A Creative Service For Advent

This service draws on the historical Advent service to model an Advent worship for the free-church tradition. Adapt this service in a way suitable to the local congregation.

Service Preparation and Reflection Taped Music [Monks of Weston Priory]: "The Goodness of God" (or some other suitable music) Opening Prayer Leader: Our loving God, we thank you for this blessed season wherein we are called to prepare anew to receive your gift of love to us. As we begin, we confess before you that while we long, deep within, to know Jesus more intimately, we come as weary children, feeling unable to stretch out our hand to receive him. We pray that your Holy Spirit would mediate mercy and grace to us this hour, and would lift us up. Help our eyes to see, our ears to hear, and our hearts to prepare for Jesus to be born anew in us this Advent season. Introduction to Advent Leader: Advent is a time of preparation and waiting. Advent, like birthdays and anniversaries, provides a time to reflect upon a relationship and to enrich it. But as we approach such events with friends or family members, often we are painfully reminded of all that our relationships are not. And we are unsure how to celebrate with integrity, not wanting our actions toward people to be a sham, an untrue expression of how we really feel. For similar reasons, Advent can arouse a similar disease within us. How do I celebrate the coming of one who seems a stranger to me, or to whom I am presently estranged? God desires our honest reflection and action. During Advent, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, we can freely ask, "Who are you, Jesus?" and "Who do you want to become … to me?" Leader: Let us now pray together as we prepare to listen to the Scriptures. People: Our loving Father, we come to this Advent worship desiring to pay attention, to listen to your word to us. We pray that as we listen to the Scriptures that you will make clear to each one of us what your particular calling to us is: What is the grace, the gift, that you long to give to each of us in order that we might grow in our intimacy with Jesus? Amen. Each text should be read slowly, with pauses for silent responses between readings. First Reader: (Isaiah 11:1–10) A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hold of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious. This is the word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God. [pause] Second Reader: (Psalm 25:4–12, 14) Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O Lord! Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees. For your name's sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great. Who are they that fear the Lord? He will teach them the way that they should choose. The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes his covenant known to them. This is the word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God. [pause] Third Reader: (1 Corinthians 1:2b–9) To those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours; grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind—just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you—so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. This is the word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God. [pause] Fourth Reader: (Matthew 11:25–30) At that time Jesus said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." This is the word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God. [pause] Leader: Advent prepares us for an encounter with Jesus of Nazareth. Let us now pause, collect our thoughts, and silently reflect on the following: "¢When I think of Jesus, in what form or manner does his character come to mind? "¢When I pray—apart from the times that I am praying in company with children—do I ever pray to Jesus? Why or why not? "¢How does my relationship with Jesus compare with my relationships with the other members of the Trinity? Allow God's Spirit to cause your present general actions, relationship, and thoughts toward Jesus to surface. [silence] Prayer: Holy Father, we thank you that from our beginning you have known us and loved us. You know our fears and hesitations, our vision that is askew. I thank you that your work of redemption weaves through and around our limited perceptions of you, and I pray that you will both expose the flaws and mend, or create anew, a tapestry of relationship between us and your Son. A work that will bespeak both the truth and beauty for which you have created us. Amen. [silence] Leader: In a few moments I will ask you to quietly reflect on the specific picture or symbol that you most naturally associate with Jesus. I will slowly list a variety of names and images that are often associated with Jesus. "¢ With which are you comfortable? "¢ With which are you uncomfortable? "¢ To which do you find yourself drawn toward? "¢ From which do you find yourself shrinking? Offer your private responses as silent prayer to God at this time. Close your eyes, and listen as I slowly read: "¢ Son of God "¢Brother "¢ Exalted One "¢Servant "¢ Teacher "¢Friend "¢ Judge "¢Husband "¢ Master "¢Lover [silence] Prayer: Blessed Jesus, I pray you will enlarge, in our mind, heart, and spirit, the picture you desire for us at this time. Help us to see you, to hear you, to touch you, to know you in a more all-encompassing way—in the world around us as well as in our inner world. We pray in your name, for the sake of your kingdom—within and without. Amen. Celebration of the Eucharist Leader: During Eucharist, we receive from Jesus, the one who has already come and the one to whom we open ourselves again, saying, "Come again!" We each come at this time with different longings and different perceptions of Jesus and with differing levels of relationships. Those of you who are presently living in a graced time of joy and hope can easily come to the Table. Your gratitude is your prayer, and as you receive the bread and wine, you are saying, "Thank you; feed me more, enliven me yet more." Today I want particularly to encourage those of us who are struggling; who are feeling apathy, numbness regarding our lives of faith in God; for the many who are weighted with stress, pain, or confusion; for those who feel unworthy to receive. I invite you to come to the Table, and as you come, know that 1. your decision to come forward expresses the prayer of faith; 2. your kneeling position before the Table expresses your prayer of loving submission; and 3. your receiving of the bread and wine expresses a prayer of hope. Your gestures can speak what your words and feelings cannot. Prayer for the Bread and Wine (directed to Jesus) Invitation to Eucharist Music: "Eat This Bread," "Prepare the Way," "Gloria, Gloria" (Music from the Taizé community by Jacques Berthier, available in North America from GIA Publications) Hymn of Response: "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus" Benediction Leader: Go with the blessing of God and the expectation of meeting Jesus in a new way this Advent season. Commentary Preamble. The attached Advent chapel is roughly equivalent to the service that was offered at Canadian Theological Seminary in November 1991. The chapel calendar for the year allowed one service to be devoted to Advent. I had to decide whether I would instruct the students and faculty or would simply lead them in worship. I was tempted to teach (given that the church year is a new concept for many), but felt that the timing of the service (coming one week before the end of the term) meant that I would be addressing a weary and discouraged student, faculty, and staff congregation, one that needed as few words as possible. My goal for the chapel was that it become for the participants a time of "peace-filled beckoning." Entrance. The chapel was dimmed, with the lighting emphasizing the Table/altar, which held candles and the bread and wine. (The wine was on this occasion in separate Communion cups, on several small trays.) The dim lights were for the benefit of the students, who usually come to the chapel for lectures. I needed to communicate that this time was for a different purpose. Having the quiet music of the Monks of Weston Priory helped focus on my purpose of worship; it was cheerful and hopeful, yet soothing. The introduction to Advent was minimal. I wanted to anticipate some personal or theological barriers that the participants might have come with in order to help them be placed in a position to enter the worship time and receive a grace during it. During this introduction, I was assuming the stereotype of seminarians (and seminary faculty), namely that objective study of the Scriptures and theology often seems to result in a subjective sense of displacement regarding one's relationship to God. Word. The Scriptures were chosen from typical lectionary readings for the season, but I did overrule the lectionary in that I did not remain with readings for the first day of Advent but decided instead to choose from these readings those that I felt would be especially encouraging to this congregation at this time. Rather than a homily or sermon, I chose to allow that time to be used for guided reflection and silent prayer. I wanted the students to be free to sit in the presence of God with no expectation placed upon them other than to trust that God wanted to receive them as they were and to give himself to them anew this season. (In the conservative evangelical tradition, much stress is often placed on what should we be doing for God. In this service, I wanted to err on the side of grace.) Eucharist. The participants were invited to come and, if they chose, to take the elements and kneel around the Table as they partook of them. They were encouraged to take as much time at the Table (or at their seats) as they desired. The liturgy is quite self-explanatory at this point. They were a weary group, faculty, staff and students alike, and I felt the physical prayer of kneeling could bring a freedom from the need to cognitively pray at this time. (The service at this point went far beyond what I had expected. The congregation responded in an overwhelming way as people remained around the Table for some length of time. Particularly moving for me was to see an elderly retired faculty member kneeling alongside his very young students, receiving together.) The songs selected for this time were chosen for the progression they brought. "Eat This Bread" was a promise (though somber in tone) that if we eat this bread we will never be hungry; "Prepare the Way" was also a promise, focusing on the God who will come and in his coming will make his salvation known to all his creation; and "Gloria, Gloria" was pure celebration. Having received God's promises and having eaten at his table, we have something to celebrate. Dismissal. Having been nourished and fed by God, we can with a new confidence sing "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus" and leave the chapel with a refreshed sense of hope and expectation as we enter the preparation and waiting time to come. Diane S. George Ayer