IT'S A BOY AN EDGE ISSUE NIGHT ON ADVENT SCRIPTURE Luke 2:1-20 CATECHISM 524 YOUCAT 82 KEY WORDS Fiat Advent Almsgiving SUPPLIES NEEDED Baby shower decorations Crib Core Team baby pictures with numbers Paper Pens Prize Jar or bucket Ping Pong balls (one per youth) MEDIA SUGGESTIONS YouTube: A Charlie Brown Christmas (The Meaning of Christmas) by HolidayFavorites YouTube: Advent in 2 Minutes by bustedhalovideo Song: Love Has Come by Matt Maher (The End and the Beginning, Spirit and Song) Song: The King is Coming by Newsboys (God s Not Dead, Inpop Records) Song: Emmanuel by Steve Angrisano (Christmas Child, Spirit and Song) Song: Ready the Way by Curtis Stephan (Amid Passing Things, Spirit and Song) Song: Awake O Sleeper by Ike Ndolo (We Are the Beggars, Spirit and Song) Song: Joseph s Lullaby by MercyMe (The Christmas Sessions, INO Records) GOAL The goal of this Edge Night is to bring to the youth a greater understanding of the season of Advent and build anticipation for the birth of Christ. The youth will also be encouraged to bring baby items to donate to the local crisis pregnancy center. EDGE NIGHT AT A GLANCE This night begins with collecting any items the youth brought to donate to the diocese crisis pregnancy center. The youth will then have some time to play some classic baby shower games. The Proclaim focuses on the true meaning of Christmas and how to use Advent to prepare for the coming of Jesus. The Break gives the youth an opportunity to listen to the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke and reflect on it. The Edge Night ends with a time of Adoration and celebrating that Christ is always with us. ENVIRONMENT Go all out, and decorate the youth room for a baby shower for Jesus. Use blue streamers and any other baby shower decorations you can find at your local party store. Make sure to have an area to put the baby items to donate; a fun way to collect them is by challenging the youth to fill a crib. 30 AMPLIFY
CORE TEAM FORMATION This night is all about Advent and being prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ at Christmas. A lot of times we get so lost in the hubbub of the secular Christmas season that we forget to stop and reflect on what this time of year is really about. It is not bad to partake in secular traditions, but they must never overshadow the joyful anticipation of the birth of Jesus. If you have not taken time in past years to dive into this Church season, this is a good time to plan how you will make this year different. Read up on different ways to grow in your faith during Advent, and consider getting some sort of Scripture reading for Advent. For a great resource, check out Life Teen s Advent Companion. Do not miss the opportunity of this Advent season to grow in your faith and be a good example to our youth of the true meaning of Christmas. Before this Edge Night, be sure to read the narrative from Luke 2:1-20. TO THE PARENTS Today your youth got to go to a baby shower. They played some classic baby shower games to bring home the point that during Advent we wait in joyful anticipation for the birth of Jesus. They listened to the Gospel narrative from Luke 2:1-20 about the birth of Jesus and talked about the importance of keeping the true meaning of Christmas at the center of their lives this Advent season. Here are some questions to ask your youth this week: Why is Advent so important? What is the true meaning of Christmas? What are some things that we can do as a family to keep Christ at the center of all our Christmas celebrations this year? GATHER WELCOME & INTRODUCTIONS (5 min) Gather together all the youth, and give a brief introduction to the night. Introduce any youth who are there for the first time, recognize any birthdays, and begin the night in prayer. GUESS THE BABY GAME (10 min) Supplies: Core Team baby pictures with numbers Paper Pens Prize Have the Core bring in baby pictures of themselves, and post them around the room before the Edge Night. Assign a number to each picture, and post it up on the wall. Give the youth a sheet of paper so that they can write down their guesses. Have the youth guess which picture corresponds to each Core Member. After everyone is finished cooing over the photos, give a prize to the person with the most correct matches. POTTY TRAINING (10 min) Supplies: Jar or bucket Ping Pong balls (one per youth) Separate the youth into their small groups. Line up some jars or buckets on one side of the room. On the other, have each team line up with one Ping Pong ball per person. Have the youth place the Ping Pong ball tightly between their knees and race to the jar waddling as fast as they can. Once at the jar, the youth must drop the ball neatly into it, and then run back to their team so the next person can go. The small group to get the most Ping Pong balls into their potty wins the game. AMPLIFY 31
PROCLAIM IT'S A BOY TEACHING (10 min) This teaching can be found on pages 33 to 34. Here are the main points of the teaching: Advent is a time when we eagerly wait for the birth of Christ. The true meaning of Christmas is found in the birth of Jesus, not in all the secular traditions. There are many different and practical ways to enter into the Advent season. BREAK THE CHRISTMAS STORY (5 min) Break the youth into their small groups, and read the account from Luke about the birth of Christ Luke 2:1-20. Read the story through once. Then the second time ask the youth to close their eyes and picture what is going on. After you have had time to read the story, discuss the following questions. What part of the story sticks out to you? Why? Which character in this story do you relate to the most? Why? When you pictured what was going on, were you a character in the story or were you watching from afar? What did you see? SEND EUCHARISTIC ADORATION (15 min) End the night with time for Adoration. While Advent is about waiting for the coming of Christ, we cannot ignore the fact that He is already present with us. Lead your youth through a time of Adoration in the chapel or in a prayerful meeting place. See the songs in the Media Suggestions for music to play, and also make sure to have a time for silence. Encourage the youth to spread out and take this time to think about the Christmas story and the incredible gift of God becoming man. CLOSING ANNOUNCEMENTS (5 min) Wrap up the night with any closing announcements, and be sure to pray for all the women and babies who will be receiving the items that were collected. FURTHER ADAPTATION IDEAS If you have more time or want to play more games, there are a lot of websites that have fun baby shower games. Take some youth and their parents with you to deliver the goods to the crisis pregnancy center. Ask the whole parish to participate in bringing items to donate. Have the youth act out the Christmas Story during the Break. What are you going to do this Advent to prepare for the coming of Jesus? What are you most excited about for Christmas? What are some ways that you can keep this story and Christ at the center of your celebrations this year? 32 AMPLIFY
IT'S A BOY TEACHING KEY WORDS Fiat Mary s yes in response to God asking her to bear His Son. Advent A time of preparation and waiting for the arrival of Christ at Christmas. Almsgiving An act in which we give to those in need, a charitable work. Luke 2:6-7 Waiting Game You have been invited to a baby shower! Now, before you were born, believe it or not, your parents anxiously awaited your arrival. Your parents looked at books of baby names, painted the nursery, put together a crib, and probably told all of their friends and family about you. The same excitement and preparation for the Christ child is celebrated in the Church as we anxiously await the arrival of Jesus. We remember how He humbly and prophetically came to us in a manger in Bethlehem. We anticipate Jesus coming and wait in jubilant preparation for Jesus to be reborn in our hearts. How many of you have younger siblings? Do you remember what it was like when all you heard about for weeks was that the new baby would be arriving soon? It may have seemed, at times, like that day would never come, but when it finally did, everyone was filled with joy and delight. Key Word CCC 524 Every year the church sets aside a special time, known as Advent, to remind us to prepare and anticipate Christ s birth so that we can experience the same eagerness and exhilaration for the coming of Christmas. All the best things are worth waiting for. That's What It's All About So what is the true reason we celebrate Christmas? Some say the presents, some say doing nice things for others, some say getting days off of school. Do you ever notice that during Christmas there is a shift in people? Some people become more generous, drivers are often friendlier on the roads, people stop to smile and share holiday greetings, and it is awesome to see. AMPLIFY 33
Some people shift in other ways. Some are stressed out from the long lines at the mall, some are Scrooges about the amount of money they have spent on presents, some hate hearing Christmas music played on the radio. When you get caught up in the wrong meaning and purpose of Christmas, you miss out on the joy and peace that it brings. Play one of the two videos from the Media Suggestions here. Christmas is all about how God became Man through His Son, Jesus Christ. What a great gift! Because of Mary s fiat (fancy word for yes ), the birth of Christ, and His acceptance of God s plan, we were given a living covenant with God that would afford us the opportunity for eternal life. Prep Time Take some time out this week to think of how you can prepare your heart for Jesus arrival at Christmas. Maybe add some extra prayer time, and tell Him how excited you are that He was born. Go to adoration to thank God for giving you such a wonderful gift in His Son. Attend Mass on another day in addition to Sundays to spend time with Jesus and let Him know how much you love Him. Remember, Advent is a time to prepare for Christ s coming, and we often do this best through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Read scripture, pray a rosary, and donate a new toy or food to a charity drive. Get your parents involved, and ask them what you can do as a family to prepare your hearts for Jesus. Luke 1:38 YouCat 82 Key Word Key Word 34 AMPLIFY
Notes AMPLIFY 35
IT'S A BOY CHECKLIST EDGE NIGHT CHECKLIST EDGE NIGHT DATE: EDGE NIGHT TOPIC: CORE TEAM ASSIGNMENTS: Environment Opening Prayer Games Proclaim Closing Prayer WEEK PRIOR TO EDGE NIGHT: Hand out/email the Edge Night to the Core Members Assign duties to the Core Team Pick videos and/or songs Gather all the supplies Email Core Team the Edge Night Core Formation WEEK OF THE EDGE NIGHT: Prep for games and the environment Meet with the Core Member doing the Proclaim (if applicable) Videos: Songs: DAY OF THE EDGE NIGHT: Email Parents the information about the Night and any announcements Gather and Prep for the night Pray! Notes 36 AMPLIFY
IT'S A BOY EVALUATION EDGE NIGHT EVALUATION INSTRUCTIONS: Evaluation is a key to successful ministry. Use the following questions to discuss and evaluate your Edge Night. What is going well at our Edge Nights? What can we improve? Would you be interested in leading prayer, explaining games, or giving a Proclaim teaching? Was there one particular part of this Edge Night you did not think was necessary? What and Why? Are our Core Meetings effective? How can I better serve you as a youth minister? What can we do to better serve our youth? AMPLIFY 37