First Sunday in Advent

NOTES FROM THE PASTOR

"Expecting”

Tomorrow Sunday, November 30 is actually the first Sunday in the Liturgical Year!  However as we begin this season of Advent we should be mindful that this season of Advent should not to be understood as a preparation for Christmas.  Instead it is a season which commemorates the preparations of Israel for the coming of Messiah.  It is also a Season which reminds Christians that we live in what Luther called the “now and the not yet.” That is, the Kingdom of God is now, having been ushered in at Christ’s first coming and it is yet to be, as we await Christ’s return in glory and the coming day of resurrection and final judgment. There are numerous ways you and your family might more fully appreciate this first season of the Church year. Advent is a penitential season, that is it is a time of repentance But it is also a time of expectancy, proclamation, preparation, and joy. Consider constructing an Advent wreath for your home. Kits for Advent wreaths may be often found at many local hobby shops. As the young people who are live in or who come to visit your home, make time in the business of your schedule to talk with them about the four weeks of Advent and what this season is about. Invite them to share with you what they hear in the readings for these Sundays, and ways we can all prepare to receive into our midst the one who has truly come ushering in the Kingdom of God who also the is the one who will come again in glory on what in the old Negro spiritual will be that “Great Gett’n Up Morning.”