Advent

What is Advent?

Happy First Sunday of Advent! Come, Lord Jesus! We’re so delighted that you’re joining us as we press pause on the frantic expensive nostalgic jolly emotional joyful craziness that is the month of December to come home to God.

For many of us, the word Advent conjures up images of little cardboard calendars painted with Christmas scenes, with chocolate behind every door- a cheerful countdown to Christmas with a little sugar hit each day. We hear it in the church’s favorite somber carol O Come Emmanuel “o come thou dayspring come and cheer/ our spirits with thine advent here.” Some homeschool influencers on Instagram have put some very meticulous planning into their Advent activities. Some of you may have come from liturgical backgrounds and these rhythms feel as warm and familiar as a well-worn boot.

What is the invitation of Advent, and how do we join in?

Advent has been observed by the church for centuries and marks the beginning of the new year of the church calendar. Rather than Labor Day and Memorial Day, the church calendar features seasons like Advent, Epiphany, and Lent. While we operate within the usual lunar calendar, we also get to dance to the rhythms of the church calendar- simultaneously citizens of an earthly kingdom and a heavenly one. Advent means “arrival”, and is a time of preparation for the arrival of Jesus. During Advent we get to celebrate and remember his coming as a baby, to invite Him to be born again into our hearts every day, and to eagerly await His second coming.

Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas, with a theme to meditate on each week, and a corresponding candle to light. As we move through our weeks we get to see more and more light shining into the darkness- a reminder of what Jesus did when He first came, and an invitation for Him to do it again. It concludes with Christmas- a 12 day feast! (That’s what that song means!)

You are welcome to dip your toes in by listening to the Advent devotionals on Sunday, arranging any five candles in your house together on the dining table, (4 in a circle, one on the inside, which is the Christ the King candle to be lit on Christmas Day) surrounding them with some evergreen sprigs, a proper wreath, or some of your kids seasonal scavengings and then lighting the corresponding candles for the week each night before you sit down to eat. Bless the candles and the meal with the simple sincere prayer of, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

I look forward to my early morning Advent devotional the whole year round. A cup of something hot, my Bible, solitude. I like Advent even better than actual Christmas. A whole SEASON of feeling our feelings before the Lord? Yes, please. Advent and Lent in the spring are both times of preparation leading up the feasts of Christmas and Easter. As we prepare, we look around us and see the brokenness of the world, of our families, of our own hearts, and we give them to God. We give them to Him to trade despair for hope, pain for comfort, darkness for light. “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5

How can my family and I celebrate Advent together?

We’ve linked some devotionals below if you’d like to incorporate a daily Advent devotional to further ground yourself in God amidst an otherwise swirly season. If you have littles in your house, Little Way Chapel is a wonderful companion with fun activities, prayers, and questions to inspire wonder in your kids about Jesus and the Christmas story. The Bible App has many wonderful offerings, or you could get Tsh Oxenreider’s Shadow and Light to read daily to complement our readings here. She has art and hymn recommendations to engage more of our senses too- a real treat.