Description
Advent Story: an Advent Candle Liturgy
These five liturgies for the Sundays of Advent and Christmas Day all follow the same pattern. Reader 1 can be an adult and Reader 2 a younger person, and there are words for the wider group or congregation to speak. It is good to precede the spoken words with a hymn or song such as ‘Deep in darkness we begin’ by Andrew Pratt, ‘Advent candles tell their story’ by Mark Earey or ‘Christmas is coming’ by John Bell, singing one verse the first week, building up an extra verse each week until all the verses are sung on Christmas Day.
Advent Story: First Sunday of Advent
Reader 1: Once upon a time . . .
Reader 2: Is this a story?
Reader 1: Yes, it’s a true story, and it’s a candle story.
Reader 2: So are we lighting these candles?
Reader 1: Just one, because this is the First Sunday of Advent.
(A candle is lit)
Reader 2: What’s the story for this candle?
Reader 1: Once upon a time people were lost in darkness, they did not have hope that life would get better. But God promised a light, a
light to shine in the darkness; the darkness would try to put the light out, but it would fail and the light would keep on shining. And God
told everyone to keep awake, to be ready for the coming of the light.
Reader 2: And were the people ready?
Reader 1: Some were, some weren’t, just like they are today.
Reader 2: It’s God’s story.
Reader 1: And it’s our story.
All: We must keep on telling it today.
Reader 2: We’ll tell it through Advent.
All: We’ll tell it and we’ll sing it
and we’ll light it up with candles.
We’ll thank God that we can trace
the story of his love through the centuries
to the birth of a child in Bethlehem.
Reader 1: And that birth is not the end, but a beginning.
All: It’s God’s story, it’s our story,
and there are more chapters still to be told.
Advent Story: Second Sunday of Advent
Continues…