This week as we continue to look ahead to the fast approaching season of Advent (when did it get to be only 10 days away?) we offer a set of Advent Candle lighting liturgies from the Rev. Elsa Peters, who currently serves the First Congregational Church (UCC) of Portland Maine. This is an interactive candle lighting, with space for conversation amongst the congregation, looking for God’s breaking-in to this world.
Do you have Advent ideas to share, tweaks, comments, thoughts, sparks, or liturgies? Put them in the comments!
First Sunday in Advent: Hope
[Ask worshipers to be seated]
*Introductory Sentences
One: Today we begin the Advent journey in search of hope. We search for hope in the trees and the branches of our own lives. We look for that moment where we might proclaim as the prophet Isaiah did:
*Scripture: Isaiah 64:3
One: When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
*Lighting the Candle
One: O God, we light the first candle of Advent.
We light the candle of hope.
[First Candle is lit.]
We light this candle to illuminate those moments we’ve already seen the mountains quake, as we did… (name a vision of hope you’ve recently seen in your daily life, in your relationships or in the news).
*Unison Prayer
One: Let us pray together:
Light of our World, we hope for change in our own lives and in your world. We wait for war to end. We wait for violence to cease. We wait for your people to live with more love. In the warmth of your Light, we wait for hope to be revealed more fully. We wait together by the light of this candle, praying, Our Father…
~~~~~
Second Sunday in Advent: Peace
[Ask worshipers to be seated]
*Introductory Sentences
One: Today we continue our Advent search. We look for comfort in a broken world. We cry out for the peace we have not yet found. We find comfort as the prophet Isaiah did, when he remembered:
*Scripture: Isaiah 40:8
One: The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand forever.
*Lighting the Candle
One: O God, we light the second candle of Advent.
We light the candle of peace.
[Second Candle is lit.]
We light this candle to shine like the sun on the buds of peace, which we see blooming in… (offer an image of some little hint of peace that you see growing in a friendship that was broken, in a family feud that has eased or in some other illustration you can imagine).
*Unison Prayer
One: Let us pray together:
Light of our World, we hope for change in our own lives and in your world. We wait for relationships to heal. We wait for peace to come. We wait for your people to live with more love. In the warmth of your Light, we wait for hope to be revealed more fully. We wait together by the light of this candle, praying, Our Father…
~~~~~
Third Sunday in Advent: Love
[Ask worshipers to be seated]
*Introductory Sentences
One: Today we stoke the fires of God’s love. We rejoice that love is within is. It is revealed when we bind up the brokenhearted and comfort those who mourn. We hope that love will blossom in the justice we seek, as the prophet Isaiah imagined:
*Scripture: Isaiah 61:11
One: For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
*Lighting the Candle
One: O God, we light the third candle of Advent.
We light the candle of love.
[Third Candle is lit.]
We light this candle to spring up with love. In the light and the warmth of this candle, we hope that love continues to grow in… (Share a brief story about how love has grown in the love that you share.)
*Unison Prayer
One: Let us pray together:
Loving God, pour into our hearts this day the light of your love, warming us to one another, enlightening our understanding of others, and blooming abundantly as only your love can, in Jesus’ name we pray, Our Father…(debts, debtors)
~~~~~
Fourth Sunday in Advent: Joy
[Ask worshipers to be seated]
*Introductory Sentences
One: Today we celebrate joy. Even though we don’t feel ready, we praise God. We celebrate the wonder that something amazing is happening in our lives. We marvel with Mary that this joy turns the whole world upside down:
*Scripture: Luke 1:52-53
One: God has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.
*Lighting the Candle
One: O God, we light the fourth candle of Advent.
We light the candle of joy.
[Fourth Candle is lit.]
We light this candle with joy for what God is doing. We see the signs of promise in… (Share a brief story about a sign of God’s joy you see in the world right now, perhaps in something that has indeed turned everything upside down..)
*Unison Prayer
One: Let us pray together:
Eternal God, who magnifies each of our souls, help us to pay attention to your signs in these last few days before Christmas. Point us toward your joy. Orient us toward the joy that you offer to us now and always, in Jesus’ name we pray: Our Father…(debts, debtors)
~~~~~
December 24 – Christmas Eve: Christ is Come!
*Introductory Sentences
One: On this Christmas Eve, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. As we wonder what this birth means to us, we recall where we have come on the journey.
*Lighting the Advent Candles
One: We recall our experiences of hope, peace, love and joy. Tonight, we re light the candles that marked our journey.
(Reader pauses as each candle is lit in order.)
The light of hope … (Candle is lit.)
The light of peace … (Candle is lit.)
The light of love … (Candle is lit.)
The light of joy… (Candle is lit.)
On this journey, we have been born into a new hope as the prophet Isaiah recalls:
*Scripture: Isaiah 9:6
One: For a child has been born for us, a child is given to us; authority rests upon this child’s shoulders; which we call Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Creator, Prince of Peace.
*Lighting the Christ Candles
One: O God, we light the Christ candle. We light the candle of our Savior.
(Christ candle is lit.)
We light the Christ candle to remember that the miracle of birth didn’t happen just once, but happens every day we choose to see you in our world. God, we see you… (name a time, at Christmas or some other time, when you’ve been able to see God.)
* Unison Prayer
One: Let us pray together:
Holy God, we rejoice in your presence! The birth of your holy child is your answer to our unrest, our confusion and our sorrow. Tonight, we live in Hope, we pray for Peace, we share your Love, as we are filled with your Joy. Now, let us be your Hope, your Peace, your Love and your Joy in this world, as Christ Jesus grew to teach us all: Our Father . . . (debts, debtors)
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