ADVENTure is a self-directed prayer walk we did several times at church on our college campus. It includes scriptures and short meditations combined with an activity at each prayer station designed to help ponder the true meaning of Christmas.

The church is set up with four candles around the outside of the room to represent a traditional Advent wreath. Another candle is positioned in the middle of the room to represent the Christ candle. These candles become the prayer stations where there are scripture meditations and supplies for an activity associated with each scripture passage.

Each week in worship we lit the Advent wreath (on stage), as well as the candle(s) at the prayer stations around the room. As we did, we read our scripture meditations aloud. One year we even kicked-off the ADVENTure walk (and Advent season) at church with a candlelight processional dance on the first Sunday of Advent. At the end of the dance, all five candles were set in place at their respective prayer stations. Another year our resident poet wrote a poem to accompany each station.

I have posted all meditations, as well as activity ideas for ADVENTure each week for your use. Feel free to use these meditations and ideas for your church, ministry or personal prayer life this most blessed CHRISTmas season. Here’s an Advent devotional schedule with links to each week’s meditations and creative activities:

• 1st Sunday of Advent:  Candle of HOPE: the Wise Men
• 2nd Sunday of Advent:  Candle of PEACE: the Shepherds
• 3rd Sunday of Advent:  Candle of JOY: Mary
• 4th Sunday of Advent: Candle of LOVE: Joseph
• Christmas Eve or Day:  CHRIST Candle

I encourage you to adapt this for your own purposes. Allow this to simply be the framework as you work with the creatives and artists in your church or ministry. If you click on the following links, they will take you to .pdf files of the hand-out we had available for the prayer walk and a list of supplies you will need: ADVENTure Instructions and ADVENTure Supply List.

Let me know if you have any questions by commenting below.

Blessings of ARTistry, CREATivity & BEaUty, Jody

P.S. Missed previous posts? Click here.

______________________

What is Create-A-Day?  Just as One-A-Day® Vitamins help restore the nutrients we deplete in our bodies, so too do we need to refill, replenish and renew our creative souls. In 2015, watch for daily* posts to undergird your ministry; lead you to resources to nurture the creative spirit within; and draw you more deeply in worship of Jesus Christ. My goal is to provide you, the creative Christian, with over 250* resources to help you develop your ARTistry, CREATivity & capacity for BEaUty. Books, worship arts ministries, video series, websites, conferences—all geared towards artists, creatives, worshipers and people serving in worship and creative arts ministries.

Jody Thomae is the author of God’s Creative Gift—Unleashing the Artist in You and The Creator’s Healing Power–Restoring the Broken to Beautiful, both devotional books in the Bible Studies to Nurture the Creative Spirit Within series, designed to serve as resources for creative Christians, artists, musicians, worshippers and those that appreciate beauty. She has been involved in worship arts ministry since 1997, coordinating artistic involvement in church services and regional worship events through dance, drama, poetry and fine arts. She teaches and leads workshops in the area of creativity, spirituality and embodied prayer. She has also released a devotional CD, Song of the Beloved. Her passion is for the revelation of God to be made more real through the prophetic use of the arts in church and formational ministry. It is her desire to portray the message of Christ’s desperate and unfailing love for His people to help sustain the hearts of the broken and weary. Life scriptures include Psalm 27; Isaiah 50:4-7; and Zephaniah 3:14-17.