Advent: Faith & the Bethlehem candle.
(noun) confidence or trust in a person or thing; the trust in God and in His promises as made through Christ and the Scriptures by which humans are justified or saved
Before he was king over Israel, David was a boy from Bethlehem who watched over his father’s sheep. The youngest son of Jesse, he was smaller than his older brothers. Samuel, the prophet sent by God to find the next king, could not believe David was the chosen as it appeared so many better options were available. Surely there were older, stronger, and bigger options! Nonetheless, David was chosen by God and anointed.
Throughout the Bible, comparisons are often drawn between Jesus and David. Jesus was also born in Bethlehem and was a descendant of David (Micah 5:2). While David started life as a shepherd boy, Jesus preached that God’s people were sheep and He was the Good Shepherd tasked to care for His followers (John 10:1–18). And like David, Jesus did not look like a traditional king. He came to earth as a baby boy, born in a manager. The only crown he ever wore was made of thorns. He did not seek to overthrow the government, but to free us from sin, change our hearts, and provide a way for us to have eternal community with Him.
As we discussed last week, God gave us free will and we’ve used that freedom to make choices that separate us from God forever. There’s nothing we can do to overcome our sin. However, God can overcome our sin and chooses to do so by Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. But first, before he died, He lived His life — which certainly wasn’t always easy — and came to us as a baby in a manager.
Despite not resembling a traditional king, the Bible still calls Jesus the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), the Lord of Lords, and the King of Kings (Revelation 17:14).
The second advent candle is the Bethlehem Candle and symbolizes the faith we have in God and that He will fulfill His promises to us, even when God does so in ways that we don’t expect.
Questions to discuss
- Think of a king. What do you imagine in your head? Is he rich? Does he wear nice clothing? Does he boss everyone around? Does it make him happy to care for his people?
- Consider what you know of Jesus. Is He similar to how you imaged the king?
- If you were a king or queen, what kind would you want to be?
- Jesus could have decided to come to earth like a traditional king but chose not to. What do you think of this?
- How does it make you feel to know that God loves you so much that He came to earth as a baby, just as you once were?
- In your own words, how would you describe faith?
Activities to do together
- Light the Bethlehem candle
- Read 1 Samuel 16:1–13
- Sing O Little Town of Bethlehem
- Read Matthew 2:1–2
- Print and color this advent illustration
Series links
- Advent is coming
- Advent: Hope & the Prophets’ candle (November 29, 2020)
- Advent: Faith & the Bethlehem candle (December 6, 2020)
- Advent: Joy & the Shepherds’ candle (December 13, 2020)
- Advent: Peace & the Angels’ candle (December 20, 2020)
- Advent: Light & the Christ candle (December 24, 2020)
