LoginHome » Ministers' resources » Worship Resources » Studies » Be alert! Prepare! Christ comes! » Advent 2
Be Alert! Prepare! Christ Comes!
Advent 2
Important: |
As you gather.
Light the candle in the centre of the group and hold silence for at least a minute.
Now, go round the circle. People who were at the Advent 1 study may like to comment on any moment of stillness they encountered since they were last here. Others not present last week could comment on any moment of stillness they have experienced throughout their whole life.
Hear the word: Read Philippians 1: 3-11
In this passage The writer is recalling the pleasure he gets from the way the church at Philippi had responded to the Gospel. He prays that their love will overflow more and more. Go round the group and speak of people who helped you come into the faith or to grow in faith or to persist in the faith. (see the following prayer for ideas) Use this prayer or one of your own making to give thanks to God for those people. Their names can be spoken out loud or silently.
Loving God, we know you now because of the influence and assistance of others in our lives. We give thanks for those who brought us to faith and instructed us in its basic teachings
Name those people here
We give thanks for those who helped our faith to grow; those who stretched the boundaries of what we believed, we consolidated our ideas and experiences
Name those people now
We give thanks for those who helped us persist in the faith when times got tough, and we wondered if we could hold on; those who were an example or a comfort or a support.
Name those people now
We pray our thanks in the name of Jesus the Christ AMEN
Read Malachi 3: 1-4 and then Luke 3: 1-6
The famous passage which John the Baptist states on his arrival in the Jordan Valley, calling the Jewish people to repentance and baptism is a quote from the prophet Malachi. Most of the Jewish men who heard him would have known that and would have interpreted the one who was coming as the one predicted in the Jewish Scriptures.
- In what ways do you feel life for you has sometimes involved extra miles you would have preferred not to have taken
- What are some of the highs and lows of your life in the past which correspond to the valleys and hills about which John is talking ?
- What valleys (low spots) of your life would need to be filled in and elevated to prepare for Christ this Christmas
- What highs ( arrogance? pride? ambition? self-sufficiency?) would need to be levelled out to prepare for Christ coming into your life again this Christmas ?
- What valleys need to be ironed out in our world so that people could be able to hear the message that they are loved by God ? (think global)
- What hills need to be levelled out so they are no longer a barrier to people's well being and spiritual growth in our world (think global)
Earthworks are often very substantial when a highway is being built. Large boulders and tonnes of dirt need to be shifted so that the highways is smooth, has the right camber and takes the traffic easily to its destination.
- Sit quietly and think of those things in your life which
shut out God. Choose a stone which represents that. Place the stone in the centre of the group and silently pray for the grace to remove that block this Advent. - Think of those obstacles in our world which prevent
people in New Zealand and elsewhere from growing, learning, becoming spiritually mature or having good quality of life. Choose a stone to represent that. When the leader announces the time, speak to the others of that block and place the stone on the pile.
Discuss the blocks-in-the-world the group members have spoken of and talk about realistic ways in which you as a group or as individuals could help those blocks be removed. You may be able to decide on group or individual action which you can take in the next week.
Conclude the session by praying this prayer or another
which suits your group
God of all journeys,
Help us prepare you a highway. Among the blocks and barriers of this Advent season, let us do the unimaginable and put into practice the inexpressible. May we find both the energy and the willingness of heart that we can too prepare a way for you to enter our and others' hearts this Advent, by removing the blocks to your Coming to us.
In Christ's name we pray, AMEN