We inaugurated Advent today with the traditional Advent Wreath and 43 hearty souls in the congregation. It is a season of beginning, a new Liturgy, and time of watchfulness and waiting. The Choir opened the service with "O Come Emmanuel", appropriately.
The wreath is circular representing God’s eternity and unity. Evergreens are a symbol of enduring life. The children lit the first candle, read an Advent prayer as well as a quote from Isaiah.
We watch and wait for Him to come who has already come. We have yet to feel Him in our experience. Christ’s life in us is ready to emerge but it will take time and us to make space for Him. The promise is God will come in answer to our yearning heart so we can experience Him so we can pass from our life of darkness into the life of Light. God isn’t finished with us yet.
As Catherine’s sermon reminds us today :"Advent is the time for us, the restless and the busy, to start out on a journey, a journey to the house of the Lord. This journey will not be easy. We must prepare for it by putting on armor, the armor of light. As we journey, we must try our best to rid our lives of the things that distract us. First of all, to wake up, to make some time for God in the midst of everything else we are doing, to see God at work around us, to pray about our daily lives, to seek God in prayer, to talk to God about what is on our minds. First, find some time for prayer. And second, we are called to be bearers of the light for others, to serve others. During this season of Advent, we can wake up to more ways in which God is calling us to serve one another, if we only take the time to look out and listen for what God is calling us to do." (The entire sermon is here)
In this season we have new symbols – greenery instead of flowers, purple dressing the altar and the placing of an advent wreath. Advent is a time for self-examination symbolized in the purple.
Music is a part of Advent. Helmut played his violin today on Ave Corpus Verum by Mozart accompanied by Catherine. Helmut will be playing his violin during each Sunday in Advent.
In Adult Ed, we began a new study on prayer for the 4 weeks of Advent, concentrating on Simple Prayer. You can find the notes to this first session here