Upturned expectations are the way of Advent.
When it comes to God, surprise is a matter of perspective. God had been sending the messages for quite some time that things would happen just so, yet in Jesus, God still managed to arrive out of the blue. Even Anna and Simeon, the witnesses in the temple, knew exactly who they sought, yet they still felt astonishment and joy when they met the incarnate God in the arms of his parents.
This is the excitement and the tension we’ve tried to capture in Out of the Blue: the sense that God’s work breaks into our reality in ways that astound even the best prepared. Explore feelings of astonishment, amazement, stupefaction, bewilderment, excitement, and thrill that come with the life of faith.
Astonishment around every corner.
Barn Geese Worship’s 2025 Advent series Out of the Blue: Updated and Expanded follows the Revised Common Lectionary to reveal the surprises hidden in familiar texts. Explore feelings of astonishment, amazement, stupefaction, bewilderment, excitement, and thrill that come with the life of faith. Such feelings may accompany a new direction, a rediscovery of purpose, or an eye-opening epiphany. Surprise can be bright and loud, but it can be quiet, too. A different sense of astonishment accompanies us when we discover that God’s goodness has draped itself in muted clothes and quietly worked behind the scenes of our lives.
Overview of the weekly themes
This series includes seven weeks of material, perfect for congregations that observe an extended Advent season and for preachers who want to explore the themes of Advent waiting and preparation even before December arrives. This series can easily adapt to the needs of your community.
November 9: Beginning at Broken
November 16: Days to Prepare, Seconds to Cook
November 23: Love at the Last
November 30: Living in Holy Tension
December 7: Wild New Life
December 14: Beyond the Superbloom
December 21: At the Turning Point
What’s included in the series?
If you purchase the Basics, you receive the Preachers’ Notes, Children’s Message Starters, Words for Worship, and the original hymn “God of the Starlight and Moon.” All other items are included in the Bundle or are available to purchase à la carte.
Preachers’ Notes: Preaching commentaries explore connections between each week’s lectionary texts and the Out of the Blue theme.
Children’s Message Starters: Kid-friendly connections to the week’s theme help to jump-start your brainstorm for a children’s message. (A surprise bonus to these starters? Only one prop is needed for all of Advent!)
Words for Worship: Fresh texts for Advent worship include Gathering Words, weekly Invocations, Prayer of Confession and Assurance of Forgiveness, Thanksgiving for Baptism, Advent Wreath-Lighting, Offering Prayer, Eucharistic Prayer, Prayer After Communion, and Sending. Also includes the hymn written for this worship series, “God of the Starlight and Moon.”
An Advent Hymn: “God of the Starlight and Moon” is intended for use as part of the rite for lighting the Advent candles, but it may also be used as a seasonal Advent hymn. The music follows a melodic contour sweeping from high to low to high and includes a few harmonic surprises. Gentle dissonances lead singers deeper into the mysteries of Advent. The text approaches the Advent season with wonder and praise, embracing the beauty of Advent darkness as bright candles are lit.
Advent Devotions: This take-home resource can be used whether you are a single adult, a single parent, a couple, a multigenerational family under one roof, or a community of friends. Arranged around stories of the women in Jesus’ family tree highlighted in Matthew’s gospel, it guides users as they explore the weekly themes and participate in the creation of a found-object Jesse tree.
Midweek Worship: This Advent evening prayer service is flexible in its design. You can choose elements to complement your congregation’s favorite vespers service or use the provided liturgy on its own for up to seven weeks of Advent observance. Each week connects a figure from the traditional Jesse tree (expanded to include the women in Matthew’s genealogy) to a saint whose feast day is commemorated in November or December.
Lessons and Carols for Christmas: This completely new service is here to help tired worship planners, pastors, and leaders offer a rich liturgy full of reflection on the surprising incarnation of Jesus without the need for extensive preparation or leadership. Seven sets of scripture readings, hymn suggestions, and reflection questions invite joyful celebration and thoughtful contemplation of the season.
An Advent & Christmas Pageant: Like the Advent Devotions and Midweek Worship, this pageant is grounded in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1 and in Luke’s story of Jesus’ birth. Walk with Mary and Joseph on the road to Bethlehem, as ready as us all for the newborn Savior to join their family.
Updated and Expanded
If the title Out of the Blue sounds familiar, it’s because you might have heard it before. Barn Geese Worship released a first version of this series in 2022. This time around, though, things are different: we’re wiser and more experienced, and our community of users has grown and offered feedback. What’s more, the social, cultural, and political landscape of 2025 is different from the way it was in 2022. The context has shifted.
Liturgies don’t exist in a vacuum; they grow and develop and ferment with each repetition. Our writers have returned to Out of the Blue with fresh perspectives. As a result, this edition includes a heavy overhaul of the liturgical material. We’ve tweaked, modified, updated, and revised almost every line of the rest of the components, from the Preachers’ Notes to the Advent Devotions. You’ll find new content, too, like a complete set of Children’s Message Starters and a handy Lessons and Carols service for the Christmas season.
If Out of the Blue is new to you, you’re in for a treat: it has had plenty of time to simmer and to spark imagination, and it incorporates learning and experience from the field. In other words, everything old here is new again; and you’ll find plenty of new favorites in this series, too.
God will bless your congregation with many good things this Advent season – some surprising, some long-expected. After all, the astonishing seeds of God’s goodness were planted among you long ago.
Out of the Blue: Updated and Expanded is now live in the Market Stall!
Want to save the surprises for your congregation? Preview Out of the Blue: Updated and Expanded with a short series sample before purchasing, available at the button below.
Ready to jump into the wild blue yonder? Click the button below to visit the Out of the Blue: Updated and Expanded Market Stall and purchase the full-length series.