.

But, I want to do one more thing… (get your marker ready). I want to move this item from the bottom of my list to the very top because it is the most important thing I’ll do this Christmas. (Rewrite “Prepare for the Birth of Jesus” at the top of the list) There, now my “to-do list” is in order and I can get started on the right foot.

Let’s pray: God, help us to remember that the most important thing we will do all Christmas is to prepare for the birth of your Son. Help us to not get caught up in other things, but to make preparing for Jesus Christ our number one item!