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Advent 2017
“Coming” or “Arrival”
During Advent, the Church turns its gaze toward the first and second comings of Jesus Christ. This season is an opportunity for Christians to prepare themselves for Christmas through longing and a renewed desire for God's rule in the midst of everyday life. Advent practices of prayer and repentance look back to remember the faithfulness of God revealed through the birth of Jesus, and forward to, “...the blessed hope of His glorious appearing." The story of our redemption starts with waiting and expectation:
That's why the church generally refrains from singing Christmas carols during Advent. That's why purple, the color of penitence, adorns our altar and the neck of your preacher. We dare not rush to greet the Redeemer prematurely until we pause here, in a darkened church, to admit that we do need redemption. Nothing within us can save us. Nothing can save us. We've tried that before. No president, no bomb, no new car, no bottle, no white Christmas can save. No! to all false consolation, we say. No! to the empty, contrived merriment of a terminal world. Our hope must be in someone out there who comes to us. We find our way only because One comes, takes our hand and leads us home -William Willimon (Christian Century. Jan. 1, 1984.)
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Symbolism
- Purple: The main color for the season communicates both the majesty that heralds the coming of the King of Kings and the waiting that precedes it.
- Green: An ancient symbol of immortality, life, and growth in Christ.
- Circle: Symbolizes the eternal transcendence of God and life in Christ
- Light: A symbol of God's presence
- Darkness: A symbol of God's absence. Darkness is overcome by the arrival of Christ the Messiah (Isaiah 9:2, Romans 13:12). It also reminds us that we still wait for his Second Advent.
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"The presence of the Triune God among his people in this age truly is an adventus, a coming presence, a presence in absence and absence in presence."
― from Michael Horton "Introducing Covenant Theology"
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Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken your might; come and save us.
Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
Commentary on Psalm 80
Augustine, Calvin, Spurgeon,
John Paul II
Audio
Psalm 80, Isaiah 64,
1 Corinthians 1, Mark 13
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