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December 10-17, 2008 – Ring those bells!


Warm-up Question: Have you seen the Salvation Army Bell Ringers? Do you toss something in the kettle? Why or why not?

Have you seen them out there? The Salvation Army Red Kettle Bell Ringers? Volunteers who stand on corners every Christmas season, in front of grocery stores, malls, and convenience stores ringing bells hoping to have some change dropped in. Have you wondered, what’s it for; how did it all begin?

The Salvation Army church and charity began in England in 1865, seeking to reach out to the marginalized in society; alcoholics, drug dealers, and prostitutes. Today the Salvation Army is most recognized by its Christmas Red Kettle Campaign. The ‘kettle’ started in 1891 in San Francisco, CA by Salvation Army Officer Captain Joseph McFee to raise money for Christmas dinners for the poor in San Francisco. Originally, a crab pot was hung from a tripod and passerby’s were encouraged to ‘keep the pot boiling’ by donating to the fund designated to feed the poor.

Since it’s inception, the red kettles have sought to raise money for the poor each Christmas season, using the donations to purchase toys for children, provide meals and assistance to the poor, and provide utility and home subsidization, disaster relief, drug treatment, and senior and child care to families in need. Since 2004, the campaign has brought in nearly 100 million dollars a year to fund these projects. The Salvation Army has helped 37 million people, and 83 cents of every dollar goes directly to those who are in need of it.

Next time you hear those bells you will know their story, its rich history, and think about the Christ-centered impact that it makes on our world and communities. It’s an announcement that tells us “Christmas is coming. Take care of those who need Christ’s promises and hope most of all.”

Discussion Questions

  • Have you ever donated to the red kettle campaign or wondered where the money went?
  • What do you think of the volunteers who patiently ring the bells? Imagine that you were ringing the Salvation Army bells. How would you feel? What would you hope for or think as people passed back and forth by you as they shopped?
  • Given the downturn of our economy, how important do you feel it is to give this Christmas season? To think of the needs of others?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, December 14, 2008.
(Text links are to oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year B at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

In the Gospel we find John the Baptist ringing those bells. Not literally of course. He was proclaiming the excitement of the one to come after him, our Lord Jesus Christ. People knew John was sent from God. Their curiosity was peaked as they saw what this man was doing and saying. The priests and the Levites came to question his intentions. “Who are you?” they asked. They wanted to know why he was baptizing people. John told them, “I am the voice on one crying out in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord.”

John the Baptist shared of the one who was to come after him and proclaimed that he was not worthy to untie his sandals, like the red kettle bell ringers who remind us of Christ’s good news to come during the hurried Christmas season. John the Baptist was the proclamation of that time, baptizing and proclaiming to Jewish leaders of the time that the Messiah was coming and the world was about to change.

Discussion Questions

  • How do you feel the anticipation of Christ’s presence during this holiday season?
  • How do you imagine the priests and Levite’s responded to John’s proclamation, especially since he was not one of them?
  • What can you do to proclaim Christ’s message to help the marginalized and needy in your community? What good news and actions are needed most right now?

Activity Suggestions

Volunteer to ring the bells this Christmas season get on the Web site www.ringbells.org to sign up to volunteer.

Keep in mind and in front of everything else going on around you the needs of people in your community and in other places of the world. Create a prayer list for your group to use. Create an action list of things you can do individually and as a group to be Christ’s good news and hope in the world, especially for those in need. Learn more about what you can do through the ELCA Web sites:

Closing Prayer

Blessed Savior, we anticipate your birth with great excitement and promise. Thank you for coming to greet us through your humble birth. Help us to extend that gratitude and kindness to those who need to hear and experience hope, faith, and salvation. Bless those who feel like they live their lives on the fringe. Enable us to extend graciousness and generosity to their lives. In your name we pray. Amen.

Contributed by

Angie Larson
Clive, IA

December 3-10, 2008 – Shoppers and retailers getting ready for the Christmas season

Warm-up Question: What is your family doing to get ready for the Christmas season?



It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! All around the country, beginning at least as early as the day after Thanksgiving, or “Black Friday,” shoppers are getting ready for Christmas by gathering lists and hunting for bargains. And stores are more than ready to welcome them with great deals on all the latest fashions, toys, and gear.

Every year, retailers depend heavily on the Christmas season for a year-end profit surge, but with the economy daily sinking deeper into crisis, this year they are more hopeful than ever.

Those hopes, however, are more pipedream than reality, though, as most retail experts are predicting that this season will see the lowest increase in holiday sales since the last recession after 9/11. Many families are less willing to splurge this year, wary about what the new year may bring in terms of economic woes, and instead opting for a simpler season.

Still, stores are certainly buzzing with tinsel, lights, and Christmas carols — and the ringing of the cash register bells may be softer than last year, but it remains a sure sign that Christmas is coming soon.

Discussion Questions

  • How is the economic situation affecting how your family is getting ready for Christmas this year?
  • When you think about the Christmas season, how much of what you think about is tied up in shopping or gift giving?
  • What do you do to get ready for Christmas that has nothing to do with shopping?
  • What suggestions might you have for families that want to celebrate this year but are low on cash?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, December 7, 2008.
(Text links are to oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year A at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

Mark begins his Gospel in a very straightforward way: “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” The reader doesn’t have to wait or wonder about what, or who, this story is about. It’s about Jesus, God’s holy Child, and it is very good news.

Funny, then, that the first story Mark tells isn’t about Jesus; it’s about Isaiah, John, and us. Apparently telling the good news about Jesus takes some preparation, it’s a story that takes some getting used to. Before planting a seed, you have to dig a hole or plow a row. The same goes for Jesus.

But what’s missing from this story about getting ready for Jesus, when you compare it with how most of us get ready for Christmas? Lot’s of things, but one thing we notice is that there is a notable absence of shopping. There’s a similar rush of excitement, some anxiety and stress, and plenty to do, but none of it will make you stand in line for hours at American Eagle or Wal-Mart.

No, preparing for God to come into the world, for Isaiah and John, is not about getting or giving more stuff; it’s about getting rid of stuff altogether. It’s about emptying our hearts and our hands so we can have them free to receive the greatest gift of all. It’s about repentance, changing our minds, turning our heads, and re-ordering our lives, so we can see Jesus breaking into our world and turning it upside down.

Isaiah tells us that the Lord’s coming is such a big deal that a massive highway will have to be built — not a bigger parking lot at the mall or new Web site, but a wide path for all God’s people who have been living in exile to walk through the desert and finally arrive back home.

John tells a similar story. Get rid of all the junk that’s weighing you down, leave it behind in the river of baptism, and come back home to the person God created you to be: a person alive with hope, love, joy, and peace in the midst of a world full of fear.

Perhaps this year more than any other, when budgets are tight and anxieties are high, we have the opportunity to really “come home” for Christmas. To clean out our closets, cleanse our hearts, and open our eyes, minds, ears, and doors to receive first the simple but amazing good news of God’s holy love for us and for this whole world. Then we can spend the rest of the year figuring out how to give that love away.

Discussion Questions

  • Why is it easier to get excited about “stuff” than it is to get excited about Jesus?
  • What kind of “stuff” is in your way of feeling close to God this season? How can you clean it out?
  • What “good news” are you, your family, your community, and your world in need of hearing or receiving this year?
  • What could your family do together to get ready for Christmas that has nothing to do with shopping?
Consider giving gifts or contributions that benefit ministries around the world. Learn more at ELCA Good Gifts.

Activity Suggestions

If you have lots of time to prepare:
Find an image of a Christmas scene (an icon of Mary and Jesus, a manger scene, etc.) that you can project onto a large piece of paper and trace (Google images is a great tool for this). Trace it and label the areas with the appropriate color for the picture. Collect a bunch of Christmas shopping ads from the newspaper or the stores, some scissors, and glue sticks. Have the group tear or cut the ads apart to find the colors they need to fill in the image. When you’re done, you have a beautiful icon made out of torn-up bits of shopping ads. Talk about “repentance” as changing or getting rid of “stuff” and turning our attention back to where it belongs.

If you have less time to prepare:
Skip the icon and tracing. Collect a bunch of Christmas shopping ads from the newspaper or the stores, some scissors, paper, and glue sticks. Have the group draw their own pictures of Mary and Child or the manger scene, code them for color, and then tear or cut the ads apart to find the colors they need to fill in the image. Talk about “repentance” as changing or getting rid of “stuff” and turning our attention back to where it belongs.

If you have no time to prepare:
Have each student make two lists: 1) a list of everything they want for Christmas, and 2) a list of everything they need to grow in their relationship with Jesus. Talk about the differences between the lists, and what could help them get what they need from the second list.

Closing Prayer

Holy God, you send comfort and joy into weary hearts and a weary world. Help us open our hearts, ears, eyes, and minds to receive your gifts of life and love — and to share those gifts with the entire world. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Contributed by Pastor Jay McDivitt
Denver, CO