The Lessons of Advent: Hope

We started an advent wreath at our house this year, and I am loving watching the girls get excited to light the candle each night and talk about Baby Jesus and sing a Christmas carol.  It is a sweet time together as a family.  Hallie is very excited to light the big Christ candle on Christmas morning, and her anticipation is a beautiful picture of the eager hope with which God's people waited for Jesus all those centuries ago. 

Unfortunately, the advent resources I have are geared to older children and adults.  So I am coming up with my own, piece by piece, to try and explain to my girls the big concepts behind the candles for Hope, Peace, Love, Joy, and finally Christ.  A daunting task, to tell the truth.  Attention spans are short and retention is at a premium. 

I realized when I was trying to tell Hallie what "hope" means that quantifying hope for a three-year-old is difficult.  I decided that I would pick a simple Bible verse about each of the candle topics and recite it each night during that candle's particular week with the girls, so that hopefully by the end of Advent they will be familiar with four verses and therefore the concepts. 

I am sure I'm not the first to do something along these lines, and there are probably some good preschool Advent resources out there.  But I am really enjoying thinking through the concepts and distilling them to simplicity.  It is challenging to my faith to ponder these big concepts and to see them through the unassuming eyes of a child.

I've posted my "Hope" outline below for this first week of Advent.  Any thoughts/suggestions are most welcome.  If you are considering doing an Advent wreath of some kind with your kids, I hope that this is helpful to you.

HOPE

Psalm 71:14

“I will hope continually, and will praise you yet more and more.”

Hope:  a wish, a desire, looking forward to something, to want something to turn out well

What God’s people hoped for:  a King to lead them

A long, long time ago God made His people a promise.  He was going to send them a King to lead them and to take care of them!  God’s people spent many, many years hoping and waiting for the King that God had promised.  While they waited, they believed that God would do what He promised.  God gave them what they hoped for when Jesus was born.  He came to be their (and our) King.

Do you know why the candles on the wreath are purple?

Because in the Bible the color purple was only worn by kings.  And Jesus is our King, so we honor Him with purple candles.

What we hope for:  to see Jesus one day in heaven

Just like God told His people that He was going to give them a King, God has made us a promise.  He told us that Jesus is getting a place ready for us to live with Him in heaven and that heaven will be wonderful.  (Like in the song “It’s a Big, Big House.”)  Jesus has a home in heaven and He is going to let us live there with him!  It will be beautiful and there won’t be any crying or any sadness.  Won’t that be great?

Why we have hope:

Because God always keeps His promises.  When God gave Jesus to His people, He kept His promise to give them a King.  All that they had hoped for came true.  Just like them, God will give us the best thing we can hope for—a chance to see and live with Jesus and to know Him.

When do we hope?

Our Bible verse about hope says we will hope “continually,” or all the time.  So even when things are bad or sad, we still hope.  We trust that God is good and that He will do what He has promised.  And that one day we will be with Him in heaven.