Advent Devotions for Primary/Upper Elementary Grades
You can buy Advent wreaths from religious bookstores, or you can make one by setting up six candles in a circle and surrounding them with greenery. Advent wreaths for the Armenian Church would have five candles - purple, red, or green – and a taller, white candle (the “Christ candle”), representing Jesus, for the center of the wreath. Light it on both American and Armenian Christmas Day.
First Sunday of Advent: November 27
Light the first candle
Leader: Today we begin our Advent journey, a time of listening and waiting.
All: We listen to God, and we wait for the coming of Jesus into our lives again.
Leader: As we wait, hear this promise from the prophet Isaiah:
Reader: Read Isaiah 2:1-5.
Leader: Isaiah brought the promise of a day when all people will go to the mountain of the Lord.
All: There, God will teach us how to live.
Leader: God will decide what is right.
All: Instruments made of war will be made into farm tools to bring life from the ground.
Leader: And we will see God’s promises come true.
Prayer: God of promise, help us to wait for the fulfilling of your promise in the coming of Jesus. Amen.
Together time: Isaiah invited the people to “walk in the light of the Lord,” to live the way God wanted them to live. On a large sheet of paper, draw a light. Your light can be a candle, a lantern, the sun, or any kind of light you want to draw. All around the light, write as many ways you can think of that you can “walk in the light of the Lord” by living the way God wants you to live.
Second Sunday of Advent: December 3
Light the candle from last week and the second candle.
Leader: Our Advent journey of listening and waiting continues.
All: We listen to God, and we wait for the coming of Jesus into our lives again.
Leader: As we wait, hear this promise from the prophet Isaiah:
Reader: Read Isaiah 11:1-10.
Leader: Isaiah promised that someone was coming, someone upon whom the spirit of the Lord would rest.
All: Someone who would be wise and see that all people are treated fairly.
Leader: Someone who would follow God’s ways
All: Someone who would establish a kingdom where all of God’s creatures would live together in peace.
Leader: In that peaceful kingdom, children will have nothing to fear.
All: No one will destroy or hurt anything.
Leader: And everyone will know God.
Prayer: God of peace, teach us to live in peace with one another in our homes, in our schools, in our jobs, in our community, and in our world. Amen.
Together time: Think together about rules for peaceful living for your home, your community, and the world. Have one person write all of the ideas down on a big sheet of paper under the words Rules for Peaceful Living. Take turns suggesting rules. Hang your rules where everyone will see them.
Third Sunday of Advent: December 11
Light the first two candles and the third candle.
Leader: Our Advent journey of listening and waiting continues.
All: We listen to God, and we wait for the coming of Jesus into our lives again.
Leader: As we wait, hear this promise from the prophet Isaiah:
Reader: Read Isaiah 35:1-10.
Leader: Isaiah talks about a time of great joy when the desert will blossom and be filled with springs of water.
All: And the people will sing with joy.
Leader: The blind will be able to see, and the lame will leap and dance.
All: And there will be a highway for God’s people to travel on.
Leader: It will be a safe place, where no dangers wait.
All: It will be a place of joy.
Prayer: God of joy, how wonderful your promises are! Help us to wait with patience, knowing that you always keep your promises. Amen.
Together time: Talk together about times when you have had to wait a long time for something. How does it feel to wait? What makes waiting easier? What makes it harder? When you had to wait for something, did it seem worth the wait? What are you waiting for right now?
Fourth Sunday of Advent: December 18
Light all of the candles on the outside of the wreath.
Leader: Our Advent journey of listening and waiting continues.
All: We listen to God, and we wait for the coming of Jesus into our lives again.
Leader: As we wait, hear these words from Matthew’s Gospel about what we are waiting for.
Reader: Read Matthew 1:18-25.
Leader: God had promised the people a Savior.
All: God worked through Mary to make that promise come true.
Leader: God worked through Joseph to make that promise come true.
All: Mary and Joseph must have been very special people.
Leader: Yes, they were special people because they listened to God.
All: And they were willing to do what God wanted them to do, even though it was hard.
Leader: They were special people, but they were ordinary people, just like us.
All: Like Mary and Joseph, we can listen to God and do what God wants us to do, even if it is hard.
Prayer: God of ordinary people, help us to listen carefully to you and to be willing to do what you want us to do, even when it is hard. Amen.
Together time: Talk together about times when you felt that God wanted you to do something, even though it was hard.
American Christmas: December 25
Light all of the candles and then the white Christ candle in the middle.
Leader: We have journeyed through Advent and come to Christmas.
All: We have listened to God, and we have seen God’s promise of a Saviour come true.
Leader: Now let’s remember another journey:
Reader: Read Matthew 2:1-12.
Leader: On their journey, the wise men brought gifts to Jesus.
All: We want to give gifts to Jesus. What can we give?
Leader: We can give the gift of being honest in our work, at school, and at home.
All: We can give the gift of being kind to a classmate who is left out or a neighbor who is lonely.
Leader: We can give the gift of trying to live in peace with one another.
All: We can give the gift of taking care of God’s wonderful creation.
Leader: We can give the gift of sharing what we have with those who don’t have al the things they need.
All: We can give the gift of continuing to listen to God.
Leader: We can give the gift of trying to live each day as Jesus would want us to live.
Prayer: God of light, help us to remember the gifts that we can give to Jesus and help us to give those gifts each day. Amen.
Together Time: Let each person write down one gift that they want to give to Jesus this year. Those who want to can talk about what they wrote, but some people may not want to talk about their gift. Tape these pages on the wall where it can be a reminder of the gift they want to give to Jesus.
Armenian Christmas: January 6
Light all of the candles.
Leader: Our waiting is over!
All: this is the day we have been waiting for, the day or our Savior’s birth!
Leader: Let’s hear the story:
Reader: Read Luke 2:1-14.
Leader: Today we celebrate the way God’s promise of a Savior came true in the birth of a baby named Jesus.
All: Jesus is God’s gift to us, the best gift ever!
Leader: Better than anything we could ever ask for!
All: Better than anything we could even imagine!
Leader: Jesus is God’s gift to us.
All: Thanks be to God!
Prayer: God of Christmas, thank you for giving us the gift of Jesus. Help us to remember to thank you by the way we live our lives each day. Amen.
Together time: Sing “Joy to the World” (or Khorhoort Medz”) and give everyone a big hug.