The
word “Advent” essentially means “coming” and “expecting”. It is a time to be filled with joy, because
God became a man and was born as a baby on the first Christmas day, to become
our Redeemer and King!
During this season we also remember that Jesus wants
to come to us, here and now through his Spirit’s work in us, and through us
come to a lost world in dire need of him.
Finally we also remember during this season that
Jesus Christ promised to physically come to us again, to create a new heaven
and earth in which we will live for all eternity!
The
Days and Seasons of Remembrance are rooted in Church History.
All the commemorative days and seasons on the
Christian calendar go back far beyond the days of the Reformation. It was established by the ancient Church.
We should be open to learn about the original
intentions and meanings of these days and seasons and why and how they came
into the life of the church. With the Word of God and our Protestant Confessions
of Faith as guidelines, it should not be too difficult to discern what would be
God honouring and would build up the people of God.
The
Lord’s Supper is irreplaceable and unique. But it does refer
us to the principle that remembering
God’s gospel events has great value. Proclaiming the Scriptures, faithfully
preaching the Gospel during these Days and Seasons of Remembrance, can to say
the least, not be wrong.
The calendar can be a disciplined and structured way
of teaching and preaching the full
Counsel of God, a task our reformed fathers showed us to do.
“Remembrance”,
the key to understanding reformed worship, should also be the key to unlocking
a Protestant, even Reformed, identity and order of celebration for these
commemorative days and seasons.
The
Season of Advent is the first Season of the Christian Calendar.
What and When is the Advent Season: During the four Sundays before Christmas – we remember that Jesus came to
our world as a babe, that he is coming into our lives, churches and communities
today - and that he will return to our world.
The 12 days of Christmas: It is celebrated on Christmas day and
the following eleven calendar days. We remember that Jesus was born of the
virgin Mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit – the only Mediator, between man and
God, our Redeemer and Saviour.
Prayers
for the Season of Advent – The Four
Sundays before Christmas
1st
Advent: Gracious God, in living our
busy daily lives, keep us ever ready, ever faithful and ever hopeful for the
day of Christ’s return. May this hope be born into our lives anew.
2nd
Advent: Loving God, while we patiently wait for Christ’s return and for your
peace to ultimately prevail, enable each of us to work for peaceful solutions
to the various conflicts which abound in our lives and our world. May your peace be born into our lives.
3rd
Advent: Merciful God, while we patiently
wait for Christ’s coming again, may each of us rejoice in our salvation; and
may that joy permeate all aspects of our lives and be freely shared with
others. Grant us your joy.
4th
Advent: Gracious Creator, while we
patiently wait for Christ’s coming again, inspire us when we celebrate
Christmas, to marvel on the fact that your love for each of us knows no bounds.
May this love be mirrored in all aspects of our lives as we freely share it
with others. When we celebrate Christmas, may we and all our loved ones share
in your divine love.
Prayers
for the Twelve Days of Christmas – Starting on Christmas day.
Lord Jesus, you became one of us, conceived by the
Spirit and born of a virgin, to save and redeem us. With the angels and the
saints of all ages, we bring praise and glory to your Name.
Lord Jesus Christ, you became a man to bring
salvation to all, to bring hope to the poor and to set the captives free. As we
worship you with the shepherds and wise men, receive our thanks and make us
faithful messengers of your Gospel.
Prefaces for Advent
PCSA 1984 / APB 1989
And now we give you thanks,
because the day of our deliverance has dawned,
and through Christ Jesus you will make all things
new,
as he comes in power and triumph to judge the world.
Ambrosian
Through the voice of prophets
you promised the coming of your Son in human flesh
and his birth from the virgin's womb.
Now, in these latter days,
you have fulfilled that promise.
And so with a new joy, we affirm the faith
that Christ has come as our Redeemer
and that he will come again to be our judge.
The
Advent Wreath
The symbolism of the Advent Wreath is
beautiful. The wreath can be displayed
on the Lord’s Table or any other prominent place in the liturgical area.
The wreath is made of various evergreens, signifying
continuous life. It signifies victory
over persecution and suffering. The prickly leaves remind us of the crown of
thorns. Any pine cones or other seeds symbolize life and resurrection.
The circle of the wreath, that has no beginning or
end, symbolizes the eternity of God, our immortality and the everlasting life
found in Christ who entered our world a true man and who was victorious over
sin and death through his own passion, death, and resurrection.
The
four candles on the wreath represent the four weeks of Advent. The
progressive lighting of the candles every Sunday of the Advent season symbolizes
the expectation and hope surrounding our Lord’s first coming into the world and
the anticipation of his second coming to judge the living and the dead.
The lighting of candles signifies Christ, the Light
of the world.
In family practice,
the Advent candles on the wreath are usually lit at home on Sundays at lunch or
dinner time, after the blessing of the food.
In
the tradition of the Church the dominant liturgical colour during Advent is
purple, the colour of royalty, because we celebrate the coming of the King of
kings and Lord of lords.
The dominant colour of Christmas is white, because
Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and was therefore born without sin.
(Red and green became
the brand colours of the commercialised, secular Christmas).
Advent: God sent his Son
During
the four Sundays before Christmas day, we will remember that Christ took on our
weak, human nature and became one of us.
As the
Apostle Paul puts it in 2 Cor 5: 21:
God made him who had no sin, to be sin for us so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God.
This is
what Christ did for us during that first Christmas day. In taking on ”weak
human flesh”, he associated himself with our dilemma which is the result of
our mistakes, disobedience and sin. He came to live the life that God requires
and we cannot accomplish, and lived it perfectly, holy and without sin, in our place! The Son of God became our
brother and will never leave nor forsake us.
During
the season of Advent, we want to celebrate that when God gave the gift of
salvation, he did not send new laws and rules through which to figure out how
we can be saved. No, he sent his Son to save us.
The Advent message always remains that (John
3:16) God so much loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whosoever
believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Let’s
trust in the Son. Let’s rejoice, because he did everything we could not do, to
save us! Let’s encourage each other to accept Christ’s offer to come into our
lives as Lord of all.
Lets
pray that he will come again soon to dry all our tears.
