IMAGINE (Candle lighting)
Today we light this candle to make ourselves available to you. We light this candle that your love might shine bright in our lives. It is easy for you to get lost in the midst of all the other things in which we participate. If only for a few moments, we long for this day to be different. We light this candle so that when you call to us we will be ready to answer.
(The person lighting the candle can say, Jesus is here. Everyone else, by his spirit he is here.)
STORY
*As you read, instruct everyone present to listen for a word, phrase, or idea that captures your attention. Especially look for the imagery present and how the arrival of Jesus is depicted through everyday life. After reading, take a few minutes to share.
Luke 2:1-5 (NIV)
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.
