Gather
Use the activity and prayers to gather the group and introduce the theme
Use the Jump menu on the right to find Prayers and other resources.
When it’s hard to hope
- Explore together that sometimes it can be easy to hope for things, e.g. a gift at Christmas, and we can just place our hope in somebody else to do what we hope for. Sometimes it can be hard to hope for things, e.g. an ending of a war, and this may feel futile to hope for.
- Divide the room in half and invite the people on one side to think of things that are easy to hope for. Invite the people on the other side to think of things that may be hard to hope for. Share ideas with the whole group.
- Explain that in today’s readings we’ll hear about the hope that God brought to a nation of disillusioned people – people who struggled to hope, or had even lost hope, after many years of difficulty. We’ll also reflect on the hope that God gives us through Jesus.
First impressions
You could also use the image and following questions to help introduce the theme.
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Click on the image to view a larger version
or use the Jump menu to go to This week's images.
For artist's details, see this issue's illustrators.
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Questions
- What are you hoping for?
- How would you like Jesus to meet with you in the coming week?
- How might you bring the hope of Jesus to others?