THE PROPHETIC LESSON Jeremiah 33:14-16
THE GOSPEL LESSON Luke 21:25-36
SERMON "Hope: Preparation as Alertness"
Worship Notes
Welcome to worship at Westminster on this, the First Sunday of Advent, which is also celebrated as the start of a new church year. The liturgical color for Advent is blue and that color appears not only in the paraments on the communion table and lectern, but also in the choir stoles and in three of the four candles in the Advent wreath.
The season of Advent is a time of anticipation, expectation, and preparation. By observing a season of Advent, we have the opportunity to reflect on just how much our world waits with eager longing for the coming of the Messiah. During Advent, our worship cultivates a sense of mystery as we wait in anticipation of the coming Light. The season of Advent is always measured by the four Sundays proceeding Christmas Day. Each week represents the passage of 1,000 years to total the 4,000 years believed to have elapsed between the time of Adam and Eve and the birth of the Savior. We use an Advent wreath as a symbol of our progression through this season as we prepare to move from a world of darkness into a world of light. This year we light the candles as a response to God's word rather than at the beginning of our service.
God's word expressed in worship today is focused on hope. This hope is that which exists in the midst of darker times represented in the apocalyptic character of today's scripture lessons. The hymns and service music through which we worship today reflects this spirit of hope amidst the darkness.
During Advent, our worship will begin with the choir singing one of the O Antiphons, which have been incorporated as a lyrical paraphrase into the familiar Advent Carol, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." The prophetic text of the antiphons has been used by Christians to prepare for the Christmas observance since the first century.
