Advent At Home: Christmas Week One

This Christmas season devotional comes from Mennonite Church USA’s (MC USA) 2020 Advent at Home devotional, “We Wait for Jesus,” which focuses on the Advent themes of hope, peace, joy and love. It was written by Talashia Keim Yoder, pastor of Christian Formation at College Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana. 

Christmas Week One

Introduction

Christmas Season is here! Yup, you heard right. Now, beginning December 25, we are in what is called the “Christmas Season” in the Christian year. So instead of packing it all up, make the most of these twelve days that bring us from Christmas to Epiphany. You know that song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas?” This is what it’s talking about!

Activities for this time will be similar to the ones you used for Advent. You can continue the routine from the last four weeks, with a few tweaks.

Christmas Daily Ritual

• Light three purple candles and the pink candle, saying something like, “Jesus will bring hope, peace, joy and love.” Light the middle candle and say, “Jesus is born!”
• Read Luke 2:1-20 and explore it, using the prompts below. Find some way to embody it today, maybe by telling it with a nativity set, acting it out, or walking through your house (or even outside) as you read it.
• Daily texts for the week of December 27: Isaiah 61:10-62:3; Psalm 148; Galatians 4:4-7; John 1:1-14.
• Do your last Expecting Ritual. Celebrate that today is the day that Jesus arrives!
• Pray: God, today we are full of hope, because today reminds us that with you, anything is possible. We are full of peace, because we know that this is your world and you are in charge. We are full of joy, because of this special day. We are full of love for you and for each other. Thank you for the biggest gift of all, your son Jesus. Amen.
• Sing a song of Jesus’ birth.
• Let your candles burn longer today while you celebrate Jesus’ birth. When you blow them out, sing a song or say a prayer.

Weekly Worship Ritual

Tell the story

Luke 2:6-20
If you have Shine On: A Story Bible, this story is found on pages 165-167.

Put it in context

Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem, and the time of God’s ultimate love revealed in Jesus came closer and closer.

Today we celebrate Jesus being born. The savior of the world was a tiny, helpless baby, whose birth was proclaimed by angels. This is a beautiful, humble, earthy, mysterious
story. Dig into it today!

Talk about it

Choose the prompts that are appropriate for your household.

• We read this story with a lot of Western assumptions. Read this article if you want to see one person’s case for a less lonely nativity story. Jesus was probably born in a home instead of in an area reserved for guests. The word translated as “inn” in verse 7 is elsewhere translated as “guest room” (Luke 22:11).
• A “manger” is a feeding trough for animals. This is the clue that we use to deduce that Jesus was born in an area that included animals. (See the article linked above.)
• “Bands of cloth” would be like swaddling a baby today. Some say it also foreshadows Jesus being wrapped in bands of cloth for burial.
• Notice the different names given for Jesus in verse 11. Why do you think all of these are used?
• Every culture reads this story their own way and adds their own spin to it. Maybe you want to explore the story from the viewpoint of other cultures. A great place to start is by looking at nativity scenes from around the world. For one playful example, look up “caganer” to learn about a little French addition.

Tell it your way
Add to your “Journey to Bethlehem” mural.