Then tell the story.

‘A sense of anticipation’

Today was Thursday and on Thursdays, on the way home from school, Matthew and his Mum went to visit Hilda at Blackberry House. Hilda chatted away about all that had happened since they were last there. But Mathew wasn’t listening, he was staring, as he usually did, at the pile of boxes on the table next to George. George always sat by the window in a big, brown chair. What was in those boxes?George noticed Matthew looking at the boxes and smiled. He tapped a box near to him and said ‘Special things, treasures, I’ll show you some time’. Matthew looked at his Mum who was smiling at him. ‘Perhaps you’ll find out next time we come’, she said, ‘we have to go now’. They walked home and Matthew carried on thinking — what was inside those boxes?

Slowly open Advent box 1, to reveal its contents. The other boxes remain closed until their own week.

Arrange the parts of the stable in the space at the centre of the display. Also place the candle in the space (this will be lit later). This is the start of the crib scene. At the moment it is a shell of a building, a shelter, and it is ready and waiting for something to happen.

For young people

A dramatic reading.

You will need: three readers with strong voices. They might stand back-to-back, turning to face the front when they are speaking.

1	What day, what hour …
2	No one knows.
3	Not the angels, not the son.
2	Only the father. Only the father knows.
1	Just as it was in the time of Noah.
2	That’s how it will be when Jesus comes back.
3	People were eating and drinking,
2	right up until the floods came.
1	People were marrying and being married,
2	right up until the floods came.
3	They knew nothing about it.
2	That’s how it will be when Jesus comes back.
1	One will be taken from where they are.
3	One will be left.
1	One will be taken from what they are doing.
3	One will be left.
2	Stay awake — you don’t know when it will be that Jesus comes back.
1	If the owner of a house knew when the thief was going to come,
2	he would be ready.
3	If the owner of a house knew when the thief was going to break in,
2	he would be prepared.
1	You must be ready.
3	You don’t know when it will happen.
2	This is how it will be when Jesus comes back.