Advent Series Week ONE: Dec 3,2023

The word advent comes from the Latin term adventus meaning "arrival" or "coming," particularly the coming of something having great importance.

Advent the season is a time of waiting, expecting & celebrating. by thanking God for Christ's first coming to Earth as a baby, His indwelling presence today through the Holy Spirit. Most importantly Advent is also a time where Christians focus on spiritual preparation and anticipation of His final coming at the end of the time. We prepare our homes and hearts for four weeks before Christmas.

Advent the story is the story of creation all the way up to Christ’s 2nd coming. It’s a good way to teach about the big story of what God has been doing since Adam and Eve all the way up & through Jesus through the apostles and how The Holy Spirit is at work in us in the church, in our families and the communities of today.

We use this story to point our hearts & minds back to the bigger story that is currently still in play

Advent always starts four Sundays before Christmas. This year, in 2023, Advent starts Sunday, December 3.

Everyone say “Christian calendar”

For us on the Christian Calendar Advent is us prepping, anticipating, expecting, & waiting on the Lord’s return. All of this is done 4 Sundays out from December 25th all the way to Dec 24th. Then on Christmas starts the 12 days of Christmas(so see Hallmark gets it wrong)

Those 12 days run from 12/25 to Jan 5th and The Feast of Epiphany is celebrated on January 6th.

• Epiphany is a Christian holiday primarily commemorating the Magi's visit to the baby Jesus and the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. Eastern traditions, which usually call the holiday Theophany, focus on Jesus' baptism, seen as the manifestation of Christ as both fully human and fully divine.

Why do we do this???

- IT helps us addresses key issues such as

• What’s the real reason we look forward to Christmas?
• How should we truly celebrate Christ’s coming to earth in the form of a baby
• Are we daily allowing The Holy Spirit to influence our decision making?
• How spiritually prepared are we for Christ’s Return?

The season of Advent begins on the Sunday which falls closest to November 30, and lasts through Christmas Eve, or December 24.

Practical Ways to celebrate

• There’s 4 purple candles in the Advent wreath because it was 4,000 years from Adam & Eve to the birth of Jesus The 5th candle(white candle,bc He’s the spotless lamb that takes away the sins of the world) represents Jesus
• Decorate your house in stages symbolic of Advent building up each week up till Christmas day “The coming of Christ”
• Don’t be in a hurry to put your tree up but instead Continue to celebrate the arrival of Christ all the way until Epiphany Jan 6th.
• And many more!
• We will be partaking in a free app during this time to help us practically walk all of this out!

Advent is broken up into 4 Themes

1. Hope (candle 1)
2. Joy (candle 2)
3. Peace (candle 3)
4. Love (candle 4)

Today we start with Hope!!!