Christmas

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Advent Season, the four weeks before Christmas, is a time to get
ready.  During Advent, we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth at
Christmas, we receive the risen Christ who comes to us in Word and
Spirit, and we await with hope Christ’s coming in final victory.



Advent is from the Latin adventus, which means “coming.”  Prophets
announced the coming of the Savior:  For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us…(Isaiah 9:6), Zechariah, the father of John the
Baptist, said of John: You, child, will be called the prophet of the
most high: for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways…By the
tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to
give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to
guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1:76-79)



During Advent we become one with those who waited in darkness for the
revealing of God’s light and who dared to hope that God’s salvation
could come in the birth of a child.  As we re-live the story each
year, we gain new and deeper understanding of the meaning of Advent,
Christmas, and Epiphany.  We celebrate God’s gift of Jesus Christ and
give thanks.

The Challenge of Advent



In our world, Christmas has become a commercial event.  During Advent
we are challenged to reclaim the customs that help us celebrate God’s
gift of love in Jesus and to avoid or curtail those things that stand
in the way.  Gifts, cards, and parties need to express love, not
obligation, and they need to extend beyond our immediate circle of
family and friends to those who most need love and care.



Advent: Advent is the beginning of the Christian Year.  Advent is our
season of waiting and expectation.  This is the time when God calls us
to begin, afresh and anew the preparation of our hearts to become the
clean and ready managers for The Christ Child’s arrival.  Advent means
that Mary is pregnant!  The Biblical lections and the songs of Advent
set the stage to allow our congregation to walk with us through this
section of The God Story and another, “In The Beginning.”  We are
awaiting the fresh arrival of The One who will bring change into our
lives.  We are anticipating the coming of a new day, a fresh start and
a different reality.  We are living in expectation.