More Advent Themes Here:
This year for Advent we used the theme of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. Each week we had a different reading from poetry by Cheyrl Lawrie. I was really excited to come across her blog and I really appreciate her writing and perspective.
Here’s each week’s reading and song choice, the poems are longer so I’ll show an excerpt and you can just follow the links to read them. It’s worth it!
If your looking for an Advent Worship Theme or some creative ideas to use in you worship service for lighting advent candles or for advent readings, the ideas below may be helpful.
Week 1: Waiting
‘…i’m still learning what waiting with faith looks like for those who are living it with every breath… or maybe i’m learning that living waiting with every breath is in itself a fierce act of faith.’ read more.
O Come O Come Emmanuel – by Linda McCary free download
We used this soulful version paired with some images of world disaster or poverty, it worked really well as the pictures echoed the cry of the song.
Week 2:
how does this advent find you..
…in this time of worship this morning
let your act of faith be to
let advent find you
wherever you are
to create a space inside us and the world
where mystery and presence might grow.
Week 3:
This week we found a video made from Cheryl’s Lawrie’s Poem.
The video is available for download on vimeo. There is no soundtrack so we used Enya’s version of O Come O Come Emmanuel
Week 4:
We used a 2 person reading of John 1 – Download it here: ‘WordbecameFlesh‘ Our hope was this would help introduce the sermon theme of ‘Heaven Meets Earth’. As we read we played Casting Crowns’ instrumental version of ‘O Come O Come Emmanuel’.
Christ Candle:
For all we know,
before Mary sang her song of joy
she wept tears of frustration
despair
and heartbreak.
I like to think she did.
For all we know,
before Mary welcomed God’s action with delight,
she fought what was happening to her
and she resented the presumption
of the divine.
For all we know,
for at least a moment
and probably longer,
Mary was bewildered,
distraught
and lost.
The miracle we celebrate today
may somehow seem more impossible
than the idea that Mary got pregnant
or that God became human.
It’s that in the face of devastation
and from deep within the truth of heartbreak and desolation
there might still come
unbidden a moment of joy
O Come O Come Emmanuel – With Current Events (2021)
