Journeys 12-3-06

Journeys 12-3-06

This year the United Methodist Church will be offering a multi-media Advent Ad Campaign called, “Find Your Path This Christmas - at the United Methodist Church.” We thought it fit well with the “Life is a Journey of Faith” message that’s on the back of the bulletin each Sunday. We’ve incorporated it into our ad at the Beatrice Movie Theatres and in our Beatrice Daily Sun pre-Christmas ad. We’re hoping it may bring some of the 7,000 un-churched folks in Beatrice through our doors.

Today is the first Sunday in Advent. According to Wikopedia:
“Advent (from the Latin Adventus, sc. Redemptoris, "the coming of the Saviour") is a holy season of the Christian church, the period of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Christ. It is the beginning of the Christian year.

'Adventus' is literally the Latin word for "coming," and is the exact Latin equivalent for the Greek word parousia, commonly used in reference to the Second Coming. Thus the season of Advent serves as a dual reminder of the original waiting that was done by the Hebrews for the birth of their Messiah as well as the waiting that Christians today endure as they await the second coming of Jesus the Christ.

The theme of readings and teachings during advent is often to prepare for the Second Coming while commemorating the First Coming of Christ at Christmas. With the view of directing the thoughts of Christians to the first coming of Christ as Savior, and to his second coming as Judge, special lessons are prescribed for each of the four Sundays in Advent.

Advent in the Christian sense refers to the four weeks before Christmas. The four Sundays of advent are often traditionally celebrated with four candles with one to be lit each Sunday. Each candle has a specific meaning associated with different aspects of the Advent story. The first one almost always symbolizes expectant hope sometimes associated with prophecy. The others are Peace, Love, & Joy. The fourth is generally to be symbolic of Joy at the imminence of the coming of Christ.

The color scheme and order of symbolic associations for the candles is largely arbitrary but several traditions have adopted them for the meaning they carry. For Catholics and Protestants alike, the color of the first, second and fourth candles are purple (or blue), but the third is often rose-colored, to joyfully represent Gaudete Sunday with a less somber liturgy. A fifth, white or gold, candle -- called a "Christ Candle" -- is often lit in the center on Christmas Day or used to replace the wreath altogether.

In Western Christianity, Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. The earliest Advent can begin is November 27 and the latest is December 3. From the 8th century the season was kept as a period of fasting as strict as that of Lent but in the Protestant churches this rule was relaxed, with the Roman Catholic Church doing likewise later, but still keeping Advent as a season of penitence. In addition to fasting, dancing and similar festivities were forbidden, and to the present day, in accordance with the symbolism of liturgical colors, purple vestments are worn at the church services, although in recent years blue has gained favor, an apparent revival of the Sarum Rite, which dates from medieval England.”

That’s probably more than you ever wanted to know about Advent.

Grace & Peace,