|
|
| Advent
2010 |
 This year, we
will study a traditional advent series on the
birth of Jesus. The lessons are designed to help
you focus on the real meaning of Christmas -- the
incarnation of God himself in Jesus Christ -- and
what we can learn about discipleship from the
principal characters in this drama.We will
begin each week with an Advent Worship Litany
from the Upper Room. Lighting the candles of
hope, peace, joy, and love will focus our
attention on this Holy season.
Introduction
Mary,
The Virgin Mother
Joseph,
the Stand-In Father
The
Shepherds' Sign of the Manger
Wise
Men and the Christmas Star of Bethlehem
That night in Bethlehem, God took on humanness
and became human. No, he didn't lose any of his
divinity--the angels' grand proclamation on the
hillside sheepfields is testimony to that. The
virgin birth, rather than being at the periphery
of the Christian faith as some would claim, is
right at its core. It explains who Jesus is.
|
|
What is Advent?
The word Advent means "coming" or
"arrival." The focus of the entire season is
the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his
First Advent, and the anticipation of the return of
Christ the King in his Second Advent.
Advent is the beginning of the Church Year for most
churches in the Western tradition. It begins on the
fourth Sunday before Christmas Day, which is the Sunday
nearest November 30, and ends on Christmas Eve (Dec 24).
If Christmas Eve is a Sunday, it is counted as the fourth
Sunday of Advent, with Christmas Eve proper beginning at
sundown.
Historically, the primary sanctuary color of Advent is
purple. This is the color of penitence and fasting
as well as the color of royalty to welcome the Advent of
the King. In the four weeks of Advent the third Sunday
came to be a time of rejoicing that the fasting was
almost over (in some traditions it is called Gaudete
Sunday, from the Latin word for "rejoice"). The
shift from the purple of the Season to pink or rose for
the third Sunday Advent candles reflected this lessening
emphasis on penitence as attention turned more to
celebration of the season. In many churches the third
Sunday remains the Sunday of Joy marked by pink or rose.
However, many Protestant churches now use blue to
distinguish the Season of Advent from Lent.
Advent is marked by a spirit of expectation, of
anticipation, of preparation, of longing. There is a
yearning for deliverance from the evils of the world. It
is that hope, however faint at times, and that God,
however distant He sometimes seems, which brings to the
world the anticipation of a King who will rule with truth
and justice and righteousness over His people and in His
creation.
|
