Caption from left to right, top to bottom – The Peace, Bunch of birthdays celebrated, beautiful Sunday morning, Gifts from the congregation to social services, Carey Connors’ sermon, quartet practicing John Rutter for Christmas
Pictures and text from this Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019
Videos from this Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019
The Week Ahead…
Dec. 9 – 4:00pm – Vestry
Dec. 11 – 10:00am – Ecumenical Bible Study
Dec. 11 – 5:00pm – 6:30pm Village Dinner
Dec. 13 – 7:00am – ECM at Horne’s
Dec. 13 – 6:00pm -Spanish Bible Study in the Parish House
Dec. 15 – 10:00am – Christian Ed . Learn about the women who appear in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus at the beginning of his gospel as well as Mary and Elizabeth from Luke
Dec. 15 – 11:00am – Advent 3, Holy Eucharist .
Coming up:
1. Poinsettia gifts due Dec. 8
2. Endowment Fund gifts due Dec. 15
3. Sunday, December 22 Blue Christmas Eucharist, 4:30pm
Sunday, Dec. 15, Third Sunday in Advent Readings and Servers
Advent in one weekend, Dec. 6-7
1.Port Royal Christmas – Fri. Dec. 6, 5:30pm. Over a 100 children enjoy Christmas with crafts, pizza and Santa.
2. Choir Retreat – Sat. Dec. 7, 10:00am–The choir had time to rehearse Christmas music which will include a piece by John Rutter. This was followed by lunch. prepared by Brad.
3. Everett’s Christmas – Sat. Dec. 7, 5:00pm. 40 enjoyed a delicious pot luck dinner, over the top Christmas decorations, and Christmas caroling. Link has both photos and videos.
It’s 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 on Sunday Dec. 2 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 the 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 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.
A St. Peter’s Advent and Christmas
Advent is a season of preparation for the coming of Jesus as one of us. Jesus brought God’s light into the world during his lifetime and we expect him to return to reign in glory at the end of time.
1. Port Royal Christmas Lighting – Fri., Dec. 6, 6:00-7:30pm at the town Fire Hall. Food , games, songs and the lighting of the Christmas tree. –
2. Choir Retreat – Sat. Dec. 7, 10:00am–The choir had time rehearse Christmas music which will include a piece by John Rutter. This was followed by lunch. prepared by Brad.
3. Everett’s Christmas – Sat. Dec. 7, 5:30pm. 40 enjoyed a delicious pot luck dinner, over the top Christmas decorations, and Christmas caroling.
4. Dec. 8 – Poinsettia form due as well as St. Peter’s Christmas family
5. Bethlehem Walk, Sun, Dec. 8, After Sun. Potluck luncheon This is a life-sized of outside reenactment of the city of Bethlehem at the time of Christ. The tour is outside and takes approximately 45 minutes Salem Baptist Church 465 Broad Street Road, Manakin, VA 23103 (6 miles west of Short Pump)
6. Village Dinner, Wed., Dec. 11, 5pm-6:30pm Braised Pork, Egg Noodles, Carrots, Brocolli, Fresh Apple Cake
7. Dec. 15 – Endowment Fund, Episcopal Relief & Development gifts due
8. Christmas Play on Advent 4 – Sun. Dec. 22, 11am. Videos Each year it’s unique and at the same time a wonderful introduction to Christmas week.
9. Sunday, December 22 Blue Christmas Eucharist in the afternoon
10. Christmas Eve – Tues., Dec. 24, 4:00pm music, 4:30pm service – Holy Eucharist Rite II. Celebrating Christ coming among us.
11. Lessons and Carols – Sun. Dec. 29, 11am. This traditional Anglican service, developed in England, gives us the opportunity to hear the story of our salvation in Jesus Christ through scripture and song.
12. New Year’s Eve Gala – Tues. Dec. 31, 6pm. Parish House
Two Opportunities for Adult Christian Ed.
1. Sundays in the Parish House during Advent
On the first three Sundays of Advent, learn about the women who appear in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus at the beginning of his gospel. What on earth is a prostitute doing in that list? Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, and Mary, a young girl, unexpectedly find themselves with child. What is God up to? And what can these two women teach us about our own lives?
2. Advent Online learning. Learn at your own pace, as much or as little:
New this year:
* Dickens, A Christmas Carol and the Bible
* Handel’s Messiah, Prophecy and Birth of the Messiah
From Last year:
Advent 3, Dec. 15 is Gaudete Sunday
The third Sunday of Advent is known as “Gaudete Sunday.” The day takes its common name from the Latin word Gaudete (“Rejoice”). Its name is taken from the entrance antiphon of the Mass, which is: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near. This is a quotation from Philippians 4:4-5, and in Latin, the first word of the antiphon is “gaudete”. We are most of the way through the season, closer to Christ’s birth and so that is the emphasis rather than coming again.
We light the rose colored candle in addition to the other 2 violet ones. Purple is a penitential color of fasting while pink (rose) is the color of joy. Long ago the Pope would honor a citizen with a pink rose (or a rose) Priests then would wear pink vestments as a reminder of this coming joy. Rose is also used during Laetare Sunday (the fourth Sunday of lent) to symbolize a similar expectation of the coming joy of Christ’s coming in Easter. The third Sunday of Advent is rose (pink) because pink symbolizes joy, the joy that Jesus is almost here. Adult Christian Ed discussed “Rejoice! What promises of God give you cause to rejoice?”
Theologian Henri Nouwen described the difference between joy and happiness. While happiness is dependent on external conditions, joy is “the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved and that nothing — sickness, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even death — can take that love away.” Thus joy can be present even in the midst of sadness. Jesus reveals to us God’s love so that his joy may become ours and that our joy may become complete. As Nouwen says, “Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.”
This is break from some of the penitential readings earlier in Advent. How will you express joy this week? Consider the good things that have been given to you.
Besides the emphasis in joy, this is also “Stir up Sunday!” The collect has the words, ” Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins”. Let’s change the “our sins” to “missing the mark.” How can we hit the mark ? One way is to advantage of our opportunities.
“The Great Tree of Christmas”
Author Alexander Shaia talks the Christmas tree, a tradition adopted from the Celts. A fascinating perspective!
Advent Thoughts
Advent is a season of Watching and Waiting. It is a season of leaning into hope
Lord Jesus:
Come into our world and heal its wounds
Come into your church and raise it up
Come into our homes and make them holy
Come into our work and make it fruitful
Come into our minds and give us clarity
Come into our lives and make them beautiful
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
God of the past, the present and the future, grant me patience when I must wait, courage when it’s time to take action, and the wisdom to know when to wait and when to act. Amen.
Golden Hour at St. Peter’s
Come to St. Peter’s in the late fall and early winter between 4pm and 6pm and the beauty is overwhelming. These were taken on Friday, Dec. 9, 2016.
Advent 1 links
Advent 2 links
Explore Advent, Part 3 – Over the Sundays in Advent there will be a presentation each week focusing on that week’s scriptures, art and commentary and how they demonstrate the themes of advent. Let’s continue with Advent 3.
A. Voices for Advent 3
“In Advent the church emphasizes these ways of continual change: Repentance. Conversion of life. Self-examination. Awakening. Deepening. “
– Suzanne Guthrie
B. “You Don’t Want to Be a Prophet (Isaiah, Luke)
“Christmas without Anglicans?” – Anglican contributions to Advent and Christmas carols.
Block Print by Mike Newman
Projects
3-Minute Retreats invite you to take a short prayer break right at your computer. Spend some quiet time reflecting on a Scripture passage.
Knowing that not everyone prays at the same pace, you have control over the pace of the retreat. After each screen, a Continue button will appear. Click it when you are ready to move on. If you are new to online prayer, the basic timing of the screens will guide you through the experience.
Daily meditations in words and music.
Your daily prayer online, since 1999
“We invite you to make a ‘Sacred Space’ in your day, praying here and now, as you visit our website, with the help of scripture chosen every day and on-screen guidance.”
Saints of the Week, – Dec. 8 – Dec. 15
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Richard Baxter, Pastor and Writer, 1691 Narcisa de Jesús Martillo Morán, Mystic & Worker of Charity, 1869 William West Skiles, Deacon & Missionary, 1862 |
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Atilano Coco, Priest, 1936 |
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Thomas Merton, Monastic and Writer, 1968 |
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Francis de Sales, Bishop, & Jane de Chantal, Monastic, Workers of Charity, 1622 & 1641 |
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Lucy (Lucia), Martyr at Syracuse, 304 Ella Baker, Social Reformer, 1986 Samuel Johnson, Priest, 1772 |
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Juan de la Cruz (John of the Cross), Mystic, 1591 Elizabeth Evelyn Wright, Educator, 1906 |
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Nino of Georgia, Missionary, c.332 |