We are a small Episcopal Church on the banks of the Rappahannock in Port Royal, Virginia. We acknowledge that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Port Royal, the Nandtaughtacund, who are still here, and we honor with gratitude the land itself and the life of the Rappahannock Tribe. Our mission statement is to do God’s Will in all that we do. We welcome all people to our church.
Content
1. The Wonderful Season of Advent
2. Three Teaching Points for Advent
4. Scripture – Explore Advent 1
Advent occurs from Nov. 21 through Christmas Eve, encompassing 4 Sundays prior to Christmas, the birth of Christ.
Hope is the first of four candles associated with Advent. From Christianity.com – “At the first Christmas, when Jesus was born, Israel was waiting for a king, a Messiah, the Savior, the Redeemer who would change their circumstances, make them a great nation and throw off the tyranny of Rome. They were waiting for a person but what they really hoped for was a change of circumstances. So most of them missed him, disbelieved him, and then killed him—because their hope was in the wrong place.
“Hope, in the Bible, exists as a secure assurance, a trust placed in a trustworthy God. God has not failed us in the past, and therefore, if he claims he will do something in the future, we can have a hope that he will fulfill that claim.”
#1. The Wonderful Season of Advent!
The name “Advent” actually comes from the Latin word adventus which means “coming.” It is a reminder of how the Jewish nation waited for the Messiah and how Christians are now waiting for the return of Christ.
Advent which begins this Sunday Nov. 28 is like a breath of fresh air -a new church year, a new set of Gospel readings from Mark, and the anticipation of the birth of Christ.
The Advent season is a time of preparation that directs our hearts and minds to Christ’s second coming at the end of time and also to the anniversary of the Lord’s birth on Christmas. It blends together a penitential spirit, very similar to Lent, a liturgical theme of preparation for the Second and Final Coming of the Lord, called the Parousia, and a joyful theme of getting ready for the Bethlehem event.
The Advent wreath, four candles on a wreath of evergreen, is shaped in a perfect circle to symbolize the eternity of God. The Advent Wreath is beautiful and evocative reminder of the life-giving qualities of light. The evergreens used in the wreath are reminders of ongoing life, even in the face of death.
There are 4 candles, one for each week in Advent, are used with one larger white candle in the middle as the Christ candle. During each Sunday of the Advent season, we focus on one of the four virtues Jesus brings us: Hope, Love, Joy and Peace. Three of the candles are purple. This is the color of penitence and fasting as well as he color of royalty to welcome the Advent of the King.
The Third candle is pink, a color of joy, the joy that Jesus is almost here and fasting is almost order. Gaudete Sunday (from the Latin meaning “rejoice”) which is taken from Philippians 4:4-5, the Entrance Antiphon of the day.
Advent begins in a season of darkness but using the Advent wreath we see light winning over darkness. Lighting candles is a way we can keep time in Church And as the season passes, and another candle is lit each week, light finally wins out over darkness with the turn of the solstice in the stars and the birth of Christ on the ground.
At the center of the wreath is a white candle, which is called the Christ Candle. This candle is lit on Christmas Eve as a reminder that Jesus, the light of the world, has been born and has come to dwell with us.
It is a season of waiting, of rest but also a time to find new beginnings. Since the 900s Advent has been considered the beginning of the Church year. It is antidote for our society’s frantic behavior during the holiday season. There is so much in the world that tells you, you are not enough or you haven’t do enough before Christmas but you have to find out during Advent that you are enough.
The first week of Advent is all about hope. Lamentations 3: 21-24: “Yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; “therefore I will wait for him.” (NIV).
The altar changes during Advent to represent the new season, particularly in the use of color. Today, many churches have begun to use blue instead of purple, as a means of distinguishing Advent from Lent. Blue also signifies the color of the night sky or the waters of the new creation in Genesis 1. Blue emphasizes the season is also about hope and anticipation of the coming of Christ. Christ is about transformation as the sky changes from dark to light filling our lives with grace.
#2. Three Teaching Points for Advent
by Sarah Bentley Allred
“Christmas is a big mystery. We do not understand how exactly God comes to be among us in human form. Taking time to prepare to celebrate Christmas allows us to enter more fully into the mystery. As we say in Godly Play, if we don’t take time to get ready for Christmas, we could “walk right by this mystery” without ever really experiencing it. And so, we spend the four weeks before Christmas anticipating and preparing for the coming of Christ.
“Advent has a double spiritual meaning. While we are anticipating the arrival of the birth of Jesus, we are also anticipating the arrival of the second coming, when Jesus will return for the Final Judgement.
1. Anticipation
“Advent is a season of preparation, expectant waiting. We are preparing to remember and to celebrate the birth of Jesus. It is a time to practice waiting, a universal experience for people of all ages. During this time, we remember the prophets that foretold Jesus’ birth (see Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6-7, Jeremiah 23:5-6) and the nine-month journey of Mary and Joseph before the birth of Jesus (see Luke 1-2, Matthew 1).
“People prepare to enter the mystery of Christmas in different ways. You might invite members of the congregation to explore how Christians intentionally anticipate Christmas through song, prayer, scripture, liturgy, service, Advent wreaths, or Advent calendars.
2. Incarnation
“During Advent, the core of what we are waiting for, anticipating, is the Incarnation, God becoming human. As Christians, we believe that God loves us, and all of creation, so much that God became embodied in the form of Jesus. The Incarnation is an incredible mystery—we do not know exactly how God became human. God’s action in taking on flesh sanctifies our flesh – it makes holy the skin we wear. Advent provides an opportunity to explore what the Incarnation means for our lives.
“What does God living in a body mean for our relationship to the human body, our body as well as the other bodies in this world? What does God’s choice to inhabit the body of a baby mean?
3. Immanuel (or Emmanuel)
“Each Advent every church I know sings, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” (Hymnal 1982, #56). Immanuel is one of the names for Jesus found in scripture (Isaiah 7:14), it means “God with us.” The season of Advent anticipates God’s time on earth in the person of Jesus. During this time God was with us in a special way. God’s presence with us in human form means that God knows what it is like to be human.”
#3. St. Peter’s Advent calendar
Enjoy Advent Day-by-Day!
Click here to access the calendar
Then click the specific day which will open a window which you can then dismiss with the “X” in the top right. There is a message and scripture for each day plus a link to the lectionary for the day.
#4 Scripture – Explore Advent 1
Over the next 4 Sundays there will be a presentation each week focusing on that week’s scriptures, art and commentary and how they demonstrate the themes of advent. Click here -> Let’s get started with Advent 1.
#5 Advent is a time of music
Below, is the National Cathedral’s Advent Lessons and Carols on Dec. 1, 2019.
This year’s service will be held on Sun, Nov. 28 at 4pm
#6. Arts and Faith- Advent 1, relating art and scripture
The video and prayer for the First Week of Advent, Cycle C, is based on Luke 21:25–28, 34–36. The art is Wassily Kandinsky’s The Last Judgment.
Link to the Last Judgment video
Wassily Kandinsky’s The Last Judgment invites us into the Advent season with an emotional tour de force expressed in color, line, and form. An example of abstract art, The Last Judgment is not narrative or descriptive, but rather expressive. It shows emotion and force and invites the viewer to experience them visually.
The Last Judgement is a composition of bright primary colors, opaque black shapes, and heavy black lines. The lines overlap the colors rather than contain them. Throughout the image, the black lines and the flow of primary colors produce a composition of contrasts.
Although abstract art is generally non-representational, Kandinsky does offer a bridge into his work to help the viewer frame the experience with a narrative clue. On the right center of the image, we see a blue angelic form holding a yellow trumpet. This is an iconic image of the Last Judgment, or the end of days that we hear about in Luke’s Gospel. The angel is a unique element of the painting in which color, form and line converge in a traditional way. The black lines form the boundaries around the colors to give us the silhouette of the angel and the trumpet. An interesting detail about the angel is his wings. One is made of blue color, while the other is entirely made of black lines. Everywhere else in the image, line and color separate, overlap, or even clash. With dual wings, the angel unites within himself the two separate elements of the composition. Recalling Luke chapter 21, we are in a scene that is frightening but redemptive, tumultuous but glorious. We are invited to feel the tension that animates us toward hope.
The Last Judgment is meant to evoke feeling and emotion. The colors of the image, particularly near the center, resemble watercolor and have an ethereal, transcendent, and uplifting quality. The upward flow of the two forms left of center, red and blue as they reach into the bright white center of the image, represent this theme. By contrast, the two solid black shapes near the center have a harshness and heaviness that weighs down and overwhelms the viewer. The overlap of light transcendence and dark heaviness throughout the rest of the image is a visual expression of Luke’s passage and also demonstrates the complexity of the spiritual life.
As Luke reminds us, we are called to prayer and vigilance. We are called to resist that which weighs us down, and make way instead for that which elevates us to stand before the Son of Man.
Here is a prayer exercise based on the above.
#7 Advent Online learning – Luke’s Canticles
In 2015 during Advent we used Paul Gordon-Chandler’s book Songs in Waiting to present Luke’s 4 canticles. It is appropriate to do this again as we are entering Year C which concentrates on Luke’s Gospel. These are wonderful stories of Mary’s Annunciation, Elizabeth and Zechariah, the Shepherds and Simeon that enlarge anyone’s Advent/Christmas season.
We have it set up as an online course, which can be taken at any time in any order in any amount and anywhere there is an internet connection. There is also no password. And you don’t have to complete all lessons to get the benefits. 5 lessons – try one each week.