loworeo.blogg.se - Symbol of the blind prophet

The prophet Isaiah talks about God’s kingdom being established and there will be no more war. This first week of Advent looks to the future return of Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords. Here are the themes and Scriptures for 2019.ĭecember 1: This week’s theme is The Lord is coming. You can also have a prayer before or after the candle lighting.

Typically, the lighting of the Advent is done at the beginning of the service and is followed by a Christmas hymn.Īdvent provides an opportunity to get many members involved.

The green of the wreath points to the hope we have in God – the hope of renewal, or eternal life.Īs meaningful as the symbols of Advent may be, they pale in significance to Advent telling us the story of God’s plan to redeem the world through his Son.

The wreath is designed to remind us of God himself-his mercy and love has no beginning or end.

Being in the center reminds us that the incarnation is the center of history and that Jesus is the center of the center. It reminds us throughout Advent that Christ is the light of the world, the light shining in the midst of darkness.

The center candle is white and is called the Christ candle.

The rose candle (typically lit on the third Sunday) symbolizes joy and might focus on the joy of worshipping the new-found King, or the joy of Emmanuel, or the joy of the shepherds, or the angels singing in joy.

The second and third purple candles traditionally represent Peace and Love but some also use them to represent different sequences, such as Faith, Hope and Love or Annunciation, Proclamation and Fulfillment.

(The themes vary among different churches.)

The first purple (or blue) candle traditionally represents Expectation of Hope.

One candle is lit each week along with a Scripture reading and a short devotional.

The four candles represent the four centuries of waiting between the prophet Malachi and the birth of Christ.

The color purple (some use royal blue) symbolizes royalty-fitting as we begin Advent focusing on Jesus returning as King of kings and Lord of lords.There is a white candle in the middle of the wreath. The wreath encircles three purple candles and one rose (or pink) candle. Many GCI congregations celebrate Advent by having an Advent wreath on a table in the front of the sanctuary. This is the history-the story-that leads up to Jesus. “The biblical scope of Advent stretches from the garden in Genesis to the New Jerusalem in Revelation… In one sense, the whole of the Old Testament is text for Advent: the creation of the world and the fall of humankind, the choosing of one family to bless all families and one nation to bless all nations, the exodus of that nation from captivity, the giving of the law and settling of the land, the choosing of kings and building of a temple, the sins of the people and cries of the prophets, the exile in Babylon, and the return to live under Persians, then Greeks, then Romans, and the long, long wait for the one anointed to come and deliver. Bobby Gross, author of Living the Christian Year, says this: Advent encompasses God’s story from the garden of Eden in Genesis to the establishment of the New Jerusalem in Revelation.