Remembering the Future—Introduction Service Plans and Sermon Sketches for Advent and Christmas

This is part of the Advent and Christmas worship series
"Remembering the Future"

Series Introduction
 Advent 1 | Advent 2 | Advent 3 | Advent 4 
 Christmas

Introduction

One of the most striking features of the Christian faith is the claim that in Jesus our future has already appeared in the past. Jesus is, paradoxically, the “remembrance of things hoped for.” In his godly way of life, so fragrant of forgiveness and redolent of gentle grace, we see both what we will become in God’s future kingdom and what we are to strive for now. In his God-forsaken death, so stark in its hellish sense of divine abandonment, we see that the death that awaits each of us has already been conquered. In his God-empowered resurrection, so startling in its undeniable reality, we see our future as body-and-soul persons in God’s new creation.

What we are to be now and what we will become later can all be seen in the distant past. These service plans and sermon sketches for Advent and Christmas remind us of the kind of spiritual “time travel” Christians engage in when pondering the great things of the faith, starting with the birth of the Messiah. We will think about the end of the world and its connection to a birth two millennia ago. We will think about a far-off figure like John the Baptist and what his message tells us about our lives right now. We will ponder ancient history but then see how those very events should create a quiet center of reflection in our lives today and into the future.

The gospel lessons, as well as other supporting passages, are all based on the Revised Common Lectionary, Year C. My thanks to Kenneth Bos for selecting organ literature and hymns based on these passages and to Maria Vanden Bosch for selecting children’s music and Advent wreath material.

Series Outline

 Advent Wreaths at Home

A friend once told me how at church, during the lighting of the Advent candles, her young daughter leaned over to her and whispered, with a smile of recognition on her face, “Mom, that’s the same song we sing!”

For years they’ve used an Advent wreath as part of their evening devotions after supper in December. They light one candle each week and sing a verse of “O Come, O Come Immanuel.” Sometimes they’ll read Scripture and a devotional and then close in prayer. The somber tone of the hymn, the quiet of the prayer, juxtaposed with the increasing light of the candles from week to week communicate the meaning of the season without wordy explanations.

When rituals at home and in church resonate with one another, we create a rich web of worship and family and faith.
—RR

Revised Common Lectionary

Year C: Advent—First Sunday of Advent
Year C: Advent—Second Sunday of Advent
Year C: Advent—Third Sunday of Advent
Year C: Advent—Fourth Sunday of Advent
Year C: Advent—Nativity of the Lord