Hear the Bells: Celebrating Advent

Today we had the honor (?) of leading our church in celebrating advent. I say this as I was a little worried how our toddler would do! But she did fine and we were able to read about "The Candle of Peace". This marks the 2nd week as we anticipate the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. I've always striven to remember the true reason of why we celebrate Christmas - it's not all about presents and eating cookies. It's taking time to reflect on that night when Jesus was born and what that truly means. So I love that we got to do this for our church. This is what we read, if you are interested!

“Today is the second Sunday of Advent. The word ‘Advent’ comes from the Latin word 'adventus' meaning 'The Coming' or ‘The Arrival’. It is the season whereby we celebrate the coming of Christ to earth. Last Sunday we lit the first candle in our Advent wreath. It reminded us of the hope we have in Christ. Today we light the second candle of Advent, the candle of peace. The prophets of old spoke of the coming of a King who would save his people. This King would be unlike any king who ever ruled. Nearly every earthly king who has ruled has done so by acquiring wealth and power. And nearly every king who acquired wealth and power took it from the backs of those under them. Not this King. He is the kind of King who gives, not takes. He would be born in humility and would give His life as a ransom for us. This is why the prophet Isaiah calls Him the “Prince of Peace". The very heart of the Christmas message is how this Messiah brought peace between us and God.

“We believe that Christ has come into our world. The apostle Paul describes this peace as being beyond our understanding. How true that is!We believe that this peace is complete and total. We believe that our restless hearts cannot find true peace unless it anchors in Him. And we believe that this peace will find its ultimate completion when He returns bringing us a new life. This is what we look forward to as we reflect upon this great King. We light this candle to remind us that Jesus is the Prince of Peace our hearts have been longing for and that only through Him true peace is found.”