Peace: The Second Sunday in Advent

Waiting for Peace

December 9
 

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given,

and the government will be upon his shoulder, his name shall be called

"Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

Something to talk about:

 

I wonder if you have ever had to wait for something? I wonder what you did to make the time pass more quickly?

God’s people had been waiting a long time for this child promised by the prophet Isaiah to be born. They kept looking for him. Whenever a baby was born, they would wonder, is this him?

They knew this child would be a very special king, a king they would want to follow, a king who would bring peace.

We know that they baby was born and his name was Jesus! We know that people followed him and follow him still. But still there are people who are waiting for the Prince of Peace, places where people do not get along, where people do not have enough, where people are afraid.

Something to do:

As a family, name the people and places that seem to be waiting for the Prince of Peace. Maybe it is two friends who are arguing or a place like Zimbabwe where many children grow up without parents due to the AIDs epidemic, or in Israel/Palestine where children hear the sounds of bombs throughout the night.

Draw the hands of the Prince of Peace on a piece of paper by tracing your own hands and write the names of those people in the hands. Continue to add names throughout Advent as you think of them. Fold the hands together and pray for those people and places. Over time, look for the way that those lives are touched by the Prince of Peace.

Prayer

Dear God,
Thank you for your promises to us. Help me to live so that others will know that I follow the Prince of Peace. Hold the people we have named in your hands so that they too might know and follow the Prince of Peace.

Amen