What is Advent?Advent is a season of waiting for the birth of Jesus on Christmas day. It’s oft

What is Advent?Advent is a season of waiting for the birth of Jesus on Christmas day. It’s often an underrated and overlooked way to experience a deeper meaning of Christmas. Just as the season of Lent helps us to prepare for the full impact of the resurrection on Easter, Advent is a way for people to brace their spirits for the incarnation (God becoming a human) on Christmas. Swipe through for some more info on Advent! First of all Advent is the beginning of the Liturgical Year on The Church Calendar which is also an often overlooked and underrated way for Christians to engage their faith. The Liturgical Year includes scripture readings, feast days, traditions, music, food and all sorts of traditions that unites Christians from all over the world regardless of their denomination or background as they follow these yearly rhythms together. Practices like Advent and following the Liturgical Year are particularly important to us at Beloved Arise because we are an ecumenical Christian organization. Ecumenical is a fancy way of saying that we include all Christian expressions; we aren’t associated with any one particular denomination. One way we see this expressed every week is at our virtual youth group where we have Baptists, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, “Non- Denoms”, Catholics, and many more participating in our weekly virtual youth group. Collectively following The Liturgical Year  connects us to our more ancient roots instead of focusing on some of the more modern expressions of Christianity that sometimes divide us.But wait! Isn’t this supposed to be a slide guide about ADVENT!? Yes- we just wanted you to have some brief backstory and context before moving forward. The word advent can be translated as “coming” or “arrival” and observing this season (which starts on November 29) is about anticipating the arrival of Jesus. On a more meta level it can also be about anticipating the arrival of Christ our hearts and the second coming of Jesus. Christians from around the world celebrate Advent in a variety of ways that you probably already engage in as part of the Christmas season. Putting up a Christmas tree is traditionally a part of advent along with daily readings, special music, and even a designated traditional color- PURPLE. In many Churches around the world sanctuaries and pastors will be decked out in purple which is a royal color and is yet another way to anticipate the coming of the Prince of Peace- Jesus. There are many resources for daily advent readings, but here is one we would recommend: https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/daily.php?year=BThese days one of the most common ways of celebrating Advent is to light an Advent wreath. Advent wreaths are actually a fairly new tradition as far as Christianity is concerned. The modern Advent wreath was conceived of by a German pastor named Johann Hinrich Wichern in 1839 and involves the lighting of a different candle each Sunday along with daily readings. The Advent wreath is loaded with symbols and meaning that we encourage you to look up, but the most obvious symbol is the slow steady emergence of light in darkness. Advent traditions and celebrations are just like Christmas traditions in that there is always a surprising depth and richness to these practices that get lost in the modern commercialization of our sacred traditions. There is a deep well of traditions and practices to help guide your experience of Advent that will most likely enhance your experience of Christmas, but we are also invited to add our own traditions to this season as well. Whatever you can do during this time to cultivate a sense of waiting and anticipation for the celebration of the birth of Christ is a way for you to more deeply engage with the spirit of the season and join the global Church in a yearly practice. Beloved Arise wants to invite you to join us this year in observing Advent. Let’s collectively join together in anticipation of Emmanuel- God with us. It is this message of hope that fuels our call to spread a message of hope and affirmation to queer youth of faith all over the world. God’s love is for everybody and ultimately the message of Christianity is that God broke through the forces of darkness and evil to communicate to spread hope and love to every human and that’s the message that we exist to amplify. We’d like to conclude this slide guide on Advent with an Advent poem from Rowan Williams who was the Archbishop of Canterberry from 2002 to 2012. He will come like last leaf’s fall.One night when the November windhas flayed the trees to bone, and earthwakes choking on the mould,the soft shroud’s folding.He will come like frost.One morning when the shrinking earthopens on mist, to find itselfarrested in the netof alien, sword-set beauty.He will come like dark.One evening when the bursting redDecember sun draws up the sheetand penny-masks its eye to yieldthe star-snowed fields of sky.He will come, will come,will come like crying in the night,like blood, like breaking,as the earth writhes to toss him free.He will come like child.To view this in slide guide form, go here. -- source link

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