ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY SERVICES (Just in Time)

Jesus: God's Unlikely Revelation

Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany Services includes biblically-based sermons, suggested scriptures, children's time, hymn and prayers, as well as litanies for lighting the Advent wreath. Also included are suggestions for seasonal funerals. These services offer a completing message of hope during this important church season, when people often visit a church for the first time.

Each service focuses on and celebrates a different aspect of the theme: Jesus: God's Unlikely Revelation

1. First Sunday of Advent-
Jesus: The Unlikely Image of God (Genesis 1:26-27; Colossians 1:15-17)

2. Second Sunday in Advent
Jesus: The Unlikely Gift from God (Isaiah 55:1-9)

3. Third Sunday of Advent
Jesus: The Unlikely Story of God with Us (Matthew 1:18-25)

4. Fourth Sunday of Advent
Jesus: The Unlikely Messiah (John 7:25-31)

5. Christmas Eve
Jesus: An Unlikely Peacemaker (Luke 2:8-20)

6. Christmas Day
An Unlikely Christmas Card (Matthew 2:13-23)

7. Epiphany
John the Baptizer: Jesus' Unlikely Herald (John 1:1-14)

Seasonal Funerals

F. Belton Joyner Jr. is a retired United Methodist pastor and author of The Unofficial UM Handbooks and Being Methodist in the Bible Belt: A Theological Survival Guide for Youth, Parents, and Other Confused Methodists and many other books. Currently, he is a visiting lecturer at Duke Divinity School and member of Judicial Council of The United Methodist Church. He lives in Bahama, North Carolina.