By Cindy Haverkamp
With just a day or two left in November, Advent is almost upon us! Please consider including a prayer or song in honor of the plants and animals we share this beautiful planet with during the Advent season! After all, “ALL Creation waits with eager longing” (Romans 8:19) for the deeper connection with God that the birth of Jesus brings. Here are few new ideas as well as some classics to help bring nature’s glory into your Advent services:
This brand-new resource for Advent is available from the PNW’s Regional Media Center! Click the link above to learn more, then let Media Center Manager, Ian McKnight, know if you’d like to be the first to borrow it!
Presbyterians for Earth Care Advent Devotional
Click the link for a free, downloadable resource containing six devotionals – one for each Sunday in Advent plus Christmas Eve and Christmas Day – including relevant Bible verses and prayers, from a diverse group of pastors and lay people as they consider how God speaks to us about and through nature during the season of Advent.
Looking for a quick and meaningful holiday read for teen or adult Sunday School? Bill McKibben’s Hundred Dollar Holiday presents a case for spending less on gifts by giving gifts from the heart.
This is also a great time for a Creation-oriented hymn sing! All of these songs reference nature and Creation and remind us that humans aren’t the only ones waiting hopefully for a Savior:
#202 People Look East
#210 All Earth is Waiting
#216 Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming
#221 In the Bleak Midwinter
#227 The Friendly Beasts
#244 Twas in the Moon of Wintertime
and OF COURSE, #246 Joy to the World. Let Heaven AND NATURE sing!
Take ACTION!
Opportunities abound during this season of hope to take action on behalf of Creation.
Do things instead of buying things! Check out this list of fun events going on around Puget Sound!
Choose a live Christmas tree or try another idea from this list.
Educate yourself by attending a film screening or webinar event through Earth Ministry.
May your holidays be hope-filled!
