Let There Be Light

Creative Resources for the Season of Advent (Year B)

This world is full of beginnings—a baby's first cries, the light of sunrise, habits retrained, love singing your name, and hope breaking into our day to day. However, before a new beginning, there is always waiting. Thus, this Advent, we wait for the birth of the Messiah—that unfailing light. We’ll seek a love that shoves away the shadows of night. We’ll follow a star and trust that it shows us the way. We’ll proclaim that God has the power to make us new each day.

Playing with the concept of "light" as both a verb and noun, we're treating Let There Be Light as:

• a statement of God's acts in the world (specifically in Genesis 1, birth of Christ, John 1).

• a prayerful plea for God's light to continue to break through the darkness (especially when hope, joy, and light are missing in our lives).

• a call to action for us to shift systems and shove away the shadows to "prepare the way" for a new creation.

This bundle encompasses 9 multimedia resources inspired by the Let There Be Light theme and the Revised Common Lectionary scriptures for Advent (Year B). You are welcome to make this theme your own, or incorporate these materials into other themes and plans for the season.

This Advent, let there be color.
Let there be peace.
Let there be new beginnings.
Let there be light—as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be.

 {We consider your purchase a form of patronage to support our work and ministry. To make our resources accessible to congregations of all sizes, we offer tiered pricing on our bundles. Please choose the price below you are able to give. Your support makes our ministry possible!}

$302 TOTAL BUNDLE VALUE

Please Note: ALL RESOURCES ARE DIGITAL DOWNLOADS. Upon purchase, you will receive a link to download a .zip file. Download this file IMMEDIATELY, as this link expires within 24 hrs. The immediate download includes a password and link to a password-protected page where you can then access and download all of our Advent resources whenever you need them throughout the season.

WHAT'S INCLUDED IN THE BUNDLE: 

{All of the following resources are included in the bundle, but each resource is also available separately for individual purchase}

1. Let There Be Color Advent Devotional

[Individual Price: $15-$80]

Journey through Advent with color and light. This 25-days-long printable coloring devotional features:

• Sunday Sabbath poetry prayers (written by Sarah Are)

• weekly planning pages (to blend gratitude & prayers with your busy to-do's)

• bi-weekly journaling prompts (reflecting on where light is missing in the world and where light is breaking in)

• 16 coloring pages and artist reflections inspired by all of the lectionary scripture texts for Advent Year B

Download includes a print-ready PDF of the 28-page devo, formatted to print on 11 x 17 sheets to fold into an 8.5 x 11 booklet. The PDF is arranged so that you can easily fold the pages in half, staple or bind them down the middle, and voila! You have a beautiful devotional to guide you through Advent. We hope you will print as many copies as you need to share with your community. Watch a short preview of the contents here.

2. Let There Be Worship Film

3. Let There Be Light Advent Coloring Posters

[Individual Price: $65]

This is a collection of 16 hand-drawn art inspired by all of the Revised Common Lectionary scriptures for the four weeks of Advent (Year B). Print the images as coloring posters (we provide 3 size options) to invite members of all ages to dig deep into these scriptures through color, line, and form. Download includes an 11-page PDF with artist reflections and scripture references for each image (you may wish to print this doc to add to your scripture study and worship prep for the season), and a visio divina Bible Study Guide for you to use these images in a group study session that incorporates the ancient Benedictine spiritual practice of "divine seeing."

4. Let There Be Light Graphics

[Individual Price: $25]

These graphics offer a visually engaging way for you to share the "Let There Be Light" Advent theme with your community. Download includes files for print and web so you can use them for projecting images and slides in worship, printing on bulletins, study materials, church publications, and advertising your worship on your website and online.

5. Let There Be Light Advent Banner Designs

[Individual Price: $20]

This Advent, create beautiful sanctuary art to illuminate the themes of the season. These designs by Hannah Garrity feature light breaking into the world through the bursting forth of the cosmos and the birth of Christ. If you use them to create paper lace banners, light will quite literally break through the negative shapes you cut away. We hope these designs (and our instructional materials) can simply be a starting point for you to create art and beauty that is uniquely your own. 

6. Longest Night Worship Liturgy

[Individual Price: $12]

This liturgical resource is for hosting a "Longest Night" service (alternatively titled, "Blue Christmas" or "Service of Light") on or around the winter solstice (December 21st in the Northern Hemisphere) designed to honor those grappling with loss and grief. Our hope is that this worship service will create a safe and sacred space for those who are struggling to feel the joy and light of this holiday season due to loss of any kind. Structured around four major movements, this service interweaves spoken word poetry, visual art, hands-on elements, and candle-lighting. If you have access to screens in worship, we highly recommend sharing the Let There Be Worship Film (see above) as part of the service.

7. Let There Be Graphics

[Individual Price: $25]

These graphics allow you to build on our Let There Be Light theme, or create your own seasonal or weekly themes by filling in the blank, "Let there be ____________." Perhaps you may wish to follow the traditional weekly themes of Advent by adding "Hope," "Peace," "Love," or "Joy" to the "Let there Be" logo. If you use our Longest Night Worship Service, you may wish to use these Let There Be graphics for that service as an invitation and reminder to simply "be."

8. Let There Be Light Advent Visual Art

[Individual Price: $35]

This is a collection of full-color visual art inspired by the gospel scripture texts for the four Sundays in Advent (Year B). Download includes files formatted for print and web/projection, as well as artist statements and a Visio Divina Bible Study Guide.

9. Conversations with God Advent Prayers

[Individual Price: $5]

These 4 short first-person “Conversations with God” poems reflect on hope, peace, love, and joy in a way that feels personal and intimate. These prayers are honest and pure, innocently child-like in their inquiry. Adapt these prayers for your Call to Worship each Sunday in Advent, incorporate them into your Advent wreath-lighting liturgy, or use them in a bible study or Sunday school to deepen your reflection on the weekly themes of Advent.