Ring of Promise

Have you ever made a promise? Has anyone ever made a promise to you? Do any of you have a best friends necklace someone gave you when she promised to be your best friend? A promise is something we tell someone we will definitely, absolutely do. You should only make a promise you intend to keep. Grown-ups make a promise when they get married. A husband and a wife promise to love each other forever and ever, and they give each other rings as a sign of that promise. Here is a wedding ring. If you follow the wedding ring, it goes around and around, forever and ever, to remind the husband and wife that they promised to love each other forever and ever. Is there anything in our church today that is shaped like a ring? Yes, the Advent wreath is shaped like a ring. Let's go look at it. You see, the Advent wreath goes around forever and ever, and it reminds us that God made a promise to love us forever and ever, and to send God's Son to save us.

Sometimes people break the promises we make, because we aren't perfect. But God is perfect, and God keeps all God's promises. When we light the Advent candles around the wreath, it reminds us that God promised to send God's Son Jesus, and God did send us Jesus just like God promised. So we know that God will keep all God's promises, and come to save us again, and will love us forever and ever. Let's thank God for that.

Thank you God for keeping your promises and sending us Jesus. Help us to trust you to keep all your promises to us. Amen.