One of my few pet-peeves in life is when I see Christmas decorations going up too early. This year, I started seeing them in September. Retailers want to stretch out the Christmas season as long as possible, in hopes of selling as much as possible.
In reality, the “Christmas season” as we know it has only existed for about 150 years. Before that, Christians celebrated Advent, a time of fasting, penitence, and somber waiting for the coming of the redeemer.
I don’t think there’s any Scriptural reason for us to create artificial gloominess, since we know the Savior has come, and is coming back. But Advent can be a reminder of our eager anticipation for Christ to come for his bride.
Harbor will be celebrating Advent together each Sunday, starting Thanksgiving weekend. To help you and your family prepare, here is a weekly advent devotional guide developed by The Village Church. Here’s how they describe it:
The Advent Guide serves as an introduction to the Advent season in hope to awaken the angst of waiting, longing and yearning for Christ. The hope is to feel the ancient angst of Israel and allow that to inform our own anticipation. The guide consists of five weeks of devotionals with each week containing one personal devotional and one family devotional.
It will take the church from the longing of the Old Testament saints for the Messiah, to Christ’s first advent, to the longing that we now experience for His return. We will begin with God’s promises in general and move to the specific promise of a Messiah, the fulfillment of that promise in the coming of Jesus Christ, the promise of a second coming, and the longing of the Church as we wait for the eventual fulfillment of that promise.
Advent Guide (PDF)