One of the things we all love about Advent and Christmas is spending time with loved ones. One favorite tradition is to watch beloved Christmas movies. Each Saturday we will recommend one such movie geared toward families that relates to that week’s Advent theme and includes related Scripture and prayer. We invite you to read aloud these passages and prayers and consider how they may relate to the movie each week. There is also a movie option for grown-ups who want to dive deeper into that week’s theme.
Family Movie: A Charlie Brown Christmas
Comfort, comfort my people! says your God. Speak compassionately to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her compulsory service has ended, that her penalty has been paid. —Isaiah 40:1-2
These words were written hundreds of years before Jesus was born. Isaiah was giving God’s people hope, reminding them that, even in captivity, God was with them and that there would be better days ahead Hope is such a powerful force. It’s the belief in something happening and the confident expectation that it will.
We invite you to watch the classic Christmas movie that embodies hope: A Charlie Brown Christmas. Where does Charlie Brown place his hope, and does this story leave you feeling hopeful?
Loving God,
We have you,
And there is hope.
We have each other,
And there is hope.
We wait for Jesus,
With confident expectation,
And there is hope.
Amen.
Dive Deeper into Hope: Film Suggestion for Grown-ups
Defiant Requiem, available on Amazon Prime (defiantrequiem.org)
Defiant Requiem highlights the most dramatic example of intellectual and artistic courage in the Theresienstadt (Terezín) Concentration Camp during World War II: the remarkable story of Rafael Schächter, a brilliant, young Czech conductor who was arrested and sent to Terezín in 1941. He demonstrated moral leadership under the most brutal circumstances, determined to sustain courage and hope for his fellow prisoners by enriching their souls through great music. His most extraordinary act was to recruit 150 prisoners and teach them Verdi’s Requiem by rote in a dank cellar using a single score, over multiple rehearsals, and after grueling days of forced labor. The Requiem was performed on 16 occasions for fellow prisoners. The last, most infamous performance occurred on June 23, 1944, before high-ranking SS officers from Berlin and the International Red Cross to support the charade that the prisoners were treated well and flourishing.
Adapted from Worship Design Studio materials by Marcia McFee.
Used With Permission.
Read other Advent 2020 Devotionals or download the book as a PDF.