December
Attention Commissioner of Religion:
The Season of Giving:
If you are looking for an Advent Service to use for one of your weekly assemblies. You can use this model and adapt to your assembly (depending on how long you have). This Advent Service is adapted from a Methodist Call to Worship. It uses scripture as well as legend to allow students to understand the true meaning of Advent, waiting and preparation. Advent is a time when much patience is required. While we are all very excited for Christmas to be here, we must remember that Mary and Joseph waited nine long months for the birth of their Son. And so we continue that tradition of waiting and preparing ourselves and hearts for the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Opening Prayer
In the name of the Father and of
the Son and of Holy Spirit, AMEN
The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
They break forth into singing.
The cypresses rejoice at you,
And the cedars of Lebanon. (Is. 14:7,8)
The glory of Lebanon shall come to you:
The cypress, the plane, and the pine;
To beautify the place of my sanctuary;
And I will make the place of my feet glorious! (Is 60:13,14)
Lighting of the
Advent Candle
We acknowledge the prophesies and celebrate the coming
of Christ with traditions, with worship, with reverent waiting. There are
many symbols of waiting, of preparation. There are many customs to hail the
Advent, which is Latin for "the Coming." Foremost among the symbols is the
Advent Wreath, the Wreath of Coming. The circle of the Wreath like God
himself, has no beginning and no end. A circle of evergreen, a circle of
meaning, a symbol of that which is as eternal as God, as victorious as the
coming Christ, and as everlasting as his promises. The Advent Wreath is a
symbol of hope, a symbol of four Sabbaths of waiting. Four candles light the
wreath. Three are purple. Purple is the color of kings; it is also the color
of repentant preparation. On the fourth Sunday of Advent, the rose candle is
set aglow remembering the unfettered joy of the Angel's song. The center
candle is white, pure white, lit when Christ is come. The wreath is made
with carefully chosen materials, each a symbol of the Christ. Holly is used
to symbolize the crucified Christ. Legend says holly was used to fashion the
crown of thorns for the head of the crucified Christ, and that the berries
were yellow until stained red by His blood. Mistletoe symbolizes Christ the
everlasting. Ancient Druids noted how, when all other trees were bare,
Mistletoe remained green. It was also a love symbol for them. In Christian
legend it became a symbol of eternity; Christ the Everlasting, Christ the
Eternal, Christ the Beloved. So in the wreath, we symbolized the coming of
Christ, the Victorious Christ, the Prince of Peace; Christ, the Eternal;
Christ, the Revelation of God. He comes! Let us prepare for His coming with
joy.
Hymn “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” Verse One
Hanging of the
Greens
The prophet Isaiah writes: "Here is my herald whom I
send and he will prepare your way."
Prepare the way. Prepare your heart and mind. Let everyone stand silent. Let
the stars and moon cease to move. Let the leaves of the trees and the tall
browning grass cease to rustle in the wind. With expectant hush, and long
awaiting yearning, we herald the coming of the long awaited Christ Child,
the coming of the infant to Bethlehem.
Prepare the way. Prepare the heart to receive. Prepare the way.
The Christ is coming. Let us prepare for the advent, the coming of the
Christ Child. On this first week of Advent, let us prepare with repentance.
Let us prepare with hope. Let us prepare with faith. For the light will come
into this world, as God has promised. The Christ Child came into Bethlehem's
stable. He will come into the world again, into every life that waits, and
into every hopeful heart. The Messiah comes to bring Christmas to every
waiting believer. Let us now prepare to receive Him. Let us now begin our
service of preparation. Come let us begin - our expectant waiting, for
Christ, the Messiah.
Father, the whole world rejoices at the coming of Your
Son. Everywhere around us we see signs of His coming. As we gather in this
evening hour, as Your family, draw us closer to You; fill our hearts with
anticipation and longing for Your Son's return, and make His Spirit very
present in our hearts tonight. May the life symbolized in the hanging of
these greens tonight, be a sign of the greater life we find in Him. In
Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Hymn “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” Verse Two
Placing the
Evergreens
When all the earth is brown, when the leaves have departed the trees; Evergreens stand in lonely vigil until the earth again is green. Evergreens shout to us about the hoped for coming of green again. Evergreens stand ever ready to remind us of joyous hope. The joyous reality of the eternal presence of the Christ Child; the eternal presence in all the world. Legend tells us that long ago, the evergreens were not forever colored with verdant leaves. Before the birth of the Eternal One, before the coming, the evergreen was bare like other trees around.
The Gospel
The Gospel of the Lord According to Matthew.
Respond: Glory to you Oh Lord.
The Gospel writer says, An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. And the angel said to him: "Rise up and take the Infant Jesus and his mother and escape with them to Egypt. Stay in Egypt until I bid you return. You are no longer safe. Go, for Herod sends his soldiers to seek out the Child and destroy Him." So Mary and Joseph and their Infant Child left the warmth and security of their land and journeyed into Egypt. Hastily, they gathered their meager belongings. Into the dark of night they stole away. Escape, they must, the jealous wrath of Herod and his men. Escape, they must, from the death decree handed down by Herod. No word could be said of their hasty departure; no notice of a planned destination. Friends and family could not know of their going, lest they too come under the decree of death. Over rocky hills and dusty roads, they traveled wearily; Mary and the Infant on the back of a donkey; Joseph, alert and watchful, walking beside them. With heavy saddened hearts and fearful weary bodies, they made their way all night long and into the following long day. Mid-afternoon, dust in the distance behind them came. Fast riding soldiers came, soldiers sent from Herod, sent to carry out Herod's dreadful mission. Where could they hide? Where could the Holy Family find protection? The hillside was barren, offering no shield. Quickly, a frightened Joseph guided Mary and her child into a clump of cedars on a hill. Immediately, the bare cedar twigs greened with color, thickened with growth to shield the Holy Family. The white berries of the cedar tree turned to sapphire blue to match the robe that Mary wore that day. So Mary, mother of Jesus in a robe of sapphire blue could blend with cedar trees, and go unnoticed by passing, hunting soldiers. Past the Holy family, went the band of Herod's men; never seeing, never knowing Mary, Joseph, and Infant Jesus were safely sheltered in a clump of green cedars with berries of sapphire blue.
The Gospel of the Lord
Respond: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
Since that day, cedars and plants like them have never shed their leaves; never lost their green; for they sheltered the Holy Family. Forever green, to honor the day they received the Infant Christ Child. Evergreen, everlasting, eternal, green branches are a part of our preparation, our waiting: a symbol of hope, a symbol of eternity, a reminder of love received. Evergreen is a symbol of the eternal promise of renewal, a symbol of the eternal and everlasting God.
STAND WITH ME to sing the first and third verses of
our hymn: Hark the Herald Angels Sing.
Carol "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" Verses 1 and 3
May the hand of God protect you; may His holy angels keep watch over you, to keep You in all His ways. And may the Spirit of Christmas, which is the Spirit of Christ, grow in your heart into an overflowing stream of peace, hope and love. Go in peace to Love and Serve the Lord and one another.
Using the book
The Giving Tree, by Shell Silverstein
have your student council or class reflect
and write about what gift they would most like to give to another person (or
pet).
Ask
students to bring in scraps of holiday wrapping paper to use as part of
the lesson. Ideally, these should be heavy wrapping paper with a white
reverse side. Begin the lesson by reading the story
The Giving Tree
to the class. After reading the story, discuss it with the class, making
sure that as many students as possible have a chance to describe the
meaning they find in the story.
After the discussion, explain to the students that they will be composing
their own "gifts" to hang on a giving tree in the classroom. Have each
student cut a piece of wrapping paper about seven inches square, folding
it in half like a small greeting card. Then ask the students to think
about the gift that they would most like to give and the person or people
to whom they would like to give it.
Students should begin the assignment by writing a "sloppy copy" which they
can revise until they have a finished version of their answer. Have
students copy the finished answers to the wrapping paper "cards," then
share them with other members of the class. When the presentations are
finished, hang the cards in the pyramid shape of a tree on a classroom
bulletin board. Hang the cards by attaching the inside sheet, so that
passers-by can open them and read the messages inside.
Check It Out!
Looking for fun stuff to present to your student body for the Christmas Holiday. Check out these sites:
http://www.catholic.org/clife/advent/
http://www3.kumc.edu/diversity/ethnic_relig/advent.html
http://www.edhelper.com/Christmas.htm
http://www.butlerwebs.com/holidays/december.htm
We all know that in December we, as Christians, celebrate the
birth of Christ, or Christmas… but December is also full of some silly and
other interesting Holidays… look at this list! They make great P.A.
announcements!
December is...
Hi Neighbor Month, National Stress Free Family Holiday
Month, Bingo's Birthday Month, & Read A New Book Month
December 1 is . . . . . National Pie Day & Eat A Red Apple Day
December 2 is . . . . . National Fritters Day
December 3 is . . . . . National Roof-Over-Your-Head Day
December 4 is . . . . . Wear Brown Shoes Day
December 5 is . . . . . National Sacher Torte Day
December 6 is . . . . . National Gazpacho Day & Mitten Tree Day
December 7 is . . . . . National Cotton Candy Day
December 9 is . . . . . National Pastry Day
December 10 is . . . . Festival For The Souls Of Dead Whales
December 11 is . . . . National Noodle Ring Day
December 12 is . . . . National Ding-A-Ling Day
December 13 is . . . . Ice Cream & Violins Day
December 14 is . . . . National Bouillabaisse Day
December 15 is . . . . National Lemon Cupcake Day
December 16 is . . . . National Chocolate Covered Anything Day More Info on
Chocolate
December 17 is . . . . Underdog Day & National Maple Syrup Day
December 19 is . . . . Oatmeal Muffin Day
December 20 is . . . . Games Day
December 21 is . . . . Look At The Bright Side Day, National Flashlight Day,
National Fried Shrimp Day, & Hamburger Day
December 22 is . . . . National Date-Nut Bread Day
December 23 is . . . . Roots Day
December 24 is . . . . National Egg Nog Day
December 25 is . . . . National Pumpkin Pie Day
December 26 is . . . . National Whiners Day
December 27 is . . . . National Fruitcake Day
December 28 is . . . . Card Playing Day & National Chocolate Day
December 31 is . . . . Unlucky Day
Meeting Starter...
Here is a fun way to start your student council meeting. Make this event the start of your last meeting before heading off for Christmas Vacation.
Have each person write down on a piece of paper their
estimate to exactly how many gifts are giving during the course of the song
The Twelve Days of Christmas…
no it isn’t just twelve…. Each time you sing a
verse you add more gifts. Then after each person has put down their answer,
sing the song as a class giving each of your officers a gift to sing… each
time their gift comes up they get a solo! Are you wondering how many gifts
there are? Check out the MEMBERS ONLY SECTION for the answer…. Not a
MEMBER…. Well email TACSC and
tacsc@tacsc.org for
membership information!
Christmas Lights
By Marie Irish
Bright Christmas stars shine on
high,
Golden stars in the wint'ry sky;
Christmas candles in windows bright
Send a greeting into the night;
While in our hearts the Christmas flame,
Glows with a love like His who came,
The infant Christ of lowly birth,
To bring good will and peace to earth.
Quote of the Month:
Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of
mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy,
is to have the real spirit of Christmas.
--Calvin Coolidge