Advent: An Adventure in Faith
December 1st marked the beginning of Advent, a season of anticipation and hope for believers everywhere.
Personally, this season has inspired me
to do an alphabetical series of blog posts,
from A to Z.
If I double-up at least once,
I'll finish by Christmas!
What is Advent?
As a word freak, I love to explore the origins of terms we use. “Advent” is derived from an old Latin word, “adventus,” which means coming.
Advent speaks of an awaited arrival, as well as a new start. Oh, how I need that daily!
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Advent heralds a new beginning.
As we open daily doors on our Advent calendars, eagerly ticking off the days till Christmas, it’s easy for us to think about holiday parties, gift shopping, cookie baking, visits with Santa Claus, choral concerts, family gatherings and other events of the Christmas season.
Tomorrow, in churches around the world, faithful ones will light candles on Advent Wreaths (see link to explanation below) and ponder the perfect Son of God, who took on frail flesh to save the world from itself.
What a gift. Who can fully understand what this means ... and the dear cost it required?
What does Advent really celebrate?
Advent points to the coming of Christ, the incarnation of the Holy One, the tiny Babe born into dirty straw in a Bethlehem barn. His arrival split history (HIS story) into two pieces, before Christ (BC) and Anno Domini (AD), the year of the Lord.
Without the coming of Christ, we would have no Christmas, no Good Friday, no Easter and no hope.
Thank God for Advent and for sending the Savior of the world.
“But the angel said to them,
‘Do not be afraid.
I bring you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.’”
Luke 2:10, NIV
Related Items:
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Image/s:
Advent Wreath
By Micha L. Reiser
Creative Commons Photo
I love that HIS story allusion. As a word 'freak', do you know if the term (history) did originate that way?
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