A light for all people

 

This Sunday we may celebrate Candlemass in our churches

²² And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” ²⁵ Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷ And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, ²⁸ he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

²⁹ “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,     according to your word; ³⁰ for my eyes have seen your salvation ³¹     that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, ³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles,     and for glory to your people Israel.”

³³ And his father and his mother marvelled at what was said about him

This concept of Jesus being like light is one of the easiest for children to understand. There are many ways you could introduce this topic but it is a good idea to begin with the different types of light sources which the children and young people can name and to ask them what that tells us about Jesus, if He is light?

e.g. torch – we use a torch when it is very dark to help us find the way Jesus is our guide

lamp – we have a lamp by our bedside so if we are scared at night we can turn it on straightaway Jesus keeps us safe

sun – the sun is always in the sky even though we can’t always see it We have faith and know that Jesus is always there

lighthouse – helps ships to know where it is safe to travel Jesus knows the best plans and places for us

Children

This is the perfect time to make Christingles if you haven’t already done so! For a free Christingle pack with games/activities to explain each element of the Christingle and to work with children to build their own please email clarewilliams@churchinwales.org.uk

Alternatively there are plenty of ideas for crafts around the theme of light. It might be nice to go with one of the ideas the children may come up with. You could try making a light house with an upside-down polystyrene cup which can be decorated with red stripes and an LED tealight on top.

Youth

Activity/discussion starter for youth May also work as part of an ‘all age’ talk Simeon had a dream, to see the Messiah for himself.

Give out a pen and a card to each person. Ask them to write something they would like to do when they are older or a dream/ambition they have. Ask them not to show anyone else but to put their card into a basket. Once you have all the cards shuffle them and read them out one at a time, asking the rest of the group to guess which one belongs to each person.  Simeon had a dream, it’s good to have something to aim for and hope for. What would our life look like if our biggest goal was to see Jesus and to be like Him?

This is a vital message to share. Jesus is the light of the world, a light to enlighten all nations. We pray that He would enlighten the minds and hearts of our children, young people and families.

We will be posting each week with ideas for use in work with children and young people based on the Sunday readings. Please comment your own ideas below!