An Advent series based on the notions of simplicity, stability (a Benedictine vow), and sanctuary 

Each week, congregants are offered a liturgy booklet that follows the same format and rituals, with elements like the poem/prayer, Bible reading, and wondering questions changing. The sermons are inspired by the “living stories” method and involve an unfolding visual scene that participants are able to interact with through wondering, touch, and silent reflection after.

Here is the liturgy booklet for week one, which focuses on The Heavenly Host and the theme “In Harmony with the Cosmos.”

The text for the “living story sermon” is below with wondering questions in bold. People should be encouraged to respond or reflect together. For this week, hand wooden peg people to folk as they enter the sanctuary.

“Listen to the story with your ears, your eyes, and your heart, 
and if you want to see or hear better, come close 
and help everyone to participate.”

Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth, peace,
goodwill among people.

Here is the stable around which a community will gather.
Here is Joseph from a line both noble and humble.
Here is Mary, a symbol of the openness of God’s story 

to the unexpected and the overlooked.

Here is baby Jesus:

the light of God’s goodness enfleshed

where it is needed most
– 
in the darkness, 

on the outskirts, 

in a place of rejection and vulnerability.

Here are the shepherds 
who would go anywhere to find a lost sheep
– 
into the grass, into the water, 
even into places of great danger.

And here, here is the place where the night comes alive 

with the chorus of the cosmos 

as the celestial sounds of a heavenly host

join in perfect harmony 

with every creak and crack and echo

between heaven and earth.
(place your representation of the heavenly host – I’ve chosen to go with flashing lights beneath and opaque golden fabric which is movable as the story progresses).

Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth, peace,
goodwill among people.

Voices like harps and lutes, 

pipes and trumpets, 

viols and organs,
and like countless choirs singing with words,
began to craft the great salvation song
of Almighty God, Unkulunkulu, Modimo wa rona;
and a sound arose of endless interchanging melodies,
woven into harmony
that transcended hearing,
reaching into the depths and heights,
until the dwelling places of every created thing,
and each precious creature,
were filled to overflowing.
The music and its echo
spread into the darkness,
and the darkness was dark no more.
(turn the lights on)

Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth, peace,
goodwill among people.

On Bethlehem’s hills, night turned to day;
Heaven’s song broke through the grey.
God with us—no longer far,
Love’s own light, a guiding star.
In cradle small, salvation lay,
And angels sang to show the way.

Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth, peace,
goodwill among people.

In a moment that felt like eternity, 

the shepherds gazed in awe at the multitude;

they shivered at the gentle power of a song

never heard before on earth –
a melody woven from heaven’s hope

and God’s promises 

and the heart of love itself. 

It danced over the hills,

echoed deep into those shepherd souls,

and invited all creation to listen

and find their part:

Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth, peace,
goodwill among people.

The message was not just words. 

It was news of a miracle:
God had come near.

In the quiet of a stable, 

wrapped in swaddling cloths and cradled in a manger, 

the Creator became a newborn child. 

This is the heart of the Orthodox faith—
that in Jesus, God took on flesh. 
God became human, 

not merely to visit us, 

but to unite Godself completely with us, 

to heal our brokenness from within.
(move the angel representation over the stable)

Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth, peace,
goodwill among people.

The message was not just words.

It was the answer to centuries of longing,

the fulfilment of every prophecy,

and the dawn of a hope that never fades.
In that moment, our salvation began -

not with a grand display,
but in humility; 

not in power, but in gentleness;

not in the brutality of the cross, 

but in the softness of a mother’s wondering heart.
(move the shepherd and sheep into the stable)

Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth, peace,
goodwill among people.


The message was not just words.
It was inspiration and invitation
that touched the tired, anxious places within those shepherd hearts

and swept them into the centre of God’s story
with a Saviour to search for

and good news to share

and a song of peace 
that makes room still for everyone

and rises yet to its crescendo and completion:

Then I looked, and I heard the voices
of myriads of angels in circles around the throne,
as well as the voices of the living creatures and the elders—
myriads and myriads!
And as I watched, all of them were singing with thunderous voices:

“Christ, the Lamb, who gave everything, is worthy
—
worthy of all power, wisdom, riches, honour, glory, and praise!”

Then every living being joined in: 

every creature in heaven 

and on earth, 

under the earth, 

in the sea,
and everything in them, 

were worshipping with one voice. (Revelation 5)
(unfold imagery of future times – I’ve based mine on the Ezekiel image of the river flowing from the temple and life flourishing wherever it flows. The Good Shepherd who is also the lamb is placed at the temple).

Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth, peace,
goodwill among people.

May this become our refrain too. 

In everyday moments
—
in the early morning rush, 

the gentle kindness to a neighbour, 

the silent prayers at midnight—
God draws near. 


God enters our world,
not with thunder, 

but with the soft breath of a child in a manger

to gather our struggles, our hopes, and our joys into this salvation song.


I wonder what goodwill and peace look like in today’s world.
I wonder whether you will join in the music.
I wonder how best we might carry its melody into our lives and our communities.

Offer time for people to place their peg person within "the song" as part of their pondering.

May this story shape not just our understanding, 

but our hearts and our actions—

setting our individual melodies in harmony with the salvation song

of peace and fullness of life and the coming of Christ among us.