Pastor's Corner

The 8^th chapter of Isaiah ends on a very bleak, despairing note… Speaking of Israel and Judah, God says that if they don’t live according to God’s Word, they shall have “no light of dawn.” They shall roam through the land, and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom. Chapter nine, however, expresses a different tone… Nonetheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.

   This past Sunday we began our celebration of Advent. The word, “advent” means “coming” or “arrival.” It is, in a sense, a countdown of anticipation in which we celebrate Christ’s first Advent, or coming, in which He was born into this world as a small child in a manger just over 2000 years ago. Advent also has the significance of our longing for His appearance in anticipation of Christ’s second coming in clouds of glory. Therefore, our Advent season is an annual reminder and opportunity to focus on our spiritual preparation for His coming.

   One of our church’s traditions is the Advent wreath and its candles being lit each of the four Sundays of the season. The four outer candles represent the gifts of God’s Spirit to us which are Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy. Three of them are purple colored, the sorrow or repentance of preparation, with the fourth being pink to remind us of joy in this season. The center candle, to be lit on Christmas Eve, is called the Christ candle – for Christ is the center of our season’s celebration.

   Picking up on this visual image, this year’s Advent theme will be focused on “The Dimensions of Christ’s Coming.” We will consider the length of our hope, the depth of God’s peace, the height of our joy, and the breadth of God’s love. I pray that all of us might experience the fullness of the power and wonder of the season as we prepare for His coming into our world and into our lives.

Pastor Al