This week, the second week in Advent, is the week of Peace.
Given the recent death of Nelson Mandela, I would like to point your attention to his life and legacy of seeking, searching for, and working toward peace and social justice.
Nelson Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. Throughout his life, he served as an inspiration to many for his fight for peace and justice in South Africa and around the world. He is honored with receiving the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, and the US Presidential Medal of Freedom. Here is a look at Nelson Mandela's life, and a few quotes:
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. ~ Nelson Mandela
If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner. ~ Nelson Mandela Mini Advent Challenge:
Research people who have earned the Nobel Peace Prize. Pick one and find out more about their life. How can you mirror their peace-promoting actions in your own life?
The four Advent candles, along with the Christ candle, are lit on the Advent wreath each year at Christmastime. They represent the foundations of faith that Jesus made manifest in the world that night in Bethlehem.
Last week, we talked about Hope, and the hope that Christ brings to the world.
This week, the second week in Advent, we will talk about Peace.
This Sunday in The F.L.Y. Café, we held an open house and invited our congregation to come downstairs after worship, visit our classroom and see what our youth have been up to. Many renovations took place this summer in order to make The F.L.Y. Café a comfortable, fun, interactive and engaging space where teens and college-aged youth could worship and study the word, grow closer to God, grow deeper in faith, and gain a stronger understanding of God's plan and purpose for their lives.
Here are some of the renovations we made:
We prepared a slideshow, got three times as many doughnuts as usual and made about a pound more coffee! We also displayed some of the work that the students have been doing. One of the pieces that was displayed was a contrast piece that depicted, through the students' own interpretation and media (songs, writing, typography, collage, drawing, etc...) the contrast between God's plans and promises for us, an the result of sin in the world. These pieces were created following a series of lessons on the Creation and the Fall, up to and including the Flood and the Abrahamic Covenant. The students also participated in an Awareness Examen activity, in which they were provided silhouetted images of trees and asked to draw the details that were NOT there, in order to focus there attention on the moments in their lives where God is present.
Here are some samples of the students' work:
For this week's lesson, we took a look at Peace, and how in many cases, peace seems an oddly distant feeling around this time of the year. The hectic pace that takes over our lives around the holiday season seem to invade our every move. There also many people around the world who are suffering through hardship, heartbreak, loneliness, and war this time of the year. We discussed the peace that the Lord brings, and how it is different than the peace that the world provides and promises; how God's peace surpasses all understanding and logic.
We participated in an object lesson where the students had to take part in one of the least peaceful activities of the holiday season....untangling Christmas lights! There was a catch, though. Students had to sit in a circle, and place their dominant hands behind their backs, working together as a team with only their non-dominant hands to untangle the balled up mess of lights together. this was to illustrated that working together for "peaceful resolutions" is not always an easy task, and that it takes patience, communication and involvement to work toward a common goal.
We also watched a YouTube video of one of my favorite Christmas songs. The song is "Christmas Lights" by Coldplay. I got this idea from the AMAZING youth resource: Rethinking Youth Ministry.
We watched the video of this rather melancholy Christmas tune about a broken relationship at Christmastime. We discussed how it related to unrest in the world and how the broken relationship in the song could be paralleled to our broken relationship with God, prior to the coming of Christ at Christmas. We discussed the meaning of the end of the song, when hope seems to filter in and what the "Christmas Lights" in the song might symbolize.
At the end of the lesson, the students wrote letters to themselves listing ways that they would plan to contribute to spreading hope, peace, joy and love within their own families, communities and the world in 2014. They were encouraged to place the envelopes in a safe place and open them next Advent to assess how they did with keeping their promises.
We also had the privilege of having the Confirmation students visit our class during Sunday school and take part in our lesson. We were thrilled to be able to offer this opportunity to the Confirmation students in order to show them that there is faith life after Confirmation!!! :-)
We at the F.L.Y. Café want to be an encouragement to the younger youth in the church, and we were glad to be able to host their class for a day!
For those who wish to watch the Coldplay: Christmas Lights video, it is posted below:
This one name stirs up images of Christmas, presents, a jolly old man with a beard and a red suit, a naught and nice list, flying reindeer, the north pole and a plate of milk and cookies. Children all around the world wait patiently (or impatiently) for Santa Claus to visit their home on Christmas Eve and deliver their most coveted gadgets, toys and knick-knacks, in reward for being good little boys and girls. People of all ages sing songs and read stories and poetry about Santa Claus' visit on Christmas Eve. The giddy, magical feeling of waiting on pins and needles to hear the small sound of reindeer hooves on the roof is something that a lot of people have experienced in some form or another throughout their lives, or have at least heard the stories., but where did this story come from?
how many of you have ever heard of Saint Nicholas? Well if you haven't, you are going to get a mini-lesson about the origin of Santa Claus!
Saint Nicholas was a devout Christian of the early church and became the Bishop of Myrna. He was known for his intense generosity, taking all of his belongings and giving them to the poor and needy, especially children.
To find out more about St. Nicholas, his history and the traditions, legends and origins of Santa Claus, check out the Saint Nicholas Center
Mini Advent Challenge:
Today, smile and say “hello” to at least five people that you cross paths with today.
As we stated before, Advent is about preparation. The first week of Advent is also about hope. Sometimes in life, we are overwhelmed with the amount of preparation that must go into making big decisions or major life choices. many times we get scared of the unknown and the uncertain. We worry about what might happen, we get anxious about what is to come. Sometimes we stand at a crossroads, not knowing where to turn, or which direction we take and when this happens, we can get stuck. the great news, the news that is proclaimed during this week in Advent is that of hope. Hope helps us to be brave in the face of tough choices. Hope helps us to be brave even when we are scared, or anxious. Hope helps to ease our fears and worries. Hope promises that God is working in our lives and that he will not ever leave us to fend for ourselves. He is by our side, always. That is our hope...it comes from the Lord.
read this quote from our First Lady: "You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be
able to solve all of the world’s problems at once, but don’t ever
underestimate the importance you can have, because history has shown us
that couragecan be contagious and hopecan take on a life of its own." —
Michelle Obama
Be Courageous. Be Hopeful. Be Brave.
Advent Mini Challenge:
Today, be brave. Gather the courage to take action on something you’ve been putting off.
Adoration......what does it mean? What does it mean when we say that we adore something?
Wikipedia says this:
Adoration: Adoration is to respect; reverence; strong admiration or devotion.
The term comes from the Latin adōrātiō, meaning "to give homage or
worship to someone or something
The Oxford-English Dictionary says:
Adoration:
noun - deep love and respect; worship; veneration
Either way you look at it, adoration is a special gift of love to bestow upon someone or something, and no one is more deserving of our adoration than Christ.
During this first week of Advent, is seems fitting, as stated previously, to prepare our hearts for Christmas. What better way to start than to decide right now how we will spend our prep time in adoration of Christ. Just as the 3 Wise Men, or Magi, did so many years ago....just as the angels encouraged the shepherds...just as the Christmas hymn states...we are invited to "come and adore him". Whether this is done through prayer, attending worship, attending Sunday School, reading the Bible, talking to others about Christ, or simply reflecting on your own relationship with Christ, take the time to prepare your heart. "Oh come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant. Oh come ye, Oh come ye to Bethlehem. Come and behold him, born the King of angels. Oh come, let us adore him. Oh come, let us adore him. Oh come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord."
Advent Mini-Challenge: Try not to immediately respond to texts, phone calls or the need to report
your every move on your social media accounts today. It can wait. Instead, make an effort to be present in
the moment and pay attention to who you’re with.
Thanksgiving and Black Friday are over. After spending the weekend, well, spending....it's time to kick off the Advent season right with #GivingTuesday!
Advent Mini challenge:
Set aside $10 to donate to a charity of your choice. It can be an organization or even a friend of family member who is in need.
