Tag Archives: Advent

Interactive Advent Living Rooms, 2022

Introducing five interactive Advent Living Rooms for 2022 that have been created for everyone to experience during the upcoming season of Advent. When you click on various items in each Living Room you will be taken to a wonderful collection of stories, all ages devotions, recipes, outdoor adventures, songs, and crafts. This resource has been created for everyone to have fun while learning and marking our journey to Bethlehem.

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Journey To Bethlehem: A Free Advent Devotional Booklet for Families

Introducing this year’s Advent Devotional Booklet for Families, Journey to Bethlehem.

On Sunday, November 27, 2022 we begin the season of Advent; the first season of our Christian year. And, as we anticipate the coming of Christ the Messiah into our world anew, it is good to prepare a way for our Lord to come into our homes and our lives. Daily devotions are a wonderful way to prepare our hearts for the birth of Jesus as we read the prophesies and stories that lead us to Jesus’ birth.

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A Free Interactive Advent Calendar For Your Church

Click HERE For The Link

One of my fondest memories as a child was of receiving an Advent calendar just before the first day of December. I loved those little doors. I would wait expectantly for the dawn of each new day, knowing I would get to open that day’s door and find a new treasure inside. Behind every door of my childhood calendar I would find a lovely picture of a Christmas symbol along with a scripture passage for me to read. Over the course of Advent I would experience the stories leading to Jesus’ birth as I anticipated opening that one final door on Christmas day.

We passed this tradition on to our children and delighted in watching the next generation open these wonder-filled doors for themselves. Over time though their calendars began to reveal a bit more chocolate than stories, and the ritual became more of a countdown to Christmas day than a way of preparing for Christmas Day.

This Advent I’d like to invite you and your congregation to enjoy a new kind of Advent calendar, one that includes the significant stories of scripture along with some contemporary stories that connect with the important themes of Advent. In addition to these incredible stories, this calendar also includes simple crafts, new songs, outdoor adventures, special ways of caring for others, and fun games.

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For Us, A Child Is Born: An All Ages Advent Devotional Booklet to Download

Introducing this year’s Advent Devotional Booklet for all ages, For Us, A Child is Born.

On Sunday, November 28, 2021 we begin the season of Advent; the first season of our Christian year. And, as we anticipate the coming of Christ the Messiah into our world anew, it is good to prepare a way for our Lord to come into our homes and our lives. Daily devotions are a wonderful way to prepare our hearts for the birth of Jesus as we read the prophesies and stories that lead us to Jesus’ birth.

With this simple devotional booklet all ages will have the opportunity to light the Advent candles, read the scriptures and hear the stories that prepare us for the nativity. Everyone is invited to ponder Advent questions, write and/or doodle on journal pages and say pray of thanksgiving, joy and love.

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Head’s Up! These Advent Resources Will Soon Be Coming Your Way

Advent Wreath in a Box – Instructions for this will be given in the 2021 Advent resources

Are you beginning to make plans for the 2021 Advent and Christmas season?

I am too!

I’ve been reading through the lectionary texts, looking through children’s story bibles and other story books, testing out crafts, listening to music, and playing with Google Classrooms all with a mind to creating engaging intergenerational resources for the upcoming season of Advent for your church to enjoy. Today I want to give you a head’s up on what resources you can expect from me later this month and early in November. I hope this will help you consider how they might work with what you’re planning for your church, and perhaps even lighten your load just a little bit as they fill in some of the areas you are hoping to fill.

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Fear Not!

What’s your favourite Christmas movie?

I love to watch The Polar Express, and I’ve just finished binge-watching the new Netflix series Dash & Lily, but truth be told, my absolute favourite Christmas movie is A Charlie Brown Christmas.

I was already a committed Peanuts fan when the movie came out in 1965. I would grab the newspaper each day and delight in the wisdom of Charles M. Schultz shared through his Peanuts characters. It was no surprise that A Charlie Brown Christmas leapt to the top of my list when I saw it for the very first time. It has consistently remained there ever since I lay down on the living room floor in my pyjamas that first time and became mesmerized by the story shared so many years ago.

Won’t you watch it with me again. 

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Considering A Longest Night Worship Service

Jessica Delp – unsplash.com

Monday, December 21 is the longest night of the year. In 2020 we have had many long nights and this year, perhaps more than ever, it is important to have a Longest Night Christmas worship service at your church.

Also called Blue Christmas, a Longest Night worship service is traditionally held to acknowledge that for many people Christmas is not a happy time of the year. Typically it is held for those who have lost loved ones over the course of the year, and for those who are lonely or separated from friends and family. 

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Five Interactive Advent Living Rooms for Families @ Home

What shall we do while we wait?

Advent is all about preparing for the coming of Jesus; preparing by doing things that help us get ready, and preparing in ways that are great fun! There are so many amazing stories to hear and fun things to do over these four special weeks.

I want to share with you a exciting collection of Advent activities you and your church can easily connect with over this Advent season; a collection of five cozily decorated living rooms that open up to wonderful world of videoed stories and music, family friendly devotions and outdoor adventures, tasty recipes and fun Christmas crafts.

These living rooms have been created for churches to request and then upload to their church website each week of Advent and on Christmas Eve.

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How to Make an Advent Wreath

As we think about Advent, we often think about waiting. We’re just hanging around. Waiting for something important that hasn’t quite happened yet. And, if we wait long enough, it will happen. And it will be great!

If we’re entirely honest with ourselves, we sometimes feel like Advent is season designed to fill time and space until we get to the real event – Christmas.

The Christian year begins four Sundays prior to Christmas Day. It’s seems a bit odd, why don’t we start with the main event? After all, Advent just sits there as a non-season kind of season, or at least a pre-season. It feels like the games that are played before the real season of baseball or hockey actually begins. They are nice enough, they just don’t count, so why have them at all?

Let me just say, “Advent counts!”

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On The Way to Bethlehem: An Advent Devotional Booklet to Download

I want to share with you this year’s Advent Devotional booklet entitled On the Way to Bethlehem.

Starting on Sunday, November 29, 2020 this simply laid out devotional guide will help you begin your journey to Bethlehem. Over the four weeks of Advent you will read wonder-filled stories from scripture that will have you walking with the prophet Isaiah, Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and the Magi, until you finally reach Bethlehem. There, on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day you will hear the story of the birth of Jesus and gather with those you have been walking with to witness this special gift of God.

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