Resources for Peace Sunday
December 5, 2010
Call to Worship
[Adapted from Psalm 46. It could be offered as either one voice, or responsively.]
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear,
though the earth should change and the forces against us be strong. God makes wars cease to
the end of the earth. God stops the tank and disarms the missile. “Be still, and know that I am
God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.” Let us worship the Lord.
Invocation and Prayer of Confession (In unison)
Wondrous God, you touch our lives with healing and with justice; you bless the world
with peace. We praise you for the Good News which you have offered to all the earth in
Jesus Christ. Yet we confess our sin, and the sin of the world. Although the Christ is
among us as liberator and peace-giver, we are a people divided against ourselves, as we
cling to the values of a broken world. Merciful God, heal and forgive us. Move among us
in this service of worship. Set us free to serve you in the world as agents of your
reconciling love. Amen.
Words of Assurance
With gentleness Jesus moved between enemies, and brought division to an end. With
gentleness Jesus moves within us and among us, and overcomes that which divides us from
God, from each other and from ourselves. Hear the good news: the Lord of hosts is indeed with
us, and we are a forgiven people. Thanks be to God.
The Lighting of the Advent Candle (2nd Sunday in Advent, the Peace Candle)
First Reader: The prophet Isaiah had a vision. He saw a day when the world would be at
peace. Nations would no longer fight each other. People would no longer be poor. And even a
wolf and a lamb would lie down together and not be harmed. Christians believe that with the
coming of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, the world has been brought closer to this day of peace.
Second Reader: On this Peace Sunday, we light the Peace Candle. We remember prophets
within our own Disciples tradition who, like Isaiah and Jesus, have prepared the way of peace:
Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone, Kirby Page and Barton Hunter, Rosa Page Welch
and Barbara Fuller. Like Jesus, they dared to preach a word of peace when nations were
embracing the weapons of war. With courage they continued to speak for peace, even when
people disagreed with them. They did not cease to speak, no matter how unpopular their point
of view.
Third Reader: On Peace Sunday, and every Sunday, Disciples offer the nations of the earth this
same hope for peace and unity. Like prophets passed and present, we Disciples are also called
to speak boldly for peace when others would prefer to talk about war. We are a movement for
wholeness in a fragmented world.
The Peace Candle is lit by one of the group of readers.
The congregation offers a unison prayer:
Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly, and create a world of peace.
The congregation sings verse 2 and chorus of When God is a Child (Hope is a Star), Chalice
Hymnal #132.
A Children’s Story for Peace Sunday
This story could be told during the Children’s Time. It may be more appropriate for older
children. See below for a Children’s Moment that has been crafted with younger children in
mind. This older children’s story might also contain material that could be used in the sermon.
The storyteller should try to tell it in her/his own words, without reading. If possible, s/he should
have broken pieces of several stained glass windows. This could be done by using a color
printer to print out pictures of several stained glass windows, and then cutting up those pictures
into pieces which will resemble shards of glass resulting from a window being blown apart by an
explosion.
Once upon a time, about 70 years ago, a horrible war was being fought. Who can tell
me what a war is?
Yes, in a war soldiers have guns, and they kill each other. And lots of children and
moms and dads get killed too. It’s horrible and very sad.
So, about 70 years ago, a horrible war was being fought. The war went on for six years.
People were killed, and buildings and cities were destroyed. Airplanes dropped tons of bombs
on the cities and towns of Europe. Even churches were bombed and destroyed. All of those
churches had beautiful, stained glass windows. Does anyone know what stained glass is?
Yes, it’s colored glass that shows a picture; maybe of Jesus or a scene from the Bible.
In fact, I have some pieces of stained glass that I’d like to show you. [Storyteller shows children
real pieces of broken stained glass, or cut up pieces of paper depicting several stained glass
windows.] After those churches were bombed, there were broken pieces of stained glass just
like this scattered all over the ground where the church use to be.
During the war, a Canadian soldier saw the ruins of many of those churches. At each
church, he picked up a piece of broken glass. When the war ended, he had quite a collection.
He gave them to a church in a town called Meaford, Ontario, in Canada. There the pieces were
put together to form many beautiful windows. [Storyteller could piece together the pieces of
stained glass into an aesthetically pleasing pattern.] Isn’t that pretty?
We live in a broken world. Wars have broken the world just like that war so many years
ago broke all of those stained glass windows. But Jesus can pick-up the pieces of our broken
world and glue them together into a wonderful new design. Maybe if we stopped fighting wars
and killing people, it would give Jesus a chance to glue God’s world back together.
A prayer with the children could follow the story.
A Peace Sunday Moment with Younger Children
The person doing this Children’s Moment would have one of Edward Hicks’ paintings of the
Peaceable Kingdom, based on Isaiah 11:1-10. (Hicks painted multiple versions of the
Peaceable Kingdom. They can easily be found online.) S/he would ask the children some or all
of the following questions, drawing out their thoughts on war and peace.
Do you ever fight? What do you fight about? Is it fun?
Why do people fight? What do they fight about?
Sometimes countries fight. Why do you suppose that countries fight with other countries?
When there is fighting between countries and people get hurt or killed, what is that called? (war)
How do you think God feels about fighting? About war? Why?
How would God prefer us to live? (in peace)
Show the Hick painting.
What do you see? (God’s creatures/God’s creation living together)
Do you see the child in the middle of the picture right next to the wild animals? An artist named
Edward Hicks painted this picture after he read something in the Bible written by a prophet
named Isaiah. Isaiah didn’t like all the wars and fighting that were going on, so he told the
people what God’s world will look like when everyone lives in peace.
Read parts of Isaiah 11, ending with ….. “a little child shall lead.”
No more fighting, no more wars, no more tears…. “a little child shall lead….” Everybody having
all that they need in order to live well together….”a little child shall lead….” The prophet Isaiah
talked about a child showing us how to live peacefully.
Sometimes children have important things to say to adults about how to live in peace. If you
could call the leaders of the nations (or skype them, or text them, or write them a letter), what
would you say to them about war and fighting?
“a child shall lead…” On this 2nd Sunday in Advent, called Peace Sunday, we are looking
forward to the birth of a little child. Who might that be? (Jesus).
I wonder if the little child that Isaiah talks about is Jesus. I wonder what would happen if we all
listened very carefully to what Jesus says about war and fighting. (invite a response) I wonder
what the world would be like if we let Jesus lead the way. (invite a response). Maybe today,
all of us (point to the adults as well as the children), and all the leaders of the nations, need to
listen a little more carefully to the voices of children like you, and especially listen to the voice of
the little child that Isaiah talked about.
A prayer with the children could follow the Children’s Moment.
Scriptures for the Second Sunday in Advent
Isaiah 11:1-10 (Suggested text for the sermon on Peace Sunday)
Psalm 72:1-7,18-19
Romans 15:4-13
Matthew 3:1-12
Passing the Peace
Leader: Blessed be Christ the Prince of Peace
People: who breaks down the walls that divide.
Leader: The peace of God be always with you.
People: Praise to Christ who unites us in peace.
Leader: Let us share the peace of Christ with each other through handshakes and hugs and the
words, “The peace of Christ be with you.”
Invitation to the Offering
God has blessed us abundantly with grace and peace through our Lord, Jesus Christ. We have
freely received, let us freely give.
Prayer after the Offering has been received
God of all peoples and all places,
we present these offerings,
that they may extend your liberating reign.
With them, we offer our varied ministries,
that each of us may be part of your answer
to the cries of the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Communion Meditation and Invitation to the Table
The mediation could focus on the fact that sometimes, when friends or relatives are estranged
from each other, reconciliation is facilitated by sitting down together and sharing a meal or a cup
of coffee. Gathering together at table can bring wholeness to fragmented relationships. In like
manner, the Lord’s Table reminds us of the hope for wholeness in a fragmented world. It points
toward the day when all of the world’s nations will be able to sit together at the great banquet
feast in the Kingdom of God and break bread together as sisters and brothers, and violence and
war will be no more.
Commissioning and Benediction
Commissioning: Go into the world in the power of the Holy Spirit, to fulfill your high calling as
disciples of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. The love of God is yours to share, the peace of
Christ is yours to extend, the power of the Holy Spirit is yours to offer.
Benediction: And may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts
and your minds in the knowledge and the love of God, and of Jesus Christ our Lord; and may
the blessings of God – Creator, Word and Spirit – be with you this day and forevermore. Amen.