Advent Candle:
Light the first candle--the Prophecy candle--on your Advent wreath today.
Bible Verses
Our Bible verses today come again from the book of Isaiah. Both refer to Christ's first and second coming. I think that Isaiah 60:1 contains one of the simplest and most profound phrases of encouragement that God gave to His people: "Arise, shine, for your light has come!"
Isaiah announces to a downtrodden and discouraged Jerusalem (often referred to as "Zion" and representing all of God's chosen Israel) that a light is coming...to Jerusalem and "all nations".
Also, be sure to read Matthew 12:18, the fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 42:1 where God speaks of His Son as the "one in whom My soul delights", with whom he is well-pleased.
Isaiah 42:1, 5-6
Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold
My chosen one in whom My soul delights.
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the nations.
Thus says God the LORD,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread out the earth and its offspring,
Who gives breath to the people on it
And spirit to those who walk in it,
"I am the LORD, I have called You in righteousness,
I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You,
And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the nations. (NASB)
Isaiah 60:1-3,19-22
"Arise, shine; for your light has come,
And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
"For behold, darkness will cover the earth
And deep darkness the peoples;
But the LORD will rise upon you
And His glory will appear upon you.
"Nations will come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.
"No longer will you have the sun for light by day,
Nor for brightness will the moon give you light;
But you will have the LORD for an everlasting light,
And your God for your glory.
"Your sun will no longer set,
Nor will your moon wane;
For you will have the LORD for an everlasting light,
And the days of your mourning will be over.
"Then all your people will be righteous;
They will possess the land forever,
The branch of My planting,
The work of My hands,
That I may be glorified.
"The smallest one will become a clan,
And the least one a mighty nation.
I, the LORD, will hasten it in its time." (NASB)
Jesse Tree Verse: Genesis 3:1-19 Symbol: Apple and Snake to represent the Fall. Example
Dinnertime (or anytime!) Discussion
In Isaiah 60:1, we read a wake-up call! "Arise, shine, for your light is come". God wants us to be watching and alert for the coming of Christ. He could come at any moment! Do you see what God says to us right after He asks us to arise or awaken? SHINE. If Jesus is the light of our lives, then we should be the mirrors which reflect His light out into the world! What are some ways that we can be reflections of Christ and really shine this season?
Word to Know Light: Read definition of LIGHT. Sounds like a silly word to look up. After all, we basically know what light is, right? After reading the entry on "light" in Webster's 1828 Dictionary, however, I was reminded of just how perfectly it describes our Savior! He is our illumination, our lamp, the source which chases away all darkness.
Book Suggestions
Advent Extras
Art
Today's art selections come from a modern painter who is known as the "painter of light", Thomas Kinkade. His work is reminiscent of 19th century American painters called Luminists. Luminism is somewhat of a cousin to Impressionism because artist creates lines are soft and the subjects--often landscapes--are portrayed with varying degrees of light and shadow. Light is the central natural element working within these paintings. And, as a Christian, I'm sure that Thomas Kinkade is also inspired by the great Light, Jesus Christ!
Since his teens, Kinkade has been an accomplished oil painter. Read more about Thomas Kinkade. Blessings of Christmas
Christmas Carol or Hymn O Come, All Ye Faithful For hundreds of years, the popular Christmas carol "O Come, All Ye Faithful" was attributed to an unnamed cleric from the Middle Ages. Other stories say that Saint Bonaventura wrote it. But when an English scholar found seven signed manuscripts of the song, the true story of English Catholic Priest John Francis Wade emerged.
Wade was a cleric from the mid 1700's whose work included researching and restoring copies of historical church music. He had left England during a time of great conflict between Catholics and the Church of England. Wade made France his home and shared beautiful copies of music written in calligraphy-like script to churches all over that country.
Around 1750, Wade finished his own composition in Latin, a melody called "Adeste Fideles" and a year later published it with completed music and lyrics.
But, in 1841, when a Frederrick Oakley translated Wade's song from Latin to English, the credit to Wade was left out! Time and again, Wade was forgotten until hundreds of years later when the English scholar Maurice Frost found those original manuscripts!
"O Come, All Ye Faithful" is one of the oldest and most popular Christmas songs. It gained popularity at the turn of the century when Christmas caroling becamee a holiday tradition in communities around America. Since then, it has been translated into 150 languages, made the top ten on the music charts, and been remade countless times.
Holiday Tradition & History
As we learned yesterday, Martin Luther is credited with lighting the first Christmas tree with candles and causing the popularity of a lit Christmas tree to quickly grow in Germany and Europe. Although it proved to be a deadly fire hazard on many occasions throughout years, people continued to make the Christmas tree candles a part of their celebration. Until...Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb in America in 1879!
Three short years after the amazing invention of the lightbulb, one of Edison's employees, Edward Johnson, was putting up his family Christmas tree and was struck by a new way to use the lights he helped create every day in the lab. Johnson created a trial string of small lightbulbs on a wire and brought them home to put on the tree. And, just as the neighbors of Martin Luther many years before stood in awe of his candle-lit tree, Johnson's neighbors were spellbound by the flashing lights on his tree! Neighbors and even reporters began to stream past Johnson's New York home on a daily basis. A reporter from Michigan's Detroit Post and Tribune was the first to share about the marvel of a tree with tiny colored glass globes twinkling on a tree that was spinning by an electric powered turntable!
But for the next few decades, only the wealthy and upper middle class could afford the new Christmas lights. A string of lights like those Johnson made cost nearly $100 in materials because each individual bulb had to be wired separately. (No screw-in bulbs yet!) The popularity of Christmas lights continued to grow, however, as President Grover Cleveland lit up the White House Christmas Tree in 1895 and wealthy families and businesses competed to see who could create the most stunning light display.
Finally, in the 1910, General Electric created a string of lights sold for $12. Along with companies like Ever Ready, GE continued to work at lowering production costs so that more families could afford their Christmas lights. After World War I, prices dropped significantly and light sales skyrocketed.
In 1923, President Calvin Coolidge began the tradition of national Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on the White House lawn. In 1924, GE and Westinghouse created a set of longer-lasting, cooler Christmas light strings which became the industry standard. And, in 1933, Rockefeller Center lit a huge Christmas tree in New York City, creating one of the most loved Christmas traditions in America.
'Round the World at Christmas Christmas in Sweden Christmas in the Old Days (Sweden) Christmas Nowadays (Sweden)
In families that still celebrate St. Lucia's Day in Sweden, the oldest daughter wakes up early and dresses in a white robe, red sash, and a wreath hat adorned with candles. She brings coffee and Lucia buns (Lussekatter) to her parents and then other family members while they are still in bed. Read more about St. Lucia (December 13).
Coloring Pages, Cooking and Crafts
Have you caught our theme for today? It's LIGHT!!
Christmas Candle Coloring Page Christmas Candle Holder We've made these "stained glass" candle holders many times! You can use all different colors or Christmas green and red. Pasta Candles Using paint, dried pasta and glue, your little ones can make their own candle decoration. Tin Can Luminaries Line your walkway/driveway with these great little lights! Create your own design like a snowflake or outline of a tree, candle, etc. in the tin can with a nail and hammer. THIS year, we're using this link's tip: Fill cans with water and freeze so the cans don't dent when you pound in your design! Potpourri Light This is a simple way to use some of your extra strands of Christmas lights and freshen up a room! *Be sure not to leave this unattended or near little ones.
Split Light Into a Spectrum A simple science experiment on light. (Scroll up for more info on light first, if you like.)
Christmas Carol Quiz--See if you can find the real titles of these exaggerated, puzzling Christmas carol titles
1. Oh, member of the round table with missing areas
2. Boulder of the tinkling metal spheres
3. Vehicular homicide was committed on Dad's mom by a precipitous hooved mammal
4. Wanted in December: top forward incisors
5. The apartment of two psychiatrists
6. The lad is a diminutive percussionist
7. Sir Lancelot with laryngitis
8. Decorate the entryways
9. Cup-shaped instruments fashioned of a metallic element
10. Oh small Israeli urban center
11. Far off in a hay bin
12. We are King, Lear, and Nat Cole
13. Duodecimal enumeration of the passage of the yuletide season
14. Leave and broadcast from an elevation
15. Our fervent hope is that you thoroughly enjoy your yuletide season
16. Listen, the winged heavenly messengers are proclaiming tunefully
17. As the guardians of the woolly animals protected their charges in the dark hours
18. I beheld a trio of nautical vessels moving in this direction
19. Jubilation to the entire terrestrial globe
20. Do you perceive the same vibrations which stimulate my auditory sense organ?
21. A joyful song of reverence relative to hollow metallic vessels which vibrate and bring forth a ringing sound when struck
22. Parent was observed osculating a red-coated unshaven teamster
23. May the Deity bestow an absence of fatigue to mild male humans
24. Hooved mammal of colder regions with a rouge olfactory organ
(Answers below!)
Home Holiday Preparations
Today's Tips:
-If you are having guests over at anytime this month, start now by preparing a menu and grocery list for any meals you will need to make!
-Along the same lines, if you are having guests overnight, start planning for sleeping arrangements now.
Movie Time National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation This is the first movie that popped into my head when I was trying to think of a movie that might go along with out "light" theme today! I love the scene where Clark Griswold is setting up the thousands of Christmas lights on his house!! Granted, this movie is not for every family because of the language and a few mature situations, BUT if you can find an edited copy or preview it on television, you can decide if it's OK for your family. Or, if you know that this would be a no-no at your house:
A Muppet Family Christmas (or any of the Muppet Christmas movies!)
**Answers to Christmas Carol Quiz**
1. O Holy Night
2. Jingle Bell Rock
3. Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer
4. All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth
5. The Nutcracker Suite
6. Little Drummer Boy
7. Silent Night
8. Deck the Halls
9. Silver Bells
10. O Little Town of Bethlehem
11. Away in a Manger
12. We Three Kings
13. The Twelve Days of Christmas
14. Go Tell It on the Mountain
15. We Wish You a Merry Christmas
16. Hark the Herald Angels Sing
17. While the Shepherds Guarded Their Flocks By Night
18. I Saw Three Ships
19. Joy to the World
20. Do You Hear What I Hear?
21. Carol of the Bells
22. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
23. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
24. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Advent Candle:
Bible Verses
Our Bible verses today come again from the book of Isaiah. Both refer to Christ's first and second coming. I think that Isaiah 60:1 contains one of the simplest and most profound phrases of encouragement that God gave to His people: "Arise, shine, for your light has come!"
