Jesus: God’s Unlikely Revelation
Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany Services includes biblically-based sermons, suggested scriptures, children’s time, hymn and prayers, as well as litanies for lighting the Advent wreath. Also included are suggestions for seasonal funerals. These services offer a completing message of hope during this important church season, when people often visit a church for the first time.
Each service focuses on and celebrates a different aspect of the theme: Jesus: God’s Unlikely Revelation
1. First Sunday of Advent-
Jesus: The Unlikely Image of God (Genesis 1:26-27; Colossians 1:15-17)
2. Second Sunday in Advent
Jesus: The Unlikely Gift from God (Isaiah 55:1-9)
3. Third Sunday of Advent
Jesus: The Unlikely Story of God with Us (Matthew 1:18-25)
4. Fourth Sunday of Advent
Jesus: The Unlikely Messiah (John 7:25-31)
5. Christmas Eve
Jesus: An Unlikely Peacemaker (Luke 2:8-20)
6. Christmas Day
An Unlikely Christmas Card (Matthew 2:13-23)
7. Epiphany
John the Baptizer: Jesus’ Unlikely Herald (John 1:1-14)
Seasonal Funerals
About the author
F. Belton Joyner Jr. is a retired United Methodist pastor and author of The Unofficial UM Handbooks and Being Methodist in the Bible Belt: A Theological Survival Guide for Youth, Parents, and Other Confused Methodists and many other books. Currently, he is a visiting lecturer at Duke Divinity School and member of Judicial Council of The United Methodist Church. He lives in Bahama, North Carolina.