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This week’s Theme: Are you ready?
This Sunday begins Advent – a time of waiting, and anticipating the return Jesus.
“Advent is the period of four Sundays and weeks before Christmas (or sometimes from the 1st December to Christmas Eve!). The word Advent comes from the latin word ‘adventus’ meaning ‘Arrival’ or ‘Coming’. This is the arrival or coming of Jesus into the world. Christians use the four Sundays and weeks of Advent to prepare and remember the real meaning of Christmas.
There are three meanings of ‘coming’ that Christians describe in Advent: The first, and most thought of, happened about 2000 years ago when Jesus came into the world as a baby to live as a human. The second can happen now as Jesus wants to come into our lives now. And the third will happen in the future when Jesus comes back to the world as King and Judge, not a baby.
No one is really sure when Advent was first celebrated but it dates back to at least 567 when monks were ordered to fast during December leading up to Christmas. Some people fast (don’t eat certain foods) during advent to help them concentrate on preparing to celebrate Jesus’s coming.
In medieval and pre-medieval times, in parts of England, there was an early form of Nativity scenes called ‘advent images’ or a ‘vessel cup’. They were a box, often with a glass lid that was covered with a white napkin, that contained two dolls representing Mary and the baby Jesus. The box was decorated with ribbons and flowers (and sometimes apples). They were carried around from door to door. It was thought to be very unlucky if you haven’t seen a box before Christmas Eve! People paid the box carriers a halfpenny to see the box.
There are some Christmas Carols that are really Advent Carols! These include ‘People Look East’, ‘Come, thou long expected Jesus’, ‘Lo! He comes, with clouds descending’ and perhaps the most popular Advent song ‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel!’.”www.whychristmas.com
Advent wreath.
At the front of the sanctuary is an Advent wreath with 5 candles. We light one each Sunday leading up to Christmas, and the fifth on Christmas Eve.
The four Advent candles symbolize hope, peace, joy, and love, representing the four weeks leading up to Christmas. The first candle is hope, the second is peace, the third is joy, and the fourth is love. Often, a fifth white candle, called the “Christ candle,” is lit on Christmas Eve to represent Jesus’ birth.
Meaning of each candle
Hope: The first candle represents hope, recalling the prophecies about the Messiah and the anticipation of Christ’s coming. It is often called the “Prophecy Candle”.
Peace: The second candle represents peace, which reflects the journey to Bethlehem and the angels’ message of peace on Earth. It is sometimes called the “Bethlehem Candle”.
Joy: The third candle represents joy, celebrating the approaching birth of Jesus. This candle is often pink, and its week is sometimes called “Gaudete Sunday”.
Love: The fourth candle represents God’s love for the world. It is often called the “Angel’s Candle”.
The Christ candle
Many Advent wreaths include a fifth, white candle in the center, which is lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
This “Christ candle” symbolizes the light of Jesus entering the world.
This week’s Scripture reading:
Matthew 24:36-44
“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
This week’s bulletin: