The Sovereign Love of God

10

T he S eason of A dvent

Celebrating Advent Advent season is the start of the Church Year calendar. By observing the Church Year, we remind ourselves that we do not belong to this world but operate in the earth as a peculiar people whose citizenship is in the New Jerusalem. The word Advent means “coming” or “arrival” and the season has a dual focus of remembering the first coming of Christ and looking forward to his second coming. Theologically speaking, the season of Advent signifies a time of both preparation and hope. Therefore, preaching during Advent has traditionally emphasized both repentance and joy. Like other seasons in the Church Year, at Advent we use colors to remind us of theological truths. The primary color of Advent is purple (the color of royalty) which is used to remind us that we are awaiting the coming of a king. The secondary color of Advent is green (the color of life) used to remind us that God is sending the One who will make all things new. The Advent candles consist of five candles: three purple, one pink, and one white candle. The purple candles (lit on the Sundays of week one, two, and four) remind us that we are awaiting royalty, and the sole pink candle (which is lit on the third week), affirms God’s intent to eliminate all fear and restore creation through the coming Messiah. The final white center candle (called the Christ Candle), is lit on Christmas Day, and calls us to rejoice in the incarnation of the Son of God into the world. The greenery around the candle reminds us that we are proclaiming the promise of new life that Messiah brings. The flames of the candles remind us that Jesus is the light of the world who shines in the darkness and that the darkness cannot overcome the light. By lighting one new candle each week we remind ourselves that God is doing something in the world and that more is yet to come.