Messy Church at Home: Week Six

Hits at Advent Messy Church sessions were decorated Advent Candles. They really seem to absorb a wide range of folk -  Dads and Mums, Grandads and Grandmas, aunties and uncles, as well as children,  all really get into it and produced superb candles. 

Just buy a few white candles - 1 inch diameter (ordinary dinner candles would do fine), and pens that will write on wax - permanent OHP pens, or the kind of markers sold to write on CDs are fine. Candle paint works of course but it's more expensive and it takes a while to dry.

To help things along make a guide on a sheet of paper with a line marked with 24 divisions to lay the candle against - clearly this depends on the size of your candles. Just use the guide to help you mark your candle and number the divisions. The candles can be decorated with Christmassy pictures.


Really simple but a great countdown to Christmas as we prepare ourselves by thinking about the story of Jesus'  birth, and the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesies. Advent is a time when we refocus on the amazing truth that God sent his only son into the world to redeem us. In the words of Graham Kendrick's hymn "The Servant King:..."

From heaven you came, helpless babe,
Entered our world, your glory veiled; 
Not to be served but to serve,
And give your life that we might live.
This is our God, the Servant King,
He calls us now to follow him,
To bring our lives as a daily offering
Of worship to the Servant King.


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