The Advent of Love
Week 3 of Advent
“…the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.” (Revelation 12:4)
It’s week 3 of Advent! This week’s emphasis is on Love. Here’s a family worship guide to help you celebrate.
Week 3 - Love (Family Worship Guide)
Read: This week we’ll reflect on the great sacrifice of love that took place at Christ’s first coming. In our reading from Revelation, we’ll see that Israel was pregnant with the Messiah, pregnant with the promises of God. And finally, when those promises were about to fulfilled in the birth of Jesus, the Dragon was there waiting to steal, kill, and destroy. As our Messiah came into the world, King Herod slaughtered Bethlehem’s innocent children in a vain attempt to stop the arrival of the true King. Even at His birth, we see that Jesus came into our rebellious world with sacrificial love, at great personal cost, eventually coming to its climax in His death on a cross. In Christ, we see true love come in the flesh!
Read the following passages:
Revelation 12:1-5
Matthew 2:13-18 (you can start reading at verse 1 for the full story)
Watch this short video together:
Ask the following questions:
Is it surprising to hear about a dragon in the Christmas story?
Even at his birth, how was Jesus threatened by evil? How did he overcome evil?
How does Jesus show sacrificial love for us?
Pray (spend some time praying together)
Sing (close with a song, either the one below or another Christmas carol!):
There’s a Dragon in my Nativity
Here’s a great animated video that goes along with the scripture readings for this week. It’s called “There’s a Dragon in my Nativity”. Here’s the video, and the full text of the poem.
There’s a dragon in my nativity,
Dreadful and immense,
The shepherds quake, the wise men shake
And spill their frankincense.
The cattle are a-lowing and
The baby is awake,
While Joe and Mary tremble,
“Oh! This must be some mistake!’
There’s a dragon over Bethlehem,
I don’t know how he came.
I didn’t think a donkey
Could have borne the dragon’s frame.
I don’t believe the census,
Had been called for such as him.
And I’m certain that when Dragon knocked,
No room was at the Inn.
There’s a dragon by the stable,
I don’t know why he’s there.
He hasn’t brought a present
And he only seems to glare.
He hovers over David’s town,
That still beneath him lies.
Yet no-one’s sleep is dreamless,
Underneath his piercing eyes.
This dragon isn’t visible
With ordinary sight.
You cannot snap a selfie,
Or televise his flight.
Unseen, he stands for every power
that stands against the earth,
The death, disease and darkness
Overshadowing each birth.
This dragon is an enemy
Of all that’s good and true.
This monster lies and steals and kills —
He’s coming after you.
Above each crib the dragon hovers,
Sure to swallow whole,
Rulers, empires, beauty, joy —
A flesh-and-blood black hole.
But dragons always meet their match,
They always meet their doom.
A hero rises to the fight,
To cast them into gloom.
And so at this nativity,
Arose another player.
The baby wrapped in swaddling cloths —
He was a dragon slayer.
He’d come to fight through Herod’s plot,
Through dangers big and small.
He took on evil, sickness, death,
And triumphed over all.
A dragon or a baby —
Just who would win the fight?
It wasn’t really fair, you see,
The Child was a Knight.
From high above and long before,
He knew what must be done.
He knew the dragon waiting here,
And still he chose to come.
There’s a dragon in my nativity,
A fierce and monstrous danger.
But fiercer still the bravery
And love within the manger.
“She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne…” (Revelation 12:5)
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