Updated March, 2025
HOW-TO
On the following pages are visual aids to help the congregation focus on the theme of the day. Throughout this series you will find suggestions for banners with additional bulletin covers posted at the bottom in the resources section.
The Banners
Below you see the final version of the banners, the first for advent, the second for Christmastide. Each week the congregation adds another piece. Even though there are four parts to the Advent banner and three to the Christmas banner, the five base pieces are the same. If you do your work far enough in advance, you could use both sides of the base fabric and simply flip the pieces over when the time comes to display the other side.
Trace outlines of the banner pieces onto acetate, and, using a projector, project the outline on paper, adjusting size to fit your worship space. This paper pattern can then be cut out and used for cutting the fabric.
Cut the base fabric pieces first, and then appliqué the other pieces to this base. Attach fabric loop that can be opened and closed with Velcro so that the individual banner pieces can be easily hung to the supporting rod.
Shortcut
If the construction of such elaborate banner is too much to handle at this time, consider making just one large banner with the words “HE WILL COME.” This simpler banner could be hung for the seven weeks of Advent and Christmastide.
Banners designed by Dean Heetderks from ideas supplied by Norm Stolpe.
In the film Field of Dreams, Ray Kinsella hears a mysterious voice prompting, "If you build it, he will come." The first to come to the baseball diamond that Kinsella builds in a cornfield is "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, a player long ago exiled from baseball because of the "Black" Sox scandal. Then Terence Mann, despondent radical from the sixties, is dragged from hiding to recover his zest for adventure. Next, the deceased "Doc" Graham nobly surrenders his baseball ambitions again to be the compassionate healer. Finally, the father Ray never really knew in life returns as a hopeful, young baseball player and plays catch with his unrecognized son.
The film Field of Dreams rehearses the human longing for resolving rifts in relationships and for fulfilling the fantasies of fellowship between parent and child. Across the "field of dreams" parade the heroes who are at once elevated to legend and painfully flawed. Each one's visit is as healing for that individual as it is for Ray.
Unlike sports that use a play clock, in baseball a scoring rally can be kept alive as long as each successive batter hits safely. The decay of time is temporarily held at bay.
Like Kinsella and the other "heroes" in the film, we each yearn to be liberated from our brokenness, anxious for the redemption of our own selves and of our heroes. From Ponce de Leon's quest for the fountain of youth to the undertaker's art, we wrestle with clock and calendar to deny the inevitability of our decline and death. We will pay any price, perform any absurd act—even make movies about baseball diamonds in the middle of cornfields—on the off chance of escaping the inevitable. The more implausible the price, the more power we assign to the "remedy." Yet, someone always makes the third out, and time snaps us up again.
Every Advent reminds us that the clock is running. We are waiting for redemption as God's people have waited throughout the centuries. Advent stirs up our yearnings for harmonious relationships and for an environment of wholeness in which everything works right. Our Advent recollections of the generations waiting for God's Messiah to come point out the paradox of the way we wait for our Savior to come. We fragment our energy into seeking justice and prosperity, peace and power, in family, career, community, government, and even church. The measure of our present effectiveness is disjointed frustration and a glimpse of impending success. We must wait for Jesus to come to integrate our work and our hopes. We are building with the expectation that he will come.
Christmas reminds us that grandiose misconceptions of what or whom to expect prevented most people from recognizing Jesus as God's chosen Christ when he did come. From the baby in a manger, to a poor carpenter turned itinerant teacher, to the "criminal" hanging on a cross, Jesus did not appear to be the one people were expecting to come. Part of the problem is that while Christmas is a major turning point in God's redemptive drama, it is not the climax. Rather, it opens a new era of waiting. God has planted a hidden kingdom. All who recognize its incognito King are invited to start living as its citizens, by faith participating in God's work of revealing its full glory. We are still building with the expectation that our King will come.
As we build, we are stalked by a deadly and stealthy foe: the temptation to believe that our act of building allows our Lord to come. The parade of heroes needed Ray Kinsella to build the field of dreams before they could come. But, though Jesus extends to us the opportunity of building by faith in his kingdom, he is in no way dependent on us. When Jesus comes, he will unveil the full splendor of his kingdom.
Our worship during Advent and Christmas not only equips us to wait for his coming but encourages us to celebrate in anticipation. As we worship, God uses the exhilarating expectation of the coming kingdom to stimulate our desire to build, so that our waiting tensions are not only bearable but creatively energetic.
These service plans for the four Sundays of Advent, Christmas Eve or Day, and the two Sundays of Christmastide are intended to infuse a congregation with both jubilation at the stunning reality of the incarnation as well as the anticipation that Jesus will come. They are based on the Advent and Christmas readings from the Common Lectionary for Year C. These services, drawn principally from the passages in Luke, are interwoven with the other lectionary readings.
This Advent and Christmas, celebrate together that he who has come, will come!
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT: Beware the Trap
Gospel: Luke 21:25–36
Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 3:9–13
Old Testament: Jeremiah 33:14–16
Psalter: Psalm 25:1–10
The steel jaws are disguised with twigs and leaves. The sensitive trigger is coated with succulent bait. The victim is not thinking, "Oh, I'll try to get caught in a trap by walking through that pile of leaves or nibbling on this treat." No, part of the terror of the trap is that it snaps shut unexpectedly. Advent opens with Jesus warning us that the day he comes will close like a trap on the unsuspecting.
Experienced trappers camouflage their work with the materials their prey would expect to see every day in their natural environment. Similarly, preoccupation with "the anxieties of life" (Luke 21:34) keeps us from recognizing the day of the Lord. Like animals rummaging for nuts and seeds in the leaves and twigs of the forest floor, we can become so absorbed in career advancement, upward mobility, personal fulfillment, individual rights, and community welfare that we are unprepared for the coming of the kingdom and we miss the trap peeking through the litter of our busyness. Worse yet, we are enticed by these illusions of happiness to gnaw on the trap trigger, oblivious to our own peril.
Advent is an opportunity to renew our perspective, to sort the enduring from the transitory, to glean the valuable from the worthless. When we witness the arrogance, greed, and violence of international strife; when we experience the distrust, decay, and hopelessness of our communities; when we are frustrated, dissatisfied, and full of stress in our jobs and homes—then we know we need the day to come when God "will fulfill the gracious promise" (Jeremiah 33:14). This first week of Advent calls us to recover a hope in God that is more real than our paychecks and bills or the nightly news (Psalm 25:3).
Despite our correct doctrine, the day of Jesus' return seems distant, if not unreal. We do not live with the expectancy that he will come. We have given up waiting and have focused our attention on the immediacy of today's tasks. Though we Christians fight over exactly how to understand and describe the accuracy, reliability, and authority of the Bible, we have lost confidence in Jesus' promise to come and reveal his kingdom.
This first week of Advent, Jesus assures us that though the earth seems so permanent to us, it will pass away.
His words, which seem so ethereal to us, will endure (Luke 21:33). If the expectation of the day when Jesus comes again defines our daily reality, the kingdom of God will replace our petty ambitions and anxieties. We will seek spiritual strength to be blameless and holy in the presence of God (1 Thessalonians 3:13). We will recognize and avoid the pitfalls of pouring our energy into routine existence. This Advent begins with Jesus opening our eyes to the all-encompassing reality that he will come.
Bulletin and Banner
The symbol for the bulletin and banner piece for the first week of Advent is a steel-jawed trap, open and ready to spring. This week's bulletin cover can be found in the resources section below.
Worship Feature
One way of involving a number of people in the worship service is to have a different person or group of people light the candle(s) of the Advent wreath at the beginning of the service each week. One week it might be a family with children (preschool, school age, or adolescents). On other Sundays two or three single adults, an older couple, or an elderly adult could do it. When the candles are lit, one of the group may lead the congregation in the Call to Worship.
To the Children
Show the group a stack of calendars. Talk about how hard it is to wait for special occasions such as birthdays, vacations, and Christmas.
Advent is the time of waiting for Christmas.
Explain that God's Old Testament people waited a long time—about two thousand years from the time God made the covenant promise to Abraham—for Jesus to come. Just as he finally came the first time, he will come back to make everything that is wrong right. We, too, have been waiting a long time for Jesus to come back, but we know he will come.
Psalms, Hymns, and Canticles
"Of the Father's Love Begotten" Prudentius
(This hymn can be used to set a worship tone each week of Advent or Christmastide; use the final stanza as a seasonal Gloria).
"Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies" Wesley
"Day of Judgment! Day of Wonders!" Newton
"Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates" Weissel
"Lo! He Comes, with Clouds Descending" Wesley
"O Christ! Come Back to Save Your Folk" Seerveld
"Psalm 25: Lord, to You My Soul Is Lifted" Wiersma
"The Glorious Gates of Righteousness" Anonymous
"The King of Glory Comes" Jabusch
Anthems
Gospel
"See the Fig Tree" [2-part, moderately easy]
Heinrich Schutz/Bowman (G. Schirmer)
Epistle
"E'en So Lord Jesus, Quickly Come" [SATB, moderately difficult]
Paul Manz (Concordia)
Old Testament
"There Shall Be a Star" [SATB, medium]
Felix Mendelssohn (Lawson Gould)
Psalter
"Show Me Thy Ways" [SATB, guitar and C instrument, medium]
Walter Pelz (Augsburg)
General
"Prepare the Way" [2 or 3-part, easy]
Allen Pote (Carl Fischer)
THE SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT: The Refiner's Fire
Gospel: Luke 3:1–6
Epistle: Philippians 1:3–11
Old Testament: Malachi 3:1–4
Psalter: Psalm 126
Who doesn't dread a tax audit? As if the confusion of laws and the fear of an arbitrary auditor were not enough, self-doubt runs rampant. Are my records complete enough and in acceptable form? Have I interpreted the regulations properly? Are my calculations accurate? How do I balance being confident and compliant? Yet, a tax audit is minor compared to facing Jesus Christ when he comes again.
And he will come, so get ready. He expects you to be blameless and holy (1 Thessalonians 3:13), pure and filled with the fruit of righteousness (Phillipians 1:11). No wonder Malachi cries, "Who can endure the day of his coming?" (3:2). But God does not leave us to our own devices for the eternal spiritual audit. God initiates a preparation program.
This second week of Advent we hear God's thundering mercy from John the Baptizer. "Repent!" he shouts, "for the forgiveness of sins." We can't cling to the comfortable anxieties of life that we stared down last week. We have to let God take them. He will scrape our most exalted ambitions down to ground level. He will lift our darkest griefs into his healing light. None of our human fallenness will hinder Jesus Christ (Luke 3:4–5).
We know that in order to appreciate the significance of the Christmas celebration, we need to be prepared during Advent by John's call to repent. Were it not for our broken humanity, God would not have sent his Son on the most amazing service-repair call of history. The Son of God was born as a human baby to mend our broken humanity.
However, the Advent preparation called for by John the Baptizer goes far deeper than seasonal readiness. He invites God's people, those who want to be faithful, to willingly submit to God's refiner's fire (Malachi 3:2) and to expect God to consume impurities through life's pains. This is not a single experience from which one emerges spotless. Rather it is a lifelong process through which God will complete the work of getting us ready to face Jesus until the day he comes again (Philippians 1:6).
If our reality centers around the daily anxieties we confronted last week, then we are tempted to elevate routine annoyances to personal persecutions, and our lives become meaningless. However, when we see reality in terms of the kingdom of God, then even profound pain comes in the context of significance. This does not mean that we should assign some mechanistic lesson to each hurt, but rather that we should acknowledge that suffering connects human fallenness with God's redemption. The sowing of tears yields a harvest of joys (Psalm 126:5–6).
While the refiner's fire hurts, it consumes the impurities that dilute the complete righteousness God intends for his people. For English-speaking North Americans at the end of the twentieth century, the anxieties of acquisition may be the chief contaminants that God must burn out to get the pure silver and gold of righteousness. Few things distract us more from the kingdom of God than our houses, our cars, our fun, our success, and the fear that we might not get them all. This second week of Advent is the occasion to invite God to keep the refiner's fire going to eliminate these impurities until the process is complete for the day when Jesus comes again.
Bulletin and Banner
The symbol for the bulletin and banner piece for the second week of Advent are the flames of a refiner's fire. This week's bulletin cover can be found in the resources section below.
Worship Feature
To make the connection between the purifying work of Jesus announced by John the Baptizer and our redemption in the covenant community of faith, include the reading of the questions and answers relating to baptism from the Heidelberg Catechism (Q & A 69–74) as part of the service.
To the Children
Show the group several kinds of soap and detergent packages: hand soap, bath soap, bar soap, liquid soap, dish detergent, laundry detergent. Talk about how we use soap and water to get our hands, bodies, clothes, and dishes clean. Explain that, in the same way, we use water in baptism to remind us of how God makes us clean on the inside, spiritually.
Encourage children to pay attention to the reading of questions from the Heidelberg Catechism about baptism and being clean. Of course, we know that it is not the water of baptism that makes us clean for God. No, God does that through Jesus' death and resurrection. Once we have been washed, God wants us to stay clean and to confess our sins when we do wrong.
Psalms, Hymns, and Canticles
"Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus" Wesley
"On Jordan's Bank the Baptist's Cry" Coffin
"Psalm 126: When God Brought Zion's Remnant Band" Seerveld
"The People Who in Darkness Walked" Morison
"The Race That Long in Darkness Pined" Morison
"Watchman, Tell Us of the Night" Bowring
Anthems
Gospel
"Every Valley" [SATB, moderately easy]
John Ness Beck (Beckenhorst)
"This Is the Record of John" [SAATB, tenor solo, optional strings, moderately difficult]
Orlando Gibbons (Lavvson-Gould)
"Advent Message" [variable voicing, easy]
Martin How (Boosey & Hawkes)
Epistle
"He Which Has Begun a Good Work in You" [SAB, moderately easy]
Jan Bender (Concordia)
Old Testament
"And He Shall Purify"
Handel (from Messiah)
General
"Come, Jesus, Holy Son of God" [2-part, easy]
Handel/Hopson (Harold Flammer)
"Savior of the Nations, Come" [Hymn con-certato for SATB choir and congregation]
Paul Manz (Concordia)
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT: Sweet Fruit
Gospel: Luke 3:7–18
Epistle: Philippians 4:4–9
Old Testament: Zephaniah 3:14–20
Psalter: Isaiah 12:2–6
The third week of Advent is traditionally called “Joyful Sunday,” and that theme is amply reflected in all the readings except the gospel lesson. "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4). "Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem!" (Zephaniah 3:14). "Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion" (Isaiah 12:6).
John the Baptizer's call for "fruit in keeping with repentance" (Luke 3:8) seems a jarring juxtaposition. The contrast heightens the harshness of the montage of John's preaching. "You brood of vipers!" (3:7). "The ax is already at the root of the trees" (3:9). "He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire" (3:17). This counterpoint is not just the concoction of the lectioner. Luke concludes his account of John's preaching by writing that John "preached the good news" to the people (3:18). How is such caustic language "good news"?
John was not interested in a hellfire-and-brimstone style. He was not even trying to embarrass his critics. John was looking for "fruit in keeping with repentance" (3:8). He wanted to see people's lives turned toward righteousness. When that happened, it was indeed "good news" and cause for joy. If, on this third week of Advent, we are to experience the authentic joy of the sweet fruit of repentance, we must hold John's standard up against the anxieties of life that dilute our repentance to mere self-righteousness.
All of John's prescriptions instruct us to hold our possessions loosely. If you have more clothing or food than you need, share them generously (3:11). Don't take advantage of a privileged position (like the hated tax collectors and soldiers) to gain wealth by overcharging, extortion, or threats (3:12–14). In summary, don't pursue money; be generous to others. To our society, one that wildly seeks success in conspicuous consumption, John's direction hardly seems the route to satisfaction.
This third week of Advent, consider this alternate path to joy. As the refiner's fire consumes the anxieties of life, freedom blooms. The frantic slavery of seeking the next level of success can be left behind. If you no longer cling to the ownership of your things, energy sucked up by their acquisition and maintenance can be redirected to people. If you don't buy it, you don't have to pay for it, fix it, or throw it away. Instead, you can thrive on the smiles and thanks of people. You can become a partner in the growth of others. Such freedom!
John's message was and is welcomed by those who were and are waiting expectantly for the day of Christ's return. Awesome though it is, John's message explains the way to be prepared to joyfully face Jesus when he comes. To follow this word is to rejoice as a partner with God in reversing the burdens of oppression.
Bulletin and Banner
The symbol for the third week of Advent is a large fruit. This week's bulletin cover can be found in the resources section below.
Worship Feature
Either develop your own Confession and Assurance of Pardon based on the Gospel text, or use something like this:
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
What should we do then?
Those with more clothing or food than they can use at once should share with those who have none.
We confess that we think more of our own pleasure than the needs of others. What else should we do?
Don't collect more than is right or just.
We confess that we are greedy and seek to accumulate everything we can, even when it hurts other people. What else should we do?
Be content with what you have and be honest with others.
We confess that we are discontented, always wanting more and better things, and that we bend the truth to our own ends rather than having full integrity. We need God's grace to repent and leave these sins behind.
Hear this good news! Jesus Christ, who came and who will come, baptizes all who depend on him with the Holy Spirit and with fire, so they can produce fruit in keeping with repentance and know his forgiveness. Be encouraged and praise God!
To the Children
Prepare thinly sliced apples ahead of time. From a plate, serve one slice to each child. (If you expect large numbers of children, prepare several plates and arrange for some helpers). As the children eat the apple slices, talk about their sweet taste. Explain that we become "sweet" people when we give up doing things that hurt God, other people, or ourselves, and start doing things that help others and honor God.
Psalms, Hymns, and Canticles
"Comfort, Comfort Now My People" Olearius
"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" 12th cent. Latin Hymn
"O Lord, How Shall I Meet You" Gerhardt
"Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying" Nicolai
Anthems
Gospel
"Turn Ye, Turn Ye" [SATB, medium to difficult]
Charles Ives (Presser)
"Thou Shalt Know Him" [SATB, medium]
Austin Lovelace (AMSI)
Epistle
"Rejoice in the Lord Alway" [SATB, optional double choir, moderately difficult]
Jeffrey Rickard, arr. (Augsburg)
"Rejoice in the Lord Always" [SATB, with ATB soli, medium]
Henry Purcell (Concordia)
Old Testament
"Daughter of Zion" [SATB, easy]
Joseph Clokey (Presser)
Psalter
"The First Song of Isaiah" [SATB, congregation, medium]
Jack Nobel White (H.W. Gray)
THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT: The Great Reversal
Gospel: Luke 1:39–55
Epistle: Hebrews 10:5–10
Old Testament: Micah 5:2–5a
Psalter: Psalm 80:1–7
Who among us does not have an inventory of wrongs that need to be set right? Hurt relationships need to be healed. Injustice that cheats people out of the fruits of their labor cries to be redressed. Violence and hostility between nations, races, and classes deserve to be resolved.
Mary's song celebrates that the coming of Jesus, the baby waiting in her womb, begins the great reversal of human history. The proud (Luke 1:51), powerful (1:52), and wealthy (1:53) who seem to dominate human affairs will be disgraced, disenfranchised, and dispossessed. For generations, God's downtrodden, poverty-stricken, obscure people have asked, "How long will (God's) anger smolder against (our) prayers? (Psalm 80:4). They have despaired that he will come. Now, at last, the humble will be lifted up (Luke 1:52), the weak will have the help of God's powerful arm (1:51), and the hungry will be filled (1:53).
Though it was popular to look for the Messiah to appear as a powerful, popular military and political leader, the prophets had long warned the people to look in the insignificant places for God's chosen shepherd. It was Bethlehem, "small among the clans of Judah," from which a "ruler over Israel" (Micah 5:2) was to come, whose greatness was to "reach to the ends of the earth" (Micah 5:4).
Even the idea of a shepherd (Micah 5:4) as the ruler of Israel is a paradoxical image for the One who will come in the majesty of the Lord. On the one hand shepherds are isolated, unclean, poor, and untrustworthy—hardly worthy to be bearers of the magnificence of the anticipated liberating King. On the other hand, they lead with a calm voice, are compassionate and protective, and put the welfare of the flock above their own interests. The great historic King David carried his shepherd's values into his reign, and the psalmist pictures God as the Shepherd of Israel (Psalm 80:1). Out of the lowly shepherd rises the strength of the Lord in the One who will come.
Jesus was the prototype of Mary's model. When he came, he was a humble servant who said, "Here I am; I have come to do your will." (Hebrews 10:5, 7, 9; cf. Psalm 40:7–8). The will of God the Father was that Christ the Son would be a sacrifice (Hebrews 10:10). The great reversal is effected by that sacrifice. Humiliation is the path to glory. Death is the gateway to life (cf. Philippians 2:5–11). Christ calls all who follow him to wait for the day he will come by living the great reversal in a society that persists in pursuing pride, privilege, power, and possessions.
As an unborn infant, John the Baptizer recognized the recently conceived Jesus as the One who would come with God's great reversal (Luke 1:41, 44). We English speaking North Americans have a much harder time identifying him. A great watershed divides the people of pride, power, and wealth from those who are humble, weak, and poor. We cannot enjoy the benefits of both sides of the mountain. As long as we distort the image of Jesus, viewing him as a supporter of our achievements, influence, and affluence, we prevent ourselves from appreciating the One who will come and set right all the wrongs, injustices, and hurts of human history.
For those whose history and culture celebrate and value the hard work of free enterprise, the rugged individualism of the frontier, the hope of technological ingenuity, the freedom of democracy, the protection of military force, the pursuit of prosperity, the influence of respectability, and the prestige of success, identifying with the humble, weak, and poor is difficult (but not impossible!). We are on one side of the watershed and Jesus is on the other. To cross over is the work of God's mercy.
When we see that all of these strengths are illusions and that before God we are the humble, weak, and poor, we are ready to be lifted up by God's mercy. When we confess our inability to bring harmony in personal relationships, peace in the world, justice to the abused, healing to our wounds, we are able to accept God's merciful work for others and ourselves. When we acknowledge our helplessness and hopelessness, we can recognize God's help and hope for our injuries. When we let go of the deceptions of our society, we are ready to recognize the One who will come to right all wrongs.
Bulletin and Banner
The symbol for the fourth week of Advent is the bent end of the shepherd's crook reaching down.
Worship Feature
Though identified more with high-church traditions (i.e., Lutheran, Episcopal, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic) than the Reformed tradition, kneeling and standing can help people experience the full impact of today's Gospel text. One way to do this is to have people kneel (or bow low as they are seated) for the prayer of confession and assurance of pardon in today's service. Follow this immediately by having people stand for the reading of the Gospel lesson. You may want to point out the connection between these postures and the themes of humility and exaltation in Mary's song.
To the Children
See if you can arrange with a doctor or hospital to obtain an X-ray, sonogram, or other visual representation of the interior of some part of the human body to show to the children. Explain that although we can't see inside our bodies, doctors have special tools that help them see what is happening inside of their patients.
Then tell the story of Mary visiting Elizabeth, and describe how the baby John the Baptizer recognized the baby Jesus even before either of them were born. Tell the children that baby John did not need some sort of X-ray to help him identify Mary's unborn baby. Instead, God helped John recognize Jesus. These two babies were going to have a very special place in God's plan for forgiving people's sins.
Psalms, Hymns, and Canticles
"Hark, the Glad Sound! The Savior Comes" Doddridge
"Joy to the World! The Lord Is Come" Watts
"O Little Town of Bethlehem" Brooks
"O Sing a Song of Bethlehem" Benson
"Once in Royal David's City" Alexander
“Psalm 80” Polman
"Song of Mary" Westra
"While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" Tate
Anthems
Gospel
"Magnificat in G" [SATB, soprano solo, moderately difficult]
C. V. Stanford (Stainer & Bell)
"Magnificat in C" [mixed voices, easy]
R. Vaughan Williams (Oxford)
Epistle
"The Only Son from Heaven" [SATB, easy]
J. S. Bach (from Cantata 22, Concordia)
Old Testament
"A Spotless Rose" [SATB, moderately difficult]
Herbert Howells (Stainer & Bell)
"Savior of the Nations, Come" [SATB and congregation, moderately difficult]
Gerhard Krapf (Augsburg)
CHRISTMAS EVE OR DAY: Wait and Sing
Gospel: Luke 2:1–20
Epistle: Titus 2:11–14
Old Testament: Isaiah 9:2–7
Psalter: Psalm 96
Sentimentalism and cynicism are subtle and destructive enemies of the robust and proper celebration of Christ's birth. On the one hand, candlelight, music, and the tenderness of mothers for their babies can obscure the radical implications of the kingdom of God breaking into human history with the coming of Jesus. On the other hand, dismissing the emotional tingles and warmth evoked by the seasonal imagery reduces the coming of Jesus to a bitter tirade and ignores the compassion that Jesus brought when he came.
Christians remind secular celebrants that Jesus was born for a purpose. He came to die for human sin and to rise in victory over death. Christmas only makes sense as the start of a journey to Easter and the second coming. The One who came is the One who died and the One who will come again.
Those who prefer self-righteousness to repentance will always try to isolate Christmas from Easter, and especially from Good Friday. Christians who have grown too comfortable in their present environment may integrate Christmas and Easter, but balk at including the day he will come again. Certainly, sensationalistic eschatology is another unfortunate deterrent to a whole and purposeful Christmas celebration. Nevertheless, an honest look at the biblical texts associated with Christmas points inescapably to waiting for the day he will come again.
The angels told the shepherds that the "baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger" was "Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11–12). They also told the shepherds of glory to God and peace on earth (v. 14). Part of what must have amazed both the shepherds and the people to whom they brought the news (2:18) was how incongruous this birth was with their expectations for the coming of the Messiah and with their own daily experience in Roman-occupied Judea. Unique among the Gospel writers, Luke highlights an echo of the angel's praise in the shouts on Palm Sunday (Luke 19:38), connecting Jesus' birth with his redemptive passion and his promised return as king. No way was Christmas the end of the story!
Who can fail to tingle with expectation at Isaiah 9:2–7—whether read as a Scripture lesson or sung in Handel's Messiah? We crave light in the darkness of human evil. We yearn for all people to be free from burdens and oppression. We long for the day when there will be no more war and when every weapon will be destroyed. We thrill at the prospect that the fumbling uncertainties of every human government will be replaced by someone who is a "Wonderful Counselor" and "Prince of Peace"—though in all candor, we are probably less certain about the "Mighty God" and "Everlasting Father." Each Christmas we are inspired by these words, knowing full well that they do not reflect present reality. Rather, they represent our deepest thirst for what can be only when he comes again.
Once we are ready to move past Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection to the day of his return, we are able to celebrate Christmas with authenticity and enthusiasm. When Jesus came at Christmas, God's grace appeared (Titus 2:11) in a desperate, pain-drenched world. We are called to live as God's agents of promise and healing "in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ" (2:12–13).
When Christmas becomes the celebration of the coming of the One who will come, we can sing the new song that "the Lord reigns" (Psalm 96:1, 10). We will not need to refuse to sing because evil persists. We will not sing blithely, ignoring the malevolence around us. Instead we can sing in hope, confident that in a vicious world, "he will judge the peoples with equity" (96:10) and "the world in righteousness" (96:13). On Christmas we not only celebrate that he came, but that he will come!
Bulletin and Banner
The banner that starts on Christmas Eve or Day and develops in the two Sundays of Christmastide retains the words: "He Will Come" but incorporates new visual elements. The process of using a symbol on the bulletin cover and adding it to the banner is repeated from Advent. This week's bulletin cover can be found in the resources section below.
The visual for Christmas Eve or Day is a manger with a lens positioned on it that catches a beam of light which spreads out across the upper portion of the banner.
Worship Feature
Many congregations have a tradition of passing the flame as they light candles on Christmas Eve. One way to use this tradition to involve everyone in emphasizing this year's theme is to have each person say, "He will come" as he or she passes the flame to the next person. Though this will create an undercurrent of murmur during the first part of singing, it should not be so much as to disrupt the music.
To the Children
Often holiday services have enough special features to include children fully, so you may not need another way of involving children on Christmas. If you wish, however, you may want to show the children a microscope, telescope, or (perhaps best of all) a large magnifying glass. They can pass it around and discover how the lens helps them to see better. Talk about how Jesus helps us see what is really important. Point out the things that made it seem that Jesus was not important: being a baby, coming from a poor family, sleeping in a manger (an animal feed trough), being visited by shepherds. Then identify the things that showed how important Jesus really was: being announced by angels, being God's Son, being born to save the world from sin. Tell the children that by paying attention to Jesus, we can discover what is really important and what doesn't matter so much.
Psalms, Hymns, and Canticles
"Angels, from the Realms of Glory" Montgomery
"Gentle Mary Laid Her Child" Cook
"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" Wesley
"It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" Sears
"Psalm 96: Sing to the Lord, Sing His Praise" Anonymous
"Silent Night! Holy Night!" Mohr
"The People Who in Darkness Walked" Morison
"While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" Tate
Anthems
Gospel
"The Shepherds' Carol" [SATB, moderately easy]
William Billings (H. W. Gray)
"All My Heart This Night Rejoices" [SATB, 2 flutes, moderately easy, optional involvement by children]
Kenneth Jennings (Augsburg)
Epistle
"Unto Us a Child Is Born" [SATB, medium]
David Willcocks, arr. (Oxford, Carols for Choirs I)
Psalter
"O Sing Unto the Lord a New Song" [SATB, moderately easy]
Peter Aston (Hinshaw)
General
"What Is this Lovely Fragrance" [SATB, moderately easy]
Healy Willan (Oxford)
THE FIRST SUNDAY IN CHRISTMASTIDE: Grow in Wisdom
Gospel: Luke 2:41–52
Epistle: Colossians 3:12–17
Old Testament: 1 Samuel 2:18–20
Psalter: Psalm 111
Luke's account of twelve-year-old Jesus' visit to the temple is the only biblical (or historically documented, for that matter) record of Jesus as a child. Its uniqueness, however, goes beyond its singularity to present a puzzling portrait of the young Jesus. Luke does not offer this information to satisfy our curiosity as some of the fanciful legends did. Rather this account is part of his instruction, and, for Jesus' disciples twenty centuries later, it provides an important clue about spiritual development.
When he sums up this event in Jesus' life, Luke clearly builds on the description of the boy Samuel, who "continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with men" (1 Samuel 2:26). Luke adds that "Jesus grew in wisdom" (Luke 2:52). Why should the incarnate Son of God need to grow in wisdom? Doesn't he already have access to the wisdom of eternity? The parallel puzzle for us, his disciples who wait for the time he will come again, is this: what is the value of what we learn now if we will be privy to God's wisdom in the completed kingdom?
At a very simple level, Jesus' growth in wisdom provides an example that encourages us in a learning discipleship. In a more profound and mysterious way, however, that Jesus needed to grow in wisdom is an affirmation of the deep connectedness between this present age and the age to come. Somehow, a Jesus who grows in wisdom brings into this age "all the fullness of the Deity… in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9). Thus, our growth in wisdom now is in some way connected with the kingdom he will bring when he returns. Paul uses the image of the seed and the mature plant to illustrate this relationship between the mortal body and the resurrection body (1 Corinthians 15:37–57).
To suggest that we are limited in the kingdom by what we learn now is simplistic and mechanistic. Nevertheless, Jesus is more than an example; he is a model. What we gain as we grow in wisdom now is carried into the kingdom he brings when he returns, much as a stream flows into a mighty river.
Exploring Jesus' self-awareness as the Son of God leads to a mystery that has challenged Christian thinkers from the earliest centuries. Certainly learning is intrinsic to the incarnation—otherwise we must postulate a self-aware infant or zygote. An honest appraisal of Luke's account suggests a normal, if precocious twelve-year-old. Jesus is involved in his own pursuit, seemingly unaware of the anxiety of Mary and Joseph. His incredulous question, "Why were you searching for me?. . . Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" could be said with a tone that many parents would take as sass. Luke, however, in no way suggests even a hint of disrespect or sin in Jesus. These are the traits of a twelve-year-old that Jesus must learn to deal with as the incarnate Son of God—detailed examples of the reality of the incarnation.
So how does Jesus grow in wisdom? First, through his relationship with his Father (Luke 2:49). For all of our modern sophistication, we cannot escape what God's people have known as basic for generations: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom" (Psalm 111:10). Second, Jesus sought out growth in the community of faith. He learned through asking questions of the teachers in the temple (Luke 2:46). Throughout the New Testament, the fellowship of the church was to be the stimulus and setting for learning. Believers are responsible for each others' spiritual growth. Paul tells the Colossians to "teach and admonish one another with all wisdom" (Colossians 3:16).
The exhilarating hope for continually growing Christians is to be invited into the fellowship of learning conversation with Jesus when he returns. Imagine the questions we can ask him!
Bulletin and Banner
The symbol for the first Sunday in Christmastide is a seedling superimposed on a small tree, superimposed on a larger tree. They are positioned so that they occupy the beam of light just as it spreads from the lens. This week's bulletin cover can be found in the resources section below.
Worship Feature
At the conclusion of the service, plan a few moments for silent reflection on the questions, "How have I grown in Christ's wisdom?" and "Where do I need to grow next in Christ's wisdom?" You may even wish to provide 3"x 5" cards in the pew rack so that people can record their answers and take them home with them.
To the Children
Bring a young plant. Talk about what it takes to make it grow: water, soil, light, fertilizer. Have a small child stand next to a larger older child who is standing next to you. Talk about what it takes to make a person grow physically: food, water, exercise, rest.
Then tell the children that we grow spiritually, too, even though we can't see that growth. We grow spiritually as we learn more about God and learn to love God and God's people. Talk about what it takes to make someone grow spiritually: reading the Bible, praying, learning from and working with people in the church.
Psalms, Hymns, and Canticles
"Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning" Heber
"Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" 15th cent. German Carol
"O Come, All Ye Faithful" 18th cent. Latin Hymn
“Psalm 111” Anonymous
"Song of Hannah" Brink
Anthems
Gospel
"Son, Why Have You Treated Us So?" [2-part, easy]
Jan Bender (Concordia)
"And Jesus Increased in Wisdom" [SAB, moderately easy]
Harvey Hahn (Concordia)
Epistle
"You Are the People of God" [unison, easy]
Gerhardt Becker (Concordia)
Psalter
"My Heart Is Full Today" [2-part, handbells, easy]
Richard Proulx (Augsburg)
THE SECOND SUNDAY OF CHRISTMASTIDE: Receive His Abundance
Gospel: John 1:1–18
Epistle: Ephesians 1:3–6, 15–18
Old Testament: Jeremiah 31:7–14
Psalter: Psalm 147:12–20
By the second Sunday of Christmastide, some Christmas gifts are already broken. Some have lost the lustrous appeal of being new. Cheeses, home-baked breads, and cookies have been eaten. Dry evergreen needles are dropping, and the tree must go or become a fire hazard. Besides, the decorations no longer evoke the same sense of nostalgia, warmth, and excitement that they did when the cartons were first unpacked.
Even the less tangible benefits of Christmas are fading. That the malls and TV advertising stop the incessant Christmas carols they have abused since before Thanksgiving is a relief. The intended effect is spoiled for churches who try to build anticipation with Advent music, saving Christmas carols for Christmas. What should be two weeks of celebration becomes an anticlimax of exhaustion. But enough of bemoaning the world's poaching on the church's turf.
This week's worship invites God's people to revel in the spiritual abundance Jesus brought when he came the first time and with which he promises to outdo himself when he comes again. The focus changes from Luke to John, and, in a culmination of the Advent and Christmas messages, we are to start partaking of the appetizers of the great spiritual banquet Jesus spreads for his people. Our natural focus is on the tangible and temporary; Jesus turns our attention to his eternal bounty.
John's rather philosophical, if not esoteric, "Christmas" presentation expresses his awe at the importance of the incarnation (1:1–18). As one member of my congregation put it, "If I really grasped what it means that the eternal God, Creator of the universe, became a human being and is accessible to me, I would melt into a pool of jello." John consciously echoes the phrasing of Genesis (1:1, 3, 9, 11, 14) when he writes, "In the beginning was the Word" (John 1:1) and specifies that through this Word "all things were made" (1:3,10). This Word is the source of light and life and is a person who is coming into the world (1:4, 9). John's repetition of the verb "to come" (1:7, 8, 9, 11, 15, 17) reminds us that he who came will come again.
The awesomeness of this coming is captured in John's realization that "no one has ever seen God" (1:18), but that in this Word, we "have seen...the glory of the One and Only" (1:14). The One and Only has made God known to us.
This wonder persists in the testimony of John's first epistle, in which he claims to be an eyewitness, to have touched "that which was from the beginning," "the Word of life" (1 John 1:1). What John is holding up is not a Christmas bauble or curiosity for us to gawk at, but a treasure for perpetual marvel.
Through this God, Jesus Christ, who we know as a human being, "we have all received one blessing after another" (John 1:16). Our tendency is to count our blessings in terms of health, career, opportunity, friends, family, convenience, and possessions. But, although God is surely interested in these mundane details of our lives, focusing on them deprives us of realizing the blessings that make all these others pale into insignificance. This is "every spiritual blessing" for which Paul praises "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" in Ephesians 1:3. The real blessing is to know the One who has chosen us to be adopted as the children of God (Ephesians 1:5, 17–18, John 1:12–13).
Psalm 147 celebrates God's work of creation, God's gracious choice of a people, and the blessings of strength (147:13), peace, and satisfaction (147:14) that God gives them. But the culmination of this psalm is God's awesome word that shakes the creation (147:15, 18). The climactic blessing is to be privy to the Word of God that sends shudders through a cowering universe but guides the people of God in righteousness.
As God's people of faith in today's world, we receive the bounty of the Word with grief and anticipation. We recognize that most of humanity does not experience the benefit of receiving every spiritual blessing, one after another. This discontinuity is painful: strife, oppression, poverty, sorrow, betrayal, frustration, violence, greed. The list could go on and on. Compassion compels us to be a people of mourning and tears. But one part of the spiritual blessing is God's promise to turn mourning into gladness and to give comfort and joy instead of sorrow (Jeremiah 31:13).
Our perspective is not restricted to what can be seen, touched, or measured right now. Rather, we are called to be a people of the future, a people of hope. The celebration of Christmas does not end with packing up the ornaments while watching New Year's Day football games. It does not even end with the victory of resurrection on Easter. It keeps going into the kingdom that has no end, with the confidence that just as Jesus came on the first Christmas, he will come again.
Bulletin and Banner
The symbol to be added to the banner for the second Sunday of Christmastide is a pair of hands catching a stream of grain. The grain is falling from the top of the banner, making a healthy pile in the hands. This week's bulletin cover can be found in the resources section below.
Worship Feature
On this first Sunday of the new year, allowing some time for the people of your congregation to thank God for pouring out blessings in abundance is appropriate. One way to do this is to build into the service some time for people to stand and spontaneously praise God for one specific blessing. Encourage people to do this in a single, simple, declarative sentence. As each person is seated, the congregation may respond, "Thanks be to God!"
To the Children
Show the children a large Bible. Ask them what they know about the Bible. They may tell you that it is God's Word. They may tell you some of the stories they know. They may tell you that it teaches us about Jesus. They may tell you that it gives us rules for obeying God. Be sure to say something affirmative about each child’s contribution. Talk about how the Bible is the way we get to know Jesus. Explain that the better we know Jesus, the more we will know what God is like and the better we will know how God wants us to live.
Psalms, Hymns, and Canticles
“Christ, You Are the Fullness” Polman
“God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen” 18th cent. English carol
“God Who Spoke in the Beginning” Kaan
“In the Beginning Was the Word Eternal” Polman
“Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” Liturgy of St. James
“O Word of God Incarnate” How
“To Us a Child of Hope Is Born” Bruce and Morison
Anthems
Gospel
“The Glory of the Father” [mixed voices, medium]
Egil Hovland (Walton)
“And the Word Was Made Flesh” [SATB or unison, moderately easy]
Heinz Werner Zimmerman (Concordia)
Epistle
“When the Time Had Fully Come” [SATB, baritone solo, medium]
H. Leroy Baumgartner (Concordia)
Psalter
“Jubilate Deo” [SATB, medium]
Dale Wood (Augsburg)