For those of you who were not there yesterday - this photo looks nothing like our 'wreath'. It's more of a five pronged candle holder. But as I grew up in churches that hardly acknowledged Advent at all - this is clearly progress!
Given that I have no history with Advent it is perhaps ironic that this past week I spoke at a mixed group of Baptists, Anglicans and Catholics on the subject of Advent and will be taking an Advent assembly next week at a local C of E primary school.
So what is Advent?
Advent is traditionally a time of waiting and preparation for Christmas. It is recognising and identifying with God's people of old who waited for the coming of the Messiah - and it is also a recognition of the fact that as God's people today we wait for the Second Coming - and we prepare our hearts in the light of this truth.
Many of these Old Testament prophesies looking forward to the birth of Jesus are providing hope for a better future - things will not always be the way they currently are. God is going to intervene in history. He is going to rescue his people. But there were still hundreds of years of waiting.
In many church traditions the first candle on the Advent wreath is the candle of hope and is linked to the OT prophets.
For hundreds of years the faithful lived in hope that God was going to intervene - and then he did - in a totally unexpected and surprising way.
And we continue to live in this sense of expectation. For although we have the promise that God is with us now, and that we do experience God working now, and that lives are being transformed now - there is also this longing, this expectation, this hope that things are not always going to be the way they are.
There were many times in Israel's history when they were comfortable and therefore there was no need to look ahead to a better future. These were often the times when the people turned their backs on God and went their own way. During Jesus' life he repeatedly came up against those who wanted to maintain the status quo rather than embrace a new future.
As we wait for Christmas are we filled with a longing and an expectation and a hope for the future?
Yesterday morning our young people did a great job of taking the service and one of the songs that we sang was new to me a few months ago but is rapidly becoming one of my all time favourites (i.e. songs that are on the list to be sung at my funeral).
I believe in the resurrection - that we will rise again - for I believe in the name of Jesus.
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