| The Season of Advent |
| This coming may be: - A past experience. God did come in Christ at Christmas. The prophets' promise was fulfilled in the baby Jesus born at Bethlehem. - A present experience. God may come to you this Christmas in terms of re-birth, either for the first time, or in renewed strength of faith in Christ for your salvation. - A future experience. Christ will return on the Last Day. "He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead." The theme of Advent is one of preparation. Since Advent promises the sure coming of the Lord, we are reminded to prepare. After all, our Lord Jesus is coming whether the world is ready or not. We prepare in three ways: through repentance, prayer, and patience. Repentance - forsake the sins of the world for a godly way of life. Prayer - pray for the coming of Christ, for he shall save. Patience - his coming may be delayed. Watch and wait, for his coming may be sudden. These three- repentance, prayer, and patience- are reflected in the mood of Advent. It is a season of solemnity, but also a season of joy. That is why Advent's color is violet. Violet is used to symbolize a feeling of quiet dignity, royalty, and repentance. Since violet was the traditional color of a king's robe, it is particularly appropriate for the coming King of kings. Advent, like Lent, is a time for solemn and sober thought about one's sins leading to repentance. An alternate color for Advent is blue, highlighting the hopefulness of the season. Advent stresses not so much fulfillment as anticipation of fulfillment: the Lord is coming! Christians have great expectations of Christ's coming again. As a family looks forward to a son returning from a war and as a bride anticipates her wedding day, so a Christian looks forward with joy to Christ's coming. Yet, this is a different kind of joy - a joy of hope amid solemnity. It is the quiet joy of anticipation and not the joy of celebration of a past event. Some other ways we observe the season of Advent are: - Use of an Advent wreath in the church and homes (see below). - Use of an Advent calendar for children in the home. - Use of Advent hymns, prayers, and anthems throughout Advent. - Silent processionals during Advent. - Special mid-week Advent services. |
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| Advent, is the first season in the church year. It is comprised of the four Sundays before Christmas. The observance of Advent originated in France during the 4th century. The word itself, "Advent," comes to us from Latin, meaning "to come to." Advent's message is that God in Christ is coming to the world. |
| What the Advent Wreath Symbolizes There are four candles in the Advent Wreath. The first candle is the Prophecy candle, announcing the period of waiting. The second candle is the Bethlehem Candle, symbolic of the preparations being made to receive and to cradle the Christ child. The third is the Shepherd's Candle, which typifies the act of sharing Christ. This third candle is usually a pink color for joy. The fourth candle is the Angels' candle of love and final coming. Traditionally the four candles have been white, but sometimes candles of the royal color of violet (or blue) are used and, as mentioned above, often the Shepherd's candle is pink. When |
| the four candles are white, there is often a red candle placed in the center of these four to be lighted on Christmas Eve and again on Christmas Day (in keeping with Jewish tradition that the Day begins at sunset the night before... our Christmas celebration begins on Christmas Eve). If the candles are the violet (or blue) color, this center candle may be white. This center candle is the Christ Candle, which is lit on Christmas Eve to remind us that Christ is the light of the world. The wreath is plain, without any ornamentation of ribbon or bow. Amid the quiet of winter, the evergreens represent the life that is found in Christ. ____________________________________________________________________________ |