Advent is the beginning of a new church year. The church year is not the calendar year. In life, our calendars identify our priorities. We follow sports calendars and school calendars. Farmers follow agricultural calendars for planting and harvesting. The calendars we keep help us manage our commitments and prioritize our principles. Calendars reflect the things that are important us. The secular calendar year organizes life according to its mostly godless priorities. The Church Year is a spiritual calendar that organizes life around the story of God’s involvement in human history, the story of salvation.

 The Church year begins with Advent, a four Sunday period of preparation and anticipation for the coming of Christ, the arrival of Christmas. Advent corresponds to the Old Covenant, the Old Testament, the time of anticipation of the promised  coming Messiah. The more important something is, the more preparation we put in to is. The four Sundays of Advent provide a time of spiritual preparation for the celebration of Christ’s arrival. Many churches light an Advent Candle in worship each Sunday to mark the passing of the days. Many Christians do the same in their home at meal time. There are also Advent calendars marking the progress to Christmas.

Join us in worship during this season of Advent.