Getting Ready! Advent, Week 2

Read: Mark 1: 1-8 (2-3)
See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way;
the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’”


Sing: Cleaning Song

Do: Stack the Hay and Make it Quick!
To make your set of pick-up sticks, paint the ends of the skewers* with the following colors: one black, three red, five blue, nine green, and twelve yellow. Use a table or the floor to play the game. Hold the sticks upright in a bunch in one hand just above the floor or table. Release the sticks and let them fall. Now try to remove the sticks one by one without moving any other stick in the pile. You can use the black stick to help you remove other sticks. Continue removing sticks until you move another stick by mistake. Now count how many of each color you picked up. (adapted from fun.familyeducation.com)
*Your can also use spaghetti or long toothpicks.

Read:

“Sweep the earth,” says Chick. Goose says, “I will line the crib with eider.”
When your are getting ready for a special guest, you spend extra time on making things look extra nice — wash the windows, shine the silver, dust all the corners, fluff the pillows. And you have to put things away or even get rid of some things.
Sometimes it’s important that we do the same thing so that we can welcome Jesus into our hearts. Those things that make us forget to be like Jesus are things that we need to get rid of.
We call this asking for forgiveness. That means we say we’re sorry to those we’ve hurt or been mean to. We ask God to forgive us too. Then we start doing things that honor God and others.
Are you ready to get cleaning?

Pray: Dear Lord, I am sorry for things I have done to hurt you and others. Please help me clean out those bad things and make room for your good things. Amen.

Respond: Look at the Covenant Church brochure. We are collecting food for their food pantry. Decide what food you can bring to Breakfast with Santa and set it aside. Spend time praying for the church, Pastors Abe and Joni, and the people who go to Covenant Church.