Holidays, Family, and the End of All Things

So Kid’s leaders out there, question for you? What books of the Bible do you NOT teach in Kid’s Church?   As a Children’s pastor for 15 years, I can say with a certainly that there are a few books that I avoid. Songs of Solomon for example (let them have the fun, giggly time with that when they discover it in Middle School!). Another would be Lamentations. Man, that’s always a bring down. Oh, and of course, Revelation.

“Hey kids, let’s welcome our newest puppet, the 7 headed beast thingy that came out of the SEAAAAAAAAAA!”

I’ve been actually reading a great book called “The Second Coming: A Simplified Study” written by a friend of mine, Andrew LaTeer. Please understand, I’m usually not a big “End Times” book guy. I roll my eyes at talk of the blood moons. I softly sing “I wish we alllllll been ready” every-time anyone mentions “Left Behind” (how can anything be better than the sheer terror that “A Thief in the Night” brought to all us impressionable kid-charismatic?).

To be honest, I’ve really been enjoying my friend’s book!   I really DO love knowing that Christ is coming back for us. What does freak me out though is the APOCALYPSE!

“Hey Kid’s, today’s story is entitled ‘The Breaking of the Seals’. Now, I’ll need FOUR volunteers that can ride these toy horses….”

I was emailed this article today that dove into the beginning of the Advent season with a reading from Mark 13:24, which she called the “Little Apocalypse” as it quotes Jesus talking on the Mount of Olives about all that is to come. It’s not pretty. What a way to start the joyous season then with a little destruction. The author (Jan Richardson) goes on to say that although she has always found this an odd way to begin the season, she thought about her own times of personal “apocalypse” her and her family had to go through during one holiday season.

“The ending of one’s personal world is not the same, I know, as The End of the World that Jesus describes here. Yet the first Sunday of Advent invites us to recognize that these endings are connected; that the Christ who will return at the end of time somehow inhabits each ending we experience in this life.”   (Advent 1: Blessing When the World is Ending)

We’ve all had loses. Sometimes this is felt the deepest through this time. We have to face family which often is a mixed bag. For me, it’s a treat in that it is my family that helps me deal with the craziness of life. All of our stories are different, yet for those of us seeking after Christ, there is a connecting vein…

…This season of Advent is a reminder for us all to enter into a place of peace in Christ.

… To enter into peace, we must recognize the loss, or destruction, or loneliness that our own “little apocalypses” have brought us.

… Our brokenness, in the presence of a healing God, is the beginning of our peace.

So as you enter into this season, and as you prepare all those lessons for the kids in their own stages of knowing Christ, don’t shy away from that point in your life that might mark the end of something in your life.

…Remember, this whole season is about new beginnings!