{"id":7048,"date":"2018-12-18T07:20:13","date_gmt":"2018-12-18T12:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=7048"},"modified":"2018-12-13T15:25:55","modified_gmt":"2018-12-13T20:25:55","slug":"december-23-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/december-23-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"December 23, 2018&#8211;Are you Excited?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Seth Moland-Kovash, Palatine, Il<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Warm-up Question<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>What are you most looking forward to right now?<\/p>\n<p><b>Are you Excited?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Anticipation and excitement are two very powerful human emotions. We look forward to vacation, to time off from school or other responsibilities. We might look forward to family time, to Christmas, to gifts (giving and receiving). Simply the act of anticipating something releases powerful chemicals into our bloodstream which make us feel the joy \u2013 that\u2019s what anticipation is.<\/p>\n<p>Companies that try to sell products to us know this well. This is what advertisements and pre-release promotions are all about. The companies are trying to create anticipation in us so that we feel that joy and then want it more and more\u2014and seek out the product they are promoting. Sometimes this is done through industry events like the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.finder.com.au\/what-to-expect-at-ces-2019\">Consumer Electronics Show<\/a>. This event, held in January each year, is all about creating anticipation. The event is an opportunity for companies to tell us what consumer electronic products (mobile phones, televisions, computers and the like) they will be releasing in 2019. But the weeks leading up to the event are themselves about anticipation. Companies will tease what products they will be announcing at CES to build up the anticipation. As the linked article tells us, even before the official event starts on January 8, there are two \u201cmedia days\u201d where companies jostle for headlines and buzz \u2013 all trying to create the most excitement and anticipation they can for their products.<\/p>\n<p><b>Discussion Questions<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do you like to be the first one in your family or friend group to try something new? This could be a technological thing or some other kind of experience.<\/li>\n<li>Are there new technological products or innovations you are excited to see?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Have you ever experienced disappointment when you\u2019ve finally gotten to do or see or use something that you\u2019ve been anticipating?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Fourth Sunday of Advent<\/b><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=411664723\">Micah 5:2-5a<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=411664964\">Hebrews 10:5-10<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=411665051\">Luke 1:39-45 [46-55]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>(Text links are to <a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/\">Oremus Bible Browser<\/a>. 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 C at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.elca.org\/Our-Work\/Congregations-and-Synods\/Worship\/Lectionary\/YearC\">Lectionary Readings<\/a><\/p>\n<p>For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic <a href=\"http:\/\/www.agnusday.org\/\">Agnus Day.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Gospel Reflection<\/b><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/12\/iStock-635935816.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-7058 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/12\/iStock-635935816-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/12\/iStock-635935816-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/12\/iStock-635935816-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/12\/iStock-635935816-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/12\/iStock-635935816-250x167.jpg 250w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/12\/iStock-635935816-525x350.jpg 525w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mary was excited and Elizabeth was excited. These two women were experiencing an anticipation that is a common occurrence for people throughout history \u2013 the expectation of the birth of a child. Each was excited to meet her own child and to see what would become of him.<\/p>\n<p>This story tells us of another level of excitement. When Elizabeth saw Mary, the child in Elizabeth\u2019s womb (John the Baptist) \u201cleaped for joy.\u201d Elizabeth is sharing her testimony that even the unborn child she carried was anticipating and excited about the unborn child Mary carried.<\/p>\n<p>We know the rest of the story \u2013 we know that John was a bit of a predecessor to Jesus in public ministry. We know that John baptized Jesus. We also know that Jesus would save the world through his life, death, and resurrection. It seems that John knew that too \u2013 even before birth.<\/p>\n<p><b>Discussion Questions<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Can you relate to John\u2019s excitement about Jesus? What excites you about Jesus?<\/li>\n<li>John shared his excitement by leaping for joy. How can we share our excitement about Jesus?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Activity Suggestion<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Snap pictures of you and your youth group showing your excitement at Jesus\u2019 coming. Get creative. Use props or facial expressions. Share your pictures with the world through social media.<\/p>\n<p><b>Closing Prayer<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Come Lord Jesus, and fill us with joy at your birth. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Seth Moland-Kovash, Palatine, Il Warm-up Question \u00a0What are you most looking forward to right now? Are you Excited? Anticipation and excitement are two very powerful human emotions. We look forward to vacation, to time off from school or other responsibilities. We might look forward to family time, to Christmas, to gifts (giving and receiving). Simply [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1400],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>December 23, 2018-Are you Excited? - Faith Lens<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/december-23-2018\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"December 23, 2018-Are you Excited? - Faith Lens\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Seth Moland-Kovash, Palatine, Il Warm-up Question \u00a0What are you most looking forward to right now? 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