Sermon of the Week - December 9, 2012

Sermons 4 Kids
Sermon of the Week
Advent 2 C
December 9, 2012

Sermon of the Week

Title: "Fanfare for a King"

Theme: Announcing the coming King. Advent 2-C

Object: A trumpet, a shofar, or a recording of a fanfare and an Advent wreath

Scripture: As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God's salvation.'" Luke 3:4-6 (NIV)

(If possible, begin by having someone play a fanfare on the trumpet or a blast on the shofar. If that is not possible, just show the children a trumpet or shofar or play a fanfare on a recording and adapt the sermon to fit your situation.)

Wow! That was exciting, wasn't it? That exciting piece played on the trumpet is called a fanfare. A fanfare is a loud, short piece of music that is usually played on a trumpet to announce the arrival of someone important. For example, a trumpet fanfare is often played to announce the arrival of a king, queen or president.

The trumpet fanfare has been used to announce the coming of a king for many, many years. It was even used in Bible times! The Bible tells us that when Solomon was crowned as the King of Israel they blew the trumpet and shouted, "God save king Solomon." (1 Kings 1:34)

The word fanfare is also sometimes used to describe any showy celebration surrounding a special event. There is always a lot of fanfare surrounding the coming of a king, isn't there? Well, not always. There wasn't much fanfare surrounding the coming of Jesus. There were no trumpets and no one shouting, "God save the king!" The Bible tells us that there was only a man named John who was like a voice calling out in the desert saying, "Prepare the way for the Lord."

That wasn't much of a fanfare for a king, and it sure wasn't much of a fanfare for the King of Kings. As we look forward to the celebration of his birth, we do it with great fanfare. (Have trumpeter play the fanfare again.)

Today we light the second candle on our Advent wreath. We light the candle of peace -- for our King -- the Prince of Peace.

Heavenly Father, we look forward to celebrating the birthday of our King, Jesus. He is King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and the Prince of Peace. Amen.

Coloring Pages and Activities

GROUP ACTIVITIES PAGE

COLORING PAGE "John the Baptist" or "Candle of Peace"

CROSSWORD PUZZLE (PDF) (HTML)

DECODER PUZZLE (PDF) (HTML)

FILL IN THE BLANKS (PDF) (HTML)

WORD SEARCH PUZZLE (PDF) (HTML)

WORSHIP BULLETIN (WORD DOCUMENT) Save this document to your computer and personalize it with your church's name. Print side one then reinsert it into the printer and print side two.

Sermon Links

PRINTER-FRIENDLY AND ALTERNATIVE SERMONS

A PRINT-FRIENDLY VERSION OF THIS SERMON: "Fanfare for a King"

AN ALTERNATE SERMON BASED ON LUKE 3:1-6: "Company Is Coming"

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