Advent - Week 1

Been away from the blog for a while, but what better time to restart than the first week of Advent!

Being in a church that doesn't celebrate Advent or other liturgical calendar events like Epiphany and Lent has created a curiosity in me that I decided to act upon this year. Most of the people in my community are devout Lutherans or Catholics and adhere to these events "religiously", no pun intended. I think it's important for us to know what "they" believe and why it's important to them. Helps us become a more united Body of Christ. Besides, and for the record, it's not that we don't believe in these "celebrations" as much as it is that our focus is not on religious practices, but on our relationship with Jesus Christ.

Advent, as I understand it, marks the beginning of the church year; the beginning of the liturgical year. Advent is a slowing down time. It's a time of waiting and preparation for the come of Jesus. We live in a world that starts putting out Christmas stuff at Halloween and starts playing Christmas carols before Thanksgiving. The purpose of Advent is to prepare you, on the four Sundays preceding Christmas, to get ready for the coming of King Jesus. Back in the day, Advent was a period of fasting in preparation of the coming of Christ.

Advent provides us an opportunity to retell the story of Jesus. In the busyness of the year, it's good to set aside a specific time of the year to dedicate to the teaching and telling of the birth of Christ.

This year, Advent began on November 29 and ends on Christmas Eve. To give a brief overview of how that affects the church calendar, Christmas Day begins the "Twelve Days of Christmas", the Christmas Season, ending on January 5. January 6 begins Epiphany. As Advent prepares us for the coming of Christ on Christmas, Epiphany celebrates the revelation of God in human form in the person of Jesus Christ. It commemorates the visitation of the three wise men, Jesus' childhood, His baptism in the Jordan River, bring the Light to the Gentiles, and His first miracle at the wedding feast of Cana. Epiphany lasts for about 40 days and is immediately followed by Lent.

The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer - through prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial - for the annual commemoration the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The 40 days of Lent begin on Ash Wednesday (February 17, 2010), and conclude on "Holy Saturday" (the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday; April 3, 2010). The six Sundays in Lent are not counted among the 40 days because each Sunday represents a "mini-Easter", a celebration of Jesus' victory over sin and death.

Back to Advent, Week 1. This week, as part of the Advent Celebration, the first of 5 candles are lit on the Advent Wreath. This is the Candle of Expectation/Hope; also called the prophet Candle. This candle reminds us of the hope that the Light is coming into our darkness. Hope that God is in control and has the future in His hand. Hope of things already and not yet. Hope that all things will be made new. Hope in a baby, born in a manger, who is THE ONE true King! Hope in the Messiah!

Activity: This week, consider the ways you can bring hope to your little piece of the world. Pray for areas and people in you/our world that need the hope of Jesus today. Take some time and read through the worlds of the prophets that reveal the coming of Jesus, like in Isaiah 9:1-7.

Prayer: Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, come and dwell among us!