ABOUT THE SEASON OF ADVENT
Preparing Our Hearts and Our Homes For Christmas

The Christian year begins on the Sunday nearest November 30, as we enter the season of Advent.  For four Sundays prior to Christmas, Christians engage in self-examination and spiritual preparation for the celebration of Christ’s birth.  Advent literally means “coming” and its observance was modeled after the Season of Lent.  Observance of Advent dates back to the sixth century and was widely practiced by the beginning of the eighth century.

Advent is a season of expectation, and the many liturgical preparations heighten our sense of waiting for Christ to come.  But we do not simply prepare for a remembrance of Christmas past; instead we expect that Christ is coming anew into our lives and into the world.  This year, our Advent theme is focused on various elements of waiting.  We are waiting for Jesus’ return, silence is part of our waiting, we are waiting in hope, and God will respond to our waiting in ways we cannot predict.

Therefore, Advent is a time for us to let go of the past in repentance and look to the future in hope.  As we anticipate Christ’s return, we prepare for the establishment of Christ’s rule in peace, justice, and love throughout the world.  The liturgical color for Advent is purple, the royal color of the coming King.  Blue, the color of hope, may also be used.

The Advent wreath is probably the most familiar symbol of this season and is used both in the church and in our homes.  The wreath is constructed of evergreens, an ancient symbol of immortality, life and growth.  The circle of the wreath is unending and symbolic of eternity – God was and is and always will be.  The four candles represent the four Sundays of Advent, and help us experience an increasing crescendo of light throughout the season.

The color of the candles follows the liturgical color of the season.  On the first Sunday of Advent one candle is lit; two are lit the second Sunday and so on until all four are lit.  A fifth candle is added in the center on Christmas Eve, the last day of Advent.  This candle is white, the color of purity and joy, and is known as the “Christ Candle”.

During Advent, the pastors will be happy to take communion
to homes or hospital rooms upon request.

ADVENT 2007

FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT
Sunday, December 2
8:30 & 11:00 a.m. Services of Worship

• Service of Holy Communion (intinction 8:30 a.m.)
• Lighting of Advent Candle:  The Prophets
• Scripture Text: Isaiah 2:15; Matthew 24:36-44; Romans 13:11-14
• Sermon:  Living at the Edge of Hope or Chronic Anxiety as a Way of Life
  • The Reverend Dr. Susan Kendall
• Choirs:
  • 8:30 - Jubilate
  • 11:00 - Alleluia Ringers/Westminster Choir
• Fellowship Hours after each service

7:00 p.m. Taizé Contemplative Service of Worship (Chapel)

Monday, December 3
7:30 p.m. Presbyterian Women Advent Reflection and Dessert (Fellowship Hall)

SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT
Sunday, December 9
8:30 & 11:00 a.m. Services of Worship

• Lighting of Advent Candle: Bethlehem
• Servce of Music: A Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten
  • 8:30 Chancel Choir with Hapr
• Fellowship Hours after each service

6:00-8:00 p.m. - Middle School and Senior Highs prepare and deliver holiday gift bags for LRR residents.

Saturday, December 15
9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Parent’s Day Out

THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT
Sunday, December 16
8:30 & 11:00 a.m. Services of Worship

• Lighting of Advent Candle: Angels
• Scripture Text: Matthew 11:2-11
• Sermon:  What Do You Hear and See?
  • The Reverend Emily Berman D'Andrea
• Choirs:
  • 8:30 - Genesis Choir
  • 11:00 - Special Music
• Fellowship Hours after each service

9:30 – 10:30 a.m. Biblical Storyteller: Tracy Radosevic Stories of Christmas.

The heart of Christmas lies in this scene, played out sixty generations past: A young pregnant girl on a donkey led by a man, moving from house to house looking for a place to stay, finally finding shelter in a stable where she bears a son. Out in the fields, shepherds are visited by angels who tell them of this long expected birth and overhead a miraculous star leads Wise men bearing gifts from the East. This is the whole of the chronicle. The rest is garland, added by subsequent ages -- by monks, scribes, priests, wits, storytellers and common people -- to adorn the source of the faith that was their life’s greatest treasure.

1:00-3:00 p.m. - Holiday service project for middle schoolers with Youth of Faith at Chesterbrook Residences

6:00-8:00 p.m. - Youth fellowship Christmas Party

FOURTH WEEK OF ADVENT
Sunday, December 23
8:30 & 11:00 a.m. Services of Worship

• Lighting of Advent Candle: Shepherds
• Scripture Text: Isaiah 7:10-16; Matthew 1:18-25
• Sermon:  Do Not Be Afraid
  • The Reverend Jerry Hopkins
• Choirs:
  • 11:00 - Special Music
• Fellowship Hours after each service

9:30-10:30 a.m. - Christian Education:

• Intergenerational Event for Youth and Adults: Helen & Brian Chapaitis, missionaries - Christmas in Papua New Guinea - Chapel
• For children, grades 1-6: The Nativity - One Family. One Journey. One Child ... who would change the World. Forever - Fellowship Hall
• Preschool programs: Bible-in-a-Box (2 yaer olds) and Godly Play (3-5 year olds) will be in session

12:15 p.m. - College students meet at Rocco's Italian Restaurant in McLeanfor lunch

CHRISTMAS EVE
Monday, December 24

4:30 p.m. Family Service of Worship

• Choirs: Joyful Noise/Cherubs/Chimers/Genesis/St. Andrews

7:30 and 10:30 p.m. Candlelight Communion Services
Prelude Music 20 minutes prior to 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. services

• Scripture Text: Luke 2:1-14
• Sermon:  The Incarnation
  • The Reverend Emily Berman D'Andrea
• Choirs:
  • 7:30 - Chancel/Jubilate Ringers
  • 10:30 - Westminster/Alleluia Ringers
    

OTHER ADVENT EVENTS

Between services and after the 11:00 a.m. service on December 2 and 9 you will be able to purchase fair trade Peruvian hand goods.  The money collected for these goods goes back directly to the people who made them and some of the money will go toward our Mission and Serviceprojects.  On December 16 and 23 you will be able to purchase alternative gifts for the person who has everything.  Alternative gift giving allows you to give money to a charity in the name of a loved one while letting that loved one know you have done so.