Sunday, November 27, 2005
The First Week of Advent
Advent. The season of anticipation of the birth of Christ. Advent begins with the fourth Sunday before Christmas. That would be today. I always love the Advent season. There's something special about it. For some reason, it tends to touch the deepest emotions in me, both up and down. One of my favorite things about the Advent season is the songs we sing in church during the four Sundays' services. Thinking about it this morning, I remember that we often sing "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" on the first Sunday of advent. This made me think of two related things. First of all, in our Christmas Cantata this year, my favorite piece is a gorgeous version of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel". It's a gorgeous violin solo with the male vocalists singing. It's a wonderful arrangement. Secondly, it reminded me of my blog posts from last December. I mainly wrote about our Secret Holiday Pals at work and then about the lyrics from Christmas hymns.
So, if you have a chance, go back and re-read some of the lyrics to Christmas hymns (you can start in my archive from a year ago, or you can Google some of your favorite Christmas carols online. Whichever you do, I encourage you to truly listen to the words of the Carols that you hear or find yourself humming (well, I'm not really talking about "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer", but the God-centered Carols).
Not only is Advent the season of anticipation of Christmas. It's the season of the anticipation of Christ. Consider using the Advent Season to remind you that when Christ entered this world, He entered our lives. Not only did He change the world forever, but He changes lives from the inside out, and these life-changes are forever.
Just a tidbit from the sermon that was preached at my church this morning. Our pastor reminded us that Christ IS our hope. He used a passage from Hebrews 10:19-25 ("Let us hold fast our confession of hope ... for He who promised is faithful...") Christ's advent on this earth was the advent of HOPE in our lives. One illustration that he (our pastor) used was from the C.S. Lewis novel, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, where it is "always winter and never Christmas." What an appropriate picture of a world without hope. But, when Aslan (like Christ) entered that world, Christmas came, and winter ended.
Well, given the season, I will end this post with a "heads-up" for you. I would like to continue with some more blog posts that continue the thoughts that I have about Christmas, Advent, and some of the Christmas Carols. That means that you can expect to be seeing some more religious posts here over the next few weeks. Read them, if you will ... and I hope that I can challenge you or at least encourage you to further considerations on your own part.
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