Advent Devotional Reader

**This is a repost from Advent 2014**

A PDF of the Advent reader is available at the bottom of this page. Note that because it was intended for Advent 2014, the dates will not be correct for this year.  

Sunday, November 30 marks the first Sunday of Advent.  It is also the beginning of a new year according to the Church calendar!

The staff team at University Chapel has worked hard to put together an Advent Devotional Reader for this season. I promise you it is a fantastic resource.  It is simple, and consists of daily spiritual practices (prayers, reflections, readings, etc.) to help guide our observance of Advent.  

Some of you may be asking, what even is Advent?  Well, it comes from the Latin word adventus (ad-venio), which means “arrival” or “coming to.” 

Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Enuma Okoro in the excellent book Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, have written this about advent ...

"Advent... is a time when we wait expectantly. Christians began to celebrate it as a season during the fourth and fifth centuries. Like Mary, we celebrate the coming of the Christ child, what God has already done. And we wait in expectation of the full coming of God’s reign on earth and for the return of Christ, what God will yet do. But this waiting is not a passive waiting. It is an active waiting. As any expectant mother knows, this waiting also involves preparation, exercise, nutrition, care, prayer, work; and birth involves pain, blood, tears, joy, release, community. It is called labor for a reason. Likewise, we are in a world pregnant with hope, and we live in the expectation of the coming of God’s kingdom on earth. As we wait, we also work, cry, pray, ache; we are the midwives of another world."

What is often forgotten about advent is that during this season we celebrate two comings.  We remember Christ’s first coming, which we call the nativity (“birth”), and we look forward with great anticipation to his second coming and the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. 

Karl Barth, the great twentieth century German theologian, often spoke about living “between the two advents.” On one occasion, when he was teaching students how to preach, he said that “‘the Word became flesh’ (John 1:1) can be spoken legitimately only when there follows at once: “Amen, come Lord Jesus.’ (Revelation 22:20).”  We live in the tension between these two comings of Christ, and during this season we are especially aware of this God who has down come to meet us (as a baby!), is God with us (“Immanuel”) and is yet to come in fullness of glory to establish his kingdom of peace. 

There is much, much more to say about advent.  If you're new to the whole church calendar thing, there is no better time to begin participating that ancient rhythm of the church.  The Advent Reader is a great resource for anyone whose desire it is to know and love God and neighbour in a greater way. 

Be blessed!