This beautifully illustrated children's book tells the story of the life of Jesus, beginning with the metaphor of Jesus, "the light of the world," and continuing through Jesus' birth, life, death, and resurrection. We read the entire book during worship, pausing every couple of pages to sing a verse or two from a related hymn. (For example, after we read about Jesus' birth announcement we sang, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel").
Prayer of Confession
Before worship, I set up several tables with battery-operated tea lights (turned on) that were covered with baskets or pieces of dark fabric. During the prayer of confession, folks were invited to do the following:
Take a moment to reflect on a time when you have hidden you light from the world. When you are ready, you may go to one of the four prayer stations set up around the sanctuary and uncover a tea light as a symbol of your desire to let your light shine.
The Liturgy of the Light
We concluded the service with a candle-lighting liturgy inspired by the story "The Light" from Young Children in Worship. My original idea was that the kids would be the first ones to come and receive their light, and that they would then help light the adults' candles. There was concern this would be a fire hazard, so I ended up having a couple of older youth light their candles first, and then pass the light to the first person in each pew, much like we do on Christmas Eve. Once we all had our lights, we ended the service by singing. "This Little Light of Mine."