In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ Luke 1:26-33 (NRSV)

Advent

Advent 2007

The church year begins with Advent - the waiting time, the time of expectancy, of longing. The theme of Advent is two-fold: we wait for the coming of Christ at Christmas and we long for the final coming of Christ when the whole of creation will be fulfilled.

Advent developed originally as a season of preparation for the celebration of baptism at Epiphany (thus paralleling the season of Lent). The color we use for Advent is blue, suggesting expectancy and hope.

Visuals of the season will include an Advent wreath (an evergreen wreath with four blue or purple candles and a central white Christ candle added on Christmas Eve/Day), a Chrismon tree (an evergreen tree covered with white monograms of Christ) and Chrismon banners.

Advent is a season of preparation, of making ready to have our lives, our church, and our world changed and made new.

Advent Begins on December 2 in 2007 and ends on Christmas Eve, December 24. The season of Christmas begins on December 25, followed by Epiphany on January 6.