Today is the first Sunday of Advent. The first candle on the Advent wreath symbolizes prophecy. The prophets of Israel spoke of the coming of Jesus, of how a savior would be born - a king in the line of David. They spoke of how he would rule the world wisely and bless all nations. Christ’s birth in Bethlehem fulfilled that prophecy.

Scripture: Isaiah 60: 1 & 2 - Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the people; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you.

The first candle of Advent also symbolizes hope. As followers of Jesus, we have hope as we await His return.

Scripture: Romans 15:13 - I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The first candle of Advent is purple to symbolize Christ’s royalty as the King of Kings.
We light this first candle of Advent to remember how Christ fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament, and to remember how he brought hope and light to the world. (Light the first candle)

Light the first candle of Advent

Prayer: Loving God, we thank you for your gift of hope in Christ. Help us to thank you not just with words, but also with deeds. Help us to meet our friends with understanding, our responsibilities with willingness, and our worship with humility. Bless our service here this morning. Help us to be quiet - to kneel and bring ourselves to you. Amen.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 29th, 2008 at 10:25 pm and is filed under Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.