Family Worship
Andy Beard
Luke 5:1-11 Family Worship Ideas

Home Group Notes I Cor.1:18-31

Sometimes a passage is difficult because it contains a lot of ideas in a small space, or because of the intensity of the logic.  Sometimes they are difficult because they prove so incisive and challenging that we kind of sub-consciously protect ourselves against what they are saying: we won’t let ourselves understand what is being said because the consequences are more than we can deal with.

If my own experience is anything to go by, we’re dealing with the latter scenario as we turn to I Cor.1:18-30.  We are so susceptible to the same temptation, to making the same mistakes, as Corinth.  We have a (well-intentioned) desire for the Church to be influential in the world.  We often want the Church to have a kind of cultural credibility, financial clout, or political influence.  Or if we are a bit more subtle, we long to see a more overtly ‘spiritual’ power.  We want people to think the Church is relevant and accessible (in a bygone generation we might even have said ‘cool’).  We want people to be impressed.  We want to be seen as rational and educated and sophisticated.  For the good of the Gospel, of course.

We are, in other words, very Corinthian. 

And Paul has little patience with such spiritual posturing.  We cannot preach the Gospel using methods that critically undermine that Gospel.  And a community brought into being by the cross must not reject being shaped by that cross.   The end does not ever justify the means when it comes to the economy of God. 

Paul is challenging that whole way of thinking…  and is calling us back to a humble dependence on the Holy Spirit and the Gospel of Christ…  that affects how we present ourselves and how we are perceived.  Paul categorically rejected everything that his culture would have considered essential to getting a message across effectively.  He consciously rejected the wise and persuasive, and relied instead on a ‘demonstration of the Spirit’s power’ (2:4).  It is when we have lost the Spirit’s power that we rely on production values, marketing techniques and cultural credibility.   Which is ironic, because often Churches that shape themselves in these ways are most vocal about their experience of the Spirit’s power!

 

Read I Cor.1:18-31

 

Where do we see the Church today aspiring to use the ‘power’ and ‘wisdom’ of the world in its evangelism and worship?   Why is this so compelling to Christians?

 

Is it legitimate for a Church to do this, or is it sinful? 

 

What would you say to someone who decided they were going to start going to a Church that was embracing such techniques?

 

Do you think Paul is unduly pessimistic about humanity’s pursuit for knowledge of God?  What about those who are sincerely seeking God?

 

Why has God made truth so obscure and elusive?  Why is our ‘boasting in the Lord’ so important?

 

Do you think God is deliberately frustrating humanity in their search for truth?  Can you show why you think what you do from this passage?  If you think the answer is ‘Yes’, why would God do that? 

 

If ‘demanding signs’ is a bad thing, what do you make of the idea that people would become Christians if they saw more miraculous signs?

 

If ‘wisdom’ is a bad thing, do you think we should work hard at explaining what we believe and why we believe it?  What does Paul have in mind when he talks about wisdom?  What might be a contemporary equivalent?

 

Why do you think Paul is so derogatory about the Church (v.26-27)?

 

How does this passage affect our approach to evangelism? 

(When you have answered this question, read I Cor.2:1-5.  Does that change your answer in any way?)

 

What would a Church be like that followed Paul’s teaching and example?  Where do you think we have this right at MIE?  …and where do we have it wrong?

Home Group Notes Rom.5:12-21

Individualism is rampant in our culture, but thinking of ourselves as individuals makes it particularly difficult for us to grasp the Bible’s teaching on our relationship with Adam, or what has become known over the years as ‘original sin’.  Nevertheless, as we focus on the different ways that Christ’s death deals with different aspects of our sin and fallenness, we must negotiate this key area of the Bible’s teaching. 

It has been said that all of Christian belief is governed by the fall of Adam and the raising of Christ.  Certainly all of humanity is governed by its relationship with these two men.  In the Bible, we are not just ‘involved in mankind’, or somehow vaguely connected to each other (Acts 17:26).  Rather, we deeply integrated into one or other humanity that is in turn indelibly connected to one of these two Representative Humans.  We are in Adam or in Christ, and everything about us is determined by who we are united with, and the ‘one act’ of sin or righteousness supremely associated with them.

Adam’s original sin is not like any other sin - even any of Adam’s own other sins.  In the case of Adam a sinful state followed a sinful deed; in our case, the sinful state gives rise to sinful deeds.  Secondly, in the wisdom of God, this first sin introduces sin to creation, welcomes death; it changes the rules of the game, and the structure of creation.  Nothing is the same after this cataclysmic moment of dislocation from God.  It is the originating sin, which plunges the entire subsequent experience of creation into guilt, pollution, shame, and curse. 

But likewise, Christ’s one righteous act (Rom.5:18) has cosmic ramifications for those who are identified with Him.  This gift of grace and righteousness results in ‘many being made righteousness’.   It also is not like any other act of righteousness.  Our righteousness doesn’t result in the justification of ourselves, let alone anyone else.  No other act of righteousness by anyone else will many be made righteous.  Christ’s supreme act of obedience to His Father (the definition of righteousness) is utterly unique.  It is a righteousness that infects and affects all who look to Him as ‘Head’

 

Questions

Do you think it is just / fair for God to relate to us on the basis of someone else’s decisions and behaviour?  Does the idea Original sin confuse the Gospel for you, or make it clearer?  Does it help in our evangelism, or make it harder?

Do you think it is still possible for people with a corrupted humanity - and who have not become Christians - to do what is good and right before God? Why / why not?

Are we responsible for the sins of our parents?  Should we apologise or repent for sins committed by our nation, or our family, or the Church in the past?

How does the doctrine of Original Sin affect the way we think Christians should raise their children?  

Read Romans 5:12-21

Why do you think the contrast isn’t set up as between Eve and Christ?  Why isn’t it called Eve’s trespass?   What is Eve’s responsibility in the situation, if any?

Does the fact that everything hinges on Adam or Christ take away human responsibility? 

What is the essence of Paul’s argument in 5:12-14?  How does he prove his contention that Adam’s sin is credited to everyone’s account?

How are the dynamics of Adam’s relationship with humanity and Christ’s relationship with humanity similar?  …and in which ways dissimilar?  Does this highlight the grace we enjoy in Christ in the way that Paul seems to want it to?

How does the cross of Christ deal with the consequences of Adam’s sin?

In 5:18, Paul writes that the one ‘righteous act [of Christ] resulted in justification and life for all people’.  Is Paul teaching that everyone is saved through Christ’s death?  Why / why not?

In 5:20 Paul tells us that the Law was brought in ‘so that the trespass might increase’.  Does that surprise you?  Why would God want the trespass to increase?

p.s.

The Anglican Church took pains to outline and defend this doctrine in its foundational documents.  Article 9 is entitled ‘of Original, or Birth Sin’ and locates original sin in ‘…the fault and corruption of the nature of every man (sic) that is naturally engendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil … and therefore in every person born into this world, it deserveth God’s wrath and damnation’.    And this infection of nature doth remain in them that are regenerated … although there is no condemnation for them that believe’.

It did so because at the time, very few Christians took seriously this aspect of the Bible’s teaching, preferring to think that humanity still had a free will and that, with the right education, a good role model and favourable circumstances, could still live righteously (do good).   Most Christians didn’t believe that we had inherited consequences from Adam’s transgression so that we were all born sinful, and under God’s judgement.  In such a context, Cranmer et al felt the need to remind people of the Bible’s teaching that we do what we do because we are what we are.  They understood this was at the very foundation of the Christian faith, and that without it, Christianity would be fatally compromised.

Home Group notes Rom.3:21-31

When we become Christians, our relationship with everything and everyone is fundamentally transformed, in many cases utterly inverted. It affects us psychologically, volitionally, emotionally, spiritually, physically, relationally … and legally. The legal change in our standing before God is what the Bible is talking about when it uses the word justified / justification. ‘Justification’ is the opposite of ‘condemnation’ in the Divine Court of Law. It speaks not merely of acquittal, but of a right legal standing, a vindication, of being judged to possess a perfect human righteous. The implications are breathtakingly. The mighty Dutch Reformed theologian, Bavinck wrote: ‘Of all the benefits [of our union with Christ] first place is due to justification, for by it we understand the gracious, judicial act of God, by which He acquits humans of all the guilt and punishment of sin, and confers on them the right to eternal life’.

It is a powerful spiritual reality that takes us to the heart of one of the deepest mysteries in the Bible: How can God justify (i.e. declare righteous) the wicked (Rom.4:5)? How can God look on a life that is riddled with intrinsic sinfulness and declare it to be righteous, without violating His own righteousness? If he is going to do what is right, then He ought to look at a life that is sinful and wicked and declare it to be sinful and wicked, and deal with it accordingly (Dt.25:1; Prov.17:15; Ps.11:4-7 etc.). This is a question of God’s righteousness as much as it is ours. How can God ‘not treat us as our sins deserve, or repay us according to our iniquities’ (Ps.103:10)? It is the deepest problem of a fallen creation. How does God in His wisdom, resolve that problem without causing dissonance within His own being? How can He be gracious and righteous, forgiving and just?

The answer is found at the cross. God’s putting forth Christ as a sacrifice is first and foremost a demonstration of His own justice … so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus (Rom.3:26). It is what Martin Luther describes as ‘the great exchange’ that comes about through faith. In one direction, my sinfulness is credited, attributed, imputed to Jesus and as He takes to Himself a sinfulness that is not His own, so He takes to Himself God righteous condemnation of that sin. In the other direction, His righteousness as a Man who has lived in total obedience to the Law (Gal.2:16; 3:11) is credited to my account, and on that basis God declares me to be righteous (Rom.5:17-19). Remember that this is a legal transaction. None of this changes my nature, or affects my spiritual condition. I remain a sinner who is at the same time declared righteous. You may have heard this referred to in disparaging terms as a ‘legal fiction’. But as there is nothing fictitious about Jesus becoming sin on the cross and dying a God-forsaken death, so there is nothing fictitious about my becoming the righteousness of God and as such being vindicated (II Cor.5:21). It can feel counter-intuitive to begin with, but it is liberating, both for God and for us. The demands of obedience to the Law have been satisfied and fulfilled on my behalf by Jesus.

This has always been the understanding of the Church, and as such, it finds its place in the CofE’s basis of faith: We are accounted righteous before God solely on the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, through faith, and not on account of our own good works, or of what we deserve. The teaching that we are justified by faith alone is a most wholesome and comforting doctrine…’ (Art.11, see also the Homily on Salvation).

Questions

Have you ever wondered if God is continuing to punish you for sins you committed in the past? How does this study help you to think this through?

The Canons of the Council of Trent (1545-63) still stands as the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. Canon 9: “If anyone says that by faith alone the impious is justified … let him be anathema.” Why do you think RC-ism takes such a strident view of this? How do you feel about it?

Read Rom.3:21-31

How has the righteousness of God now been made known (v.21)? Why is it important to realise that this stands in line with the Old Testament?

How serious is that ‘all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God’ (v.23)? How would you describe the impact of sin on us as humans? …on the world?

What would you say to someone who said they knew people who weren’t Christians who were better people than the Christians they knew?

Why is Paul underlining the issue of ‘sin’ so emphatically in this whole opening section of Romans (see esp. 1:18-32; 2:1-16; 3:9-20)?

What is a ‘sacrifice of atonement’ (v.25, NIV)? What is Paul teaching us about the nature of Jesus’ death on the cross?

Other translations render it: propitiation (ESV - some of you may recognise this word from BCP); sacrifice for sin (NLT); or ‘God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin’ (The Message).

In what sense has sin prior to the cross been left unpunished (v.25)? How does that call God’s righteousness into question? How is this resolved in the cross?

What does Paul mean when he describes God as ‘the One who justifies those who have faith in Jesus (v.26)? What does it mean to be justified (also vv.28 & 30)?

How does Paul’s teaching lead to humility (v.27)?

What is a Christian’s relationship to the Law of God as laid out in the OT? Should we keep the Law or not (v.27-31)?

Isaiah 40:1-11 Bible Study

What do you think Isaiah / the Lord has in mind when h/He speaks of ‘Comfort’? How you answer this question might prove more revealing than you would think! We need to be careful to let the passage tell us what it means, rather than impose on the word what we might hope it means. God has a very specific idea of the kind of pain and suffering into which he wants to pour His comfort. To understand Is.40, it helps to see how this passage is picked up in Lk.3:4-6.

We have almost certainly recognised these words as referring to John the Baptist, who in an unprecedented way was sent to prepare a people ready to meet with God. What does that look like? … to be a people ready / prepare to meet with God. The word we most naturally associate with John’s ministry is the call to ‘Repent’ (Matt.3:2; Lk.3:3 etc.). Essentially, that is what it means to be a prepared people – it is to be a repenting people.

Such repentance is born out of a grief and sorrow at the ongoing reality of our sin. It is born out of a godly and appropriate frustration at our lack of Christlikeness. It is born out of a desperation to turn away from a way of life shaped by this word, and its passing desires and priorities. It is a grief born of the psychological and emotional impact of our sin. I’m broken-hearted because I’m not like Jesus (II Cor.7:10).

And it is in response to that experience of sorrow, grief and trauma that the Lord speaks these words of ‘comfort’. It is those who are undergoing the struggle and pain of repentance and of fleeing sin that Jesus tends and gathers and carries and gently leads (40:11). Blessed are those who mourn, for the shall be comforted (Matt.5:4).

This dynamic is part of authentic Christian spirituality. It is something that is consistently part of or drawing near to God, and of His drawing near to us. Historically the Church has spoken variously of ‘a perfect agony of conviction’, ‘penitential pain’ and ‘distress of soul’. The traumatic sound of such language often raises concerns in our own generation about how ‘healthy’ repentance might be. But our desire is for a total re-envisioning of life as God desires it, and for my heart to desire that rather than ‘the fleeting pleasures of sin’.

Questions:

Are there other passages you can think of that do suggest God’s comfort for us in other situations and circumstances of life?

What is your experience of the conviction of sin?

How would you explain repentance to someone who wasn’t familiar with the idea?

Why, in Is.40:2, is Isaiah told to proclaim that ‘she has received from the Lord’s had double for all her sins? Wouldn’t that be unjust?

How does Is.40:3-5 correspond to the ministry of John the Baptist?

Would you say MIE was a Church characterised by ‘repentance’? What does a repentant Church look like? How would it prepare us to meet with the Lord?

What does it look like when the ‘glory of the Lord’ is revealed (Is.40:5)? What did it look like after the ministry of John? What would it look like today?

Why is repentance particularly necessary in the light of Is.40:6-8? Why does Isaiah contrast ‘all people’ and ‘the word of our God’ in the way he does in these verses?

Why is it good news that the ‘sovereign LORD comes with power’ (Is.40:10)? What is His reward and His recompense?

What event does Isaiah 40:11 refer to?

Family Worship ideas: Is.35:1-10

It’s such a visual, image laden passage that we might easily miss the profound spiritual truth that is being conveyed.  Isaiah is striving to capture the incredible transformation that will overtake the whole of creation when Jesus returns in glory and splendour (35:2).  Some of this week’s family worship can simply be about allowing the power of the imagery to take hold; and to connect it with the idea that this is what Jesus comes to do. 

Print out the passage (see below) and have some coloured pens ready.  Pick any different colour for each of the following activities relating to Is.35:1-10:

Highlight every image that describes this passing fallen age.

Highlight every image that captures something about the New Creation.

What are these collections of images trying to help us to see and understand.

Highlight what causes such an amazing change throughout all of creation.

Highlight the bits of the passage where Isaiah tells us how we should respond to our New Creation hope.

Highlight any parts of this passage that you think you’ve heard before.  Can you remember where?

Can you draw the picture that you think Isaiah is seeing as he writes this chapter? Mark will be giving out a small prize on Christmas Day to anyone who brings their picture with them (if your kids are planning to bring a picture, let me know – to avoid disappointment!).

You could plant up a pot of crocuses … and write Is.35:1-2 on the pot!!

10 days before Christmas (when we celebrate Jesus’ first coming) is a ‘gift’ of an opportunity to talk about the excitement we can feel when we are looking forward to something special. 

What is there about this age that makes us sad? … angry? …disappointed?

What are we looking forward to about the New Creation?

How does this passage encourage us as we think about:

…things that go wrong with people’s bodies?

…things that go wrong with the environment?

…things that go wrong with our own discipleship?

Why do you think Jesus doesn’t come back right now to make the world this amazing?

When Isaac Watts wrote his song: Joy to the world, it wasn’t originally designed for Christmas, but for the second coming of Jesus when creation would be renewed. 

You can hear a contemporary version of Joy to the World here

…a ‘kids version’ here

…and a more traditional version here

Heavenly Father

thank you that you have a great plan to fix everything that is wrong with the world.

thank you that Jesus is that plan

help me to look forward to the new creation

help to live as if I was already there!

Amen.

a bit of a trickier puzzle for older kids:

About 700 years after Isaiah wrote these words, John the Baptist was in prison (you can read about it in Matt.11:1-15).  He was asking some hard questions about his relationship with Jesus, and about whether Jesus was who He said He was.  This gives us a chance to talk and pray with our child(ren) about times when we’re not sure about being a Christian, or about what we believe about Jesus. 

How do we deal with those kinds of questions?  John sent two of his disciples to Jesus to ask the question straight out.  Jesus sent John back to think about Is.35.  Can you work out why? 

Is.35:1-10 Bible Study

You don’t have to have been a live for very long before you realise that the world can be a cruel place.  If we have enough money, we might be able to shield ourselves for a while, but eventually the bubble bursts.  None of us can scape suffering in some form or another.  It is a world under a curse (Rom.8:19-21).  It is broken, and at some point the sharp edges cut into our experience of life.

Becoming a Christians doesn’t change the reality of the world we live in.  I am changed, but the world is still the same, and remains characterized by darkness, suffering, loss, confusion and pain.  The Bible never denies the reality of the falleness of our world, not the struggle it is to live in it.  What it does offer is the chance to find in our faith the resources we need to live in this world in a way that honours Christ and is faithful to His call on our lives.  Isaiah 35 offers one such resource.  Suffering is complex and multi-layered, and so is the Scripture’s dealing with it.  But one layer is here.

Isaiah captures the  reality of our world with great poetic power: it is a desert, a parched land, a wilderness.  It is a world of suffering and of bodies that don’t work the way they should.  But he also foresees a Day when this world will be changed; when there will be a new creation of splendour, of healing, and which will be saturated with the manifest glory of the Lord.

And the reality of that hope carries with it the resources to steady, strengthen and encourage the Church in the midst of struggle (vv.3-4).  We take each painful step down the Highway of Holiness because – in pat – we know that when we ‘enter Zion’ we will know it was worth it!  It is the same psychology of discipleship that we in Jesus (Heb.12:2), and in Paul (II Cor.4:16-17, Rom.8:18).

And this is how Jesus uses the passage when John’s disciples come to ask Him if He is the One (Matt.11:4-6).  Imprisoned and facing martyrdom, John is asking deep questions.   And Jesus doesn’t just answer John’s question, He speaks to the fear that lies behind the question.  Jesus is saying to the fearful hear: Be strong, do not fear.  Jesus invites John to look out through the bars of his prison window, to glimpse the foreshadowing of New Creation that is in Jesus’ ministry, and to remember that faithfulness to Him will be worth it when John enters Zion with everlasting joy.

Questions:

Is this just ‘pie in the sky when you die’ kind of thinking?  Would it be a problem if it was?

What do we lose when we dismiss or shrug off a vision of the New Creation? … or let it remain insubstantial, or uninformed by Scripture?

How would you describe the New Creation to someone who wasn’t a Christian?

How does the healing of the environment, or the healing of human bodies that awaits us in the New Creation affect our engagement with environmental and medical issues today?  How does the connection in Is.35 between that healing and the seeing of the glory of the Lord affect your answer?

Do you find the idea of the New Creation compelling? …exciting?

How does being a Christian change the way we experience suffering and struggle in this old, fallen creation?

What does it look like to walk the Highway of Holiness in the midst of suffering?

What is the connection between ‘holiness’ as the way to Zion, and the joy that awaits us when we get there?

Do you think joy and gladness will be your experience of New Creation life?

Is.11:1-10 Bible Study

As we come out of Is.10, the impending destruction of Judah is pictured as deforestation on a massive scale (remember 6:11-13 from last week, using the same imagery). ‘The lofty trees will be felled, the tall ones will be brought low. [The Lord] will cut down the forest thickets with an axe…’ (10:33-34). The sense of ruined former glory is palpable. All that is left is a remnant that serves to remind us of what once was a super-power.

The scene is evocative: bleak, hopeless, inviting us to despair at what has occurred, and at a lost future. And yet, the LORD is a God who brings hope where there is no hope. He’s been doing that since Israel found themselves hemmed in on the shores of the Red Sea. And against all hopelessness, from the stump of the family tree of Jesse, a shoot will come up (11:1). A fruitful Branch will grow up from the midst of this desolation. He will be anointed (christ-ed) with the Spirit, through whom ‘He will delight in the fear of the Lord’ (11:2-3). As we read through the Gospels we find how literally this prophecy is fulfilled, but Isaiah lifts our gaze beyond the ‘days of Jesus’ life on earth’, and to the great Day when Jesus returns to his earth in glory. The Incarnation sets in motion a drama that finds its resolution only at the end of the age. The wisdom, understanding, counsel, might knowledge and fear of the Lord that Jesus has by virtue of His unique relationship with the Spirit are brought to the task of judging the living and the dead (Rev.20:11-15).

Isaiah is at pains to underline the fact that this Righteous Branch can be trusted with the epic task of bringing justice to bear on all of human history. For us, who can barely make right judgments in any given single situation, the complexity of judging everyone who has lived throughout all of history is breathtaking. Yet we are reassured that Jesus will see to the foundational truth, that He will not be swayed by appearances, or intimidated by status. His judgments will be exhaustive, accurate, just and final.

But such cosmic judgment is not an end in itself. Isaiah’s vision extends beyond even this great and terrible Day. He perceives the profound reconciliation and renewal that awaits the entire creation in Christ, and through His death (Col.1:19-20). As all things are reconciled to Christ, so they are reconciled to each other. Humanity’s relationship with the rest of creation, throughout the animal kingdom, and throughout the nations of the world, there is fully and finally shalom. And ‘the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea’ (11:9).

Questions:

Why is it critical that as Judge, Jesus fears the Lord (11:2-3)?

How far can our own ‘anointing’ with the Spirit reflect the experience of Jesus? What would it look like if we were characterized by wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, fear of the Lord? How would that affect our dealing with people?

What is wrong with judging by what we see and hear (v.3) How else can we judge?

Who are the ‘needy’ and the ‘poor of the earth’ (v.4)? Why do they get preferential treatment?

Why is it important that we know Jesus will judge the worl in this way?

Why is it good news that Jesus will ‘slay the wicked’? Who do you think constitute ‘the wicked’?

In Ps.36:1, the ‘wicked’ are defined as those who have no fear of God. Does that change your sense of what Isaiah is anticipating?

How does this connect with Jesus as one whose ‘delight is in the fear of the Lord’? What is the ‘fear of the Lord’? How can we cultivate it as a Church? Would you want to?

How can we explain such a radical re-ordering of the world? How can this speak into our world’s concerns about our relationship with our environment?

What is the centerpiece of the New Creation? What is the goal of Christ’s work of redemption?

Look at Is.11:1 & 10. What is the significance of the Branch being both a shoot from Jesse, and a Root of Jesse (see also Rev.22:16, and less obviously Mk.12:35-37)?

Family Worship Ideas (Isaiah 6)

A great place to start Family Worship at the start of this season for Advent is with the question:

How do you know the Bible is the Word of God? 

That’s worth a bit of a discussion…  there are a number of texts that different religions claim to be inspired in one form or another.  What sets the Bible apart?  One part of the answer is ‘prophecy’.  The fact of hundreds of prophecies made specifically about the coming of Christ is unprecedented and unique (to say nothing of prophecies about other national and global events in history).  We can be so familiar with the phrase ‘This was to fulfil what was said through the prophet…’ (or similar) that we have forgotten how extraordinary a thing it is for the Spirit-inspired prophets to be able to foretell the future with such absolute accuracy.

If it helps, here’s a puppet telling us about some of those prophecies…  if you can find a better video that helps underline this point, let me know:

Advent is a time for preparing. We tend to think of it as preparation for Christmas (think: Advent Calendars). But really it is about preparing for the second coming of Jesus. And when we see who Jesus is (in our reading from Is.6), when the veil of His flesh is lifted, we can see why such preparation might be necessary!

We often represent this sense of preparation visually with an Advent Wreath. These are pretty easy to make, and can be a simple as four candles stuck with blue tack to the table. But they are often decorated in a host of different ways. An image search will give you plenty of ideas if you are struggling. Here’s a short video that might give you some ideas…

We light a candle each Lord’s Day between now and Christmas. You may wish to add a different coloured candle for Christmas Day.

But don’t forget that we are preparing for the second coming of Jesus, albeit in the light of His first coming.  Reflecting together on how we can do that, and praying together about the ideas and answers that you come up with would be an amazing thing to do as a family.

When we read about Isaiah’s experience, one key thing we need to do is ‘repent’.  We hear John the Baptiser talking a lot about this as he gets people ready for Jesus’ coming.  For Isaiah this is captured by a multi-sensory experience in His encounter with Jesus.

In the holiness of Jesus, Isaiah becomes very aware of his sin (see Matt.12:34 - that’ll help explain Isaiah’s preoccupation with his lips!).  He needs to be cleansed and his sin needs to be atoned for – which happens from the altar.  Jesus wants a ‘clean’ people when He comes back.  That is why He came the way He did first time.  So that in His sacrifice of Himself, He could clean us…  and change how we live in the future.

Isaiah’s response is one of desiring to serve Christ.  Can you think together of ways in the Bible that Jesus says he wants us to serve Him?  How can you do that over Advent?  You could make an Advent ‘maze’, where an angel moves one star closer each day to the coming of Christ.  And each start could be an act of service we’ll do that day as we learn how to live as Jesus calls us to.