Introduction
It is hard to know what exactly our Christmas Celebrations are going to look like this year. We may be able to gather for our Christmas Services – we may not. So please accept this booklet (and the Advent box) for your journey towards Christmas and beyond.
As a dispersed community we travel together: old and young; rich and poor; busy, very busy and not so busy.
These resources are for all ages, for families as well as for those who live alone. Advent is a season of expectation and preparation, of waiting and of hope as the Church prepares to celebrate the coming (adventus) of Christ at Christmas. This is a time to be slow, to look after yourself as well as others.
Please reach out if you can and keep an eye on emails, letters and social media communications to find out closer to Christmas how exactly we are going to celebrate this year.
May this Advent be a blessing to you and your families. With every blessing,
Fr Michael
This is the time to be slow,
Lie low to the wall
Until the bitter weather passes.
Try, as best you can, not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from your heart
All sense of yourself
And your hesitant light.
If you remain generous,
Time will come good;
And you will find your feet
Again on fresh pastures of promise,
Where the air will be kind
And blushed with beginning.
©JOHN O'DONOHUE
Lets get started
As preparation for Advent why not make an advent wreath at home. You can buy one of course or you can make one from paper and card. There are lots of templates online that can be cut out and coloured in.
Now you are ready for your journey though Advent. Remember that you are not travelling alone – there are people all around you – and God is with you.
In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Isaiah 40.3
Reflect
The importance of preparing yourself for God when he appears is a theme that runs throughout the bible. Going into the wilderness was one way of preparing, since it removed distractions, allowing people to focus on God whom they waited. Most of us can’t go into the wilderness but perhaps living through a pandemic is not that dissimilar.
What are the important things right now that keep you going? Can we make more space for them?
Can we make more space for God?
Pray
that this Advent you will find the time and space to encounter Go
Act
What do you hope for? In whom lies your hope?
As we walk towards Christmas what is on your heart?
Write it on a star, cut out from paper.
Bring the star(s) to church on a Sunday morning when it is open for private prayer between 10-11am or post them to Michael at the vicarage.
Monday 30th November
For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
2 Corinthians 8.9
Reflect
Generosity is contagious. If someone is generous to you, it is so much easier to be generous in return. Generosity lies both at the heart of the Christian Faith and of Christmas: we give to others because of Jesus Christ, who gave us his love, his life and his peace.
Pray
that you might feel the love of God and the peace of
Christ during Advent.
Act
Find a jar or pot to collect coins. Collect coins through Advent and in January donate them to the Sanctuary homeless project in Gravesend
Tuesday 1st December
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
Psalm 9.1
Reflect
One of the most frequent commands in the Old Testament is to give thanks to God. Being thankful is transformative. It is all too easy to focus on those things that bring us misery and anxiety and overlook what brings us joy and pleasure. Giving thanks teaches us to focus on the good things in our life; the more we do this the more aware of them we become. Concentrating on what is life giving will not take our anxiety away but it will but it into perspective.
Pray
give thanks for the good things in your life.
Act
Think back over the past 10 months of the pandemic. Despite all this have there been good things? Thank God for it.
Wednesday 2nd December
All who believed were together …. They would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.
Acts 2.44-45
Reflect
We live in world in which some people have too much; many others have too little. Even if we are not rich, it can feel as though our homes are filled with ‘stuff’. The early Christians tried to share everything they had. While most of us can’t do this, we can be inspired but their example and try to give away what we no longer need.
Pray
that your life will be more filled with love and peace thank with things.
Act
Clear out a room, a cupboard, a shelf, a drawer – and give away as much of it as you can. Bring it to a charity shop.
Thursday 3rd December
I give thanks to my God always because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus.
1 Corinthians 1.4
Reflect
People touch our lives in many ways, though actions as small as a smile on a grey and miserable day or as large as stepping in to save us when everything seems lost. Most of the time people touch our lives and go on their way having no knowledge of how they helped. Telling them might encourage them as much as they have encouraged you. Who has touched your life in the past 6-8 months?
Pray
for someone who has been important to you this year.
Act
write a Christmas Card or email to somebody who has been important to you this year.
Friday 4 December
I praise you, for I am wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.
Psalm 139.14
Reflect
Have you stopped recently to notice quiet how wonderful the small things are that God has created. So often we rush through life at such a pace that we simply miss its beauty. Or sometimes we are so self-absorbed with the important things in life. What small things do you notice today?
Pray
praise God for beauty and marvel at the small things God created.
Act
Look carefully at a piece of holly or a pine cone. Take time to notice its shape, texture and colour. Tell somebody about it
Saturday 5th December
If you then, who struggle know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good things to those who ask him. Matthew 7.11
Reflect
God loves to give us good things. The created world testifies to the fact that God loves to pour out good things for us in wonderful, beautiful abundance. The problem is that we are often very bad at accepting these gifts.
Pray
take time to feel God’s love surrounding you.
Act
Take time out and do something really nice that you have wanted to do for a long time.
Sunday 6 December – Advent 2 – Love
Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor. Proverbs 22.9
Reflect
For many of us this time would usually be a time of feasting and parties - but his year is different. This year is more quiet, simpler perhaps. Time and time again in the bible God’s people are called to remember those who are poor. To share what they have with others – give of the simple, ordinary they have plenty of. How can we share the little we have with others?
Pray
for those in this country and across the world that have very little, for who will go to bed hungry tonight.
Act
Collect food for Gravesham foodbank – there are plenty of places that you can drop of the food to donate, including church.
Activity
Draw an outline shape for a Christmas decoration. Cut it out and colour it in. Why
not send it to someone you care about?
Monday 7 December
Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! Luke 12.24
Reflect
God does care for all the animals in this world but he calls us, as well, to be stewards of creation. It can be a chore in the cold and the wet to go out and to top up a bird feeder or to express our care for God’s world in another way, but in our caring with share with God in showing love for the world he has created.
Pray
for those who work in caring for the environment, especially for all those who work hard during the Advent/Christmas season
Act
Feed the birds. You can seeds on a plate outside or place some on your window sill. A great idea is to collect the fat from your meat and instead of pouring it away mix it with bird seed or oats, let it set and put that out for the birds, they love it!
Tuesday 8 December
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established. Psalm 8.3
Reflect
God creates. The whole universe is the work of his loving creativity. Human beings are made in the image of God and as such as made to share in his creativity. When we make or decorate something we join in with God’s creative act, remembering his role in creation and honouring it with our creation.
Pray
allow yourself to wonder at the intricacy of the world
God has created and give thanks for God’s care for you.
Act
Make some simple biscuits and eat them as a treat. Taste how good they are. Why not try out the biscuit recipe on the next page?
Christmas Biscuit Recipe (you may have your own recipe!)
250g plain flour
200g Butter
100g Icing Sugar
pinch salt
2 egg yolks
Icing = 100g Icing Sugar plus a tablespoon of water
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.
2. Place the flour, butter, icing sugar and salt into a bowl. Using your fingertips, rub the ingredients together until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Add the egg yolks and mix until a dough forms.
4. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and roll out to a thickness of about 0.5cm/¼in.
5. Cut out shapes using a 4cm/1½in cutter.
6. Bake the sables for 10-12 minutes, or until light golden-brown and crisp. Remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
7. Make a drink and enjoy!
Wednesday 9 December
Sing to the Lord, bless his name: tell of his salvation from day to day.
Psalm 96.2
Reflect
We can become so used to Christmas music that we sing it without noticing what the songs really say. Most Christmas Carols are songs of praise to God for what he has done for us in sending his Son to be born into our world. Taking time to saviour the words of a carol we know really well can bring it back to life again for us.
Pray
Give thanks to God for the gift of his Son.
Act
What is your favourite Christmas Carol? Find the words to it, read them slowly and think about what it says (you can sing it too if you like!).
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the turtle dove is heard in our land.
Song of Solomon 2.12
Reflect
In the middle of winter (especially this year) it can feel sometimes as though spring will never come. And while we cannot hurry winter along, we can prepare ourselves for new life – a life that comes at Christmas as well as in the spring months. As we look ahead during Advent, we prepare ourselves inwardly for the life that comes from God.
Pray
that you will feel the joy of life in all its fullness deep within your heart.
Act
This winter and the following spring plant some bulbs in anticipation of the new life to come.
Friday 11th December
Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him/her. Isaiah 42.1
Reflect
Many of us long for the world to be a better place where people can live in safety and peace. We are not alone in this. The prophet Isaiah reminds us that God yearned for the world to be like that too.
Pray
for justice and peace throughout the world.
Act
What do you wish for the world? Write a prayer on a tag and hang it on your Christmas Tree; or put it through the vicarage letterbox, and they will be hung on the church Christmas tree.
But Mary treasured these words and pondered them in her heart.
Luke 2.19
Reflect
The story of Christmas – a story that tells of God’s great love for us, a love so great he sent his Son born as a baby to live among us – it is almost too great a mystery to comprehend. Mary, Luke tells us, treasured everything that happened, everything that was said to her, so that she could ponder over them later. Advent invites us to make time to ponder, just like Mary did.
Pray
in the middle of this pandemic take time to ponder the mystery of God’s love.
Act
Write a poem or draw a picture that says something about what Christmas means to you.
Sunday 13th December Advent 3 - Joy
Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.
Roman 12.12
Reflect
Joy is different to happiness. Being happy is a fleeting feeling in which everything is good and uplifting. Joy, however, is a deeper-rooted sensation. Given by God we can experience joy even when we are struggling. Joy and sadness can be companions on our journey – one does not exclude the other. What is it that gives you joy?
Pray
for that evening in the darkest times of your life you may feel a sense of peace and joy
Activity
Make a stained-glass window with tissue paper and stick it to your window for others to see. You will find the template in the resources. You may need your kitchen scissors and some glue too.
Take a photograph and email it to Michael so she can share it with others.
vicar.staidans@gmail.com
Monday 14th December
Martha, Martha you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need for only one thing.
Luke 10.41-42
Reflect
Many of us live our lives at a hectic and uncertain pace that increases as Christmas draws closer – and this year more than ever. Work, friends, Covid restrictions all make demands on our time. Life can get very full. In the gospel story Martha was distracted- and I am sure had a great deal to worry about. And because of that she risked missing the opportunity to sit and listen to Jesus.
Pray
that in the midst of your busyness and worry you will not miss Jesus this year.
Act
Think of someone who is very busy at this time of the year. Offer to do something for them.
Tuesday 15th December
For God alone my soul awaits in silence, for my hope is from him.
Psalm 62.5
Reflect
Our world is a place of great activity and stimulation even during the pandemic: lights twinkle, music plays, screen flicker, messages ping onto our electronic devices. This kind of stimulation is energising and can be exciting but it can also distract us from the still small voice.
Pray
that this Advent you might know the peace that can come in stillness.
Act
Turn off the lights. Sit in darkness for a few minutes –
Wednesday 16th December
I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.
Ephesians 1.16
Reflect
We are often very good at thanking people for the things they have given us or the things they have done for us. The most important people in our lives, however, affect us not because of what they do or say but simply of who they are. There is nothing they have to do; their very existence and presence changes our lives.
Pray
for those people who have touched and transformed your life by just being who they are.
Act
Thursday 17th December
Jesus said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest for a while.’
Mark 6.31
Reflect
The last few days before Christmas are always hectic.
And this year even more so as you have to think on your feet. What is your family Christmas going to look like? Amidst all this can you allow yourself to slow down a bit, rest a while and be with others in less hurried way?
Pray
the Lord’s prayer but say it slowly with a pause between each phrase.
Act
Take time this week to watch one of your favourite Christmas films!
Friday 18th December
Out of the ground the Lord God made grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.
Genesis 2.9
Reflect
Genesis tells us that God made the world for human beings to enjoy. He didn’t just grow any old trees but trees that are ‘pleasant to the sight and good for food’. It seems such a great shame, therefore, that we often speed through life without even noticing that they are there. God’s gift of creation calls out to us to stop, to notice and to enjoy its beauty.
Pray
give thanks for the beauty and pleasure we can find in creation.
Act
Go for a walk or look through your window. See, what you notice? What colours can you see and what sounds can you hear? If you want to get out and can’t there is website where you can look out of somebody else’s window somewhere in the world. Why not give that a try?
https://window-swap.com/
Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against one another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive.
Colossians 3.13
Reflect
As we approach the end of another year it is good to look back and reflect. And what a year it has been! It is easy to write the whole year of 2020 off as bad or difficult. While this is probably true- I wonder, have there been good things happening? Can you treasure them, however small they may be?
Pray
for God to show you the life-giving, God-given moments that have brought you safely through this year.
Act
Make a note of it. Write it on a post- it. Stick in on your fridge or in your diary. These moments are forgotten so easily.
Sunday 20 December Advent 4 - Peace
Luke 2.36
Reflect
Years of watching and waiting had prepared the prophet Anna to recognise Jesus when his parents brought him to the Temple. Her wisdom was the kind that can only be gained through years of experience. During Advent we have been learning more of who Jesus is so that we might know him more fully.
Pray
that you may be ready to recognise God in your own life.
Act
Perhaps you have a nativity set at home? If so take it out of its box and find it a place in your home. If you don’t have a nativity at home you can make one yourself from cut-out card, say from a cereal box, or from any materials you have to hand!
Then place it somewhere safe. Perhaps on a book case or on the living room table?
Monday 21 December
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
John 1.5
Reflect
Candle flames suggest defiance in the face of darkness and despair. As they flicker in the darkness they appear to push it back, spreading light through the gloom. Jesus, the light of the world, came to push back the darkness of our world, to spread light, hope and joy in the midst of gloom, misery, death and futility.
Pray
that the light of God will shine brightly in our world, overcoming the darkness or hate and despair.
Act
Watch a candle flame. What colours do you see in it? How do you feel when you see the light pushing back the darkness?
Christmas Eve Christingle Service
On Christmas Eve, 24th December at 4pm there will be an online Service.
For this you will need a Christingle kit which you can collect from the vicarage on Sunday 20th December between 11.30am and 3pm, or from church on 24th between 10-11am. Will be doing this service via the Facebook page.
Donations to the Children’s Society can be made when you collect your Christingle Kit. Thank you.
Tuesday 22 December
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures for ever.
1 Chronicles 16.34
Reflect
When we get caught up in the hard work of getting thing sorted for the big day, we can easily believe that everything depends on our own efforts. Taking a moment to pause and be thankful can remind us that all that we have – even life itself – is a gift. Remembering the steadfast love of the giver might even take some pressure off us.
Pray
that you, and all whom you love, might feel peace this Christmas.
Act
As you make your final preparations for Christmas take a moment to thank God for what he has already given you.
Wednesday 23 December
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’’ Luke 1.26-28
Reflect
What do you think Mary felt when the angel addressed her as ‘favourite one’? Perhaps she was scared? Or perhaps curious what this was all about? Mary was young in age but she was wise; wise enough to hear God speaking to her. Can you image God looking at you with tenderness and love and address you today saying ‘Greetings, favourite one! The Lord is with you.’
Pray
for the gift of discernment so you can sense God speaking to you though situations or people in your life.
Act
Find someone older than you and ask them what they remember about Christmas when they were a child. Or if you are an older person tell somebody younger about your experience of Christmas
Thursday 24th December
In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they
were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn
Luke 2.1-7
Reflect
Many people will be walking the streets tonight: those without a place to call home, those fleeing wars and famine and terror, those walking away from an abusive relationship.
Pray
for all who will spend the night outside. Pray for their safety
Act
At 4pm join us for the online Crib Service on the St Aidan's Gravesend Facebook page.
At 6pm why not light a candle and stand outside and sing Silent Night – invite your neighbours to join you.
At 11.30pm Covid restrictions permitting in St Aidan's for Midnight Mass
Silent night, holy night! All is calm, all is bright.
Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child. Holy infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace, Sleep in heavenly peace
Silent night, holy night! Shepherds quake at the sight. Glories stream from heaven afar Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia, Christ the Saviour is born!
Christ the Saviour is born
Silent night, holy night!
Son of God love's pure light. Radiant beams from Thy holy face With dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth.
Friday 25th December – Christmas Day
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours.’’ Luke 2.13-14
Reflect
Today is a day of rejoicing wherever you are. Can you ponder God’s love for you?
Pray
for peace. For peace in the world, peace in our community and our homes, and for peace in your heart and in your mind.
Act
Rejoice in fact that you are loved. Just the way you are.
Covid permitting, there will be a short Holy Communion in church at 10am.
Merry Christmas!