Page 5 - TeenText MS Advent Charlie Brown Christmas Sample

reflect on the text and their lives, right now, right where they are.
GO DEEP
(What’s happening in the story?)
1. Where does Mary travel? Does she seem eager to get there?
2. What happens upon her arrival? How does Elizabeth react? How does the baby react?
3. What ‘blessing’ does Elizabeth offer? Why is this significant?
4. What is the overall attitude of these women? Of this passage?
5. What does Mary’s song seem to focus on? What acts of God does she recount? Who has
God acted in favor of?
BE REAL
(What connections can you make between the story and the world around you?)
1. What kind of joy do new babies bring? Have you experienced this ‘joy’ in your family or community? How is Mary’s joy like this? How is it unlike this?
2. What about the joy of the Christmas season? How does the community around you celebrate the season? How does our culture celebrate this season? What is the focus of/the source of the ‘joy’?
3. Is this source of this joy similar to or different from the source or Mary and Elizabeth’s joy?
4. ACTIVITY – Re read Mary’s song with careful attention to the words that she uses to describe those God acts upon. Make a list of these descriptions then consider who might be described this way in our own society and world. How might this song be heard by them? What might this new and different joy that Christ brings mean to them?
LET GO
(Be open to discovering how this story is happening in your own life.)
1. What are you most joyful about during the Advent season? Gifts? Time off from school? Time with family?
2. Is this the ‘new joy’ that Christ brings? How is your joy like or unlike the new joy that Christ brings?
3. If you didn’t receive one gift and took away all the other sources of joy you named – what would Advent and Christmas look like for you? What would it feel like?
4. How does the ‘new joy’ Mary celebrates echo in your life? How can you remember and celebrate this joy during Advent?
V. SUGGESTED LINKS TO OTHER MEDIA RESOURCES
A note about links: when TeenText goes to press all links are live and in working order. Links sometimes move or are renamed. If a link does not work for you try entering the search terms in Google.
A Charlie Brown Christmas:
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The Educational Center, PO Box 11892, Charlotte, NC 28220 ~ 704.375.1161 ~ www.educationalcenter.org