We’re just over a month away from the season of the Christian Year known as Advent, which means many worship planners are beginning to structure upcoming Advent worship services.
What Is Advent Season?
Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas in the Christian Church Year calendar. The word advent means “coming,” and in this sense refers to Christ’s coming to earth. We look back to his first coming, as a baby in a manger, and look forward to His return on clouds of glory to reign as King.
Advent is both a time of repentance and longing, and a time of hope and joy:
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The first, because Christ came to a broken world in need of a savior, to redeem and atone by suffering and dying for our sins. This is a time to be acutely aware of the depth of our sin and need for a savior. It’s a time to be aware of the presence of oppression and suffering in the world as well, to cry out “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”
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The second, because His coming is certain and victory is assured. As David declared in Psalm 98, paraphrased by Isaac Watts in “Joy to the World,” (which Watts never intended to be thought of as a Christmas carol, and which we should not reserve for only Christmas Day) “He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.”
At Sojourn and in churches all over the world, Advent is a season of preparation for Christ’s coming. We confess our unworthiness and inability to receive the King through our own merit, as well as the need for Christ to come. The scripture readings and music Pastor Mike Cosper chooses will reflect this, as they will also reflect the expectation, anticipation, and joyful hope made possible by the knowledge that “the Lord is come.” Not just has come, or will come, but is come:
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He came in history, to Bethlehem and ultimately to a cross and a tomb, later empty in the wake of resurrection power.
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He comes today in the power of the Spirit, in the witness of the Church, in the written Word, in the powerful symbols of communion and baptism.
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He will come again to judge the living and the dead, to rule the nations, to receive praise and honor, to make all things new and wipe the tears from the eyes of His people.
As noted in The Worship Sourcebook, Christian worship services during Advent should “be designed to help people see the tension between celebrating and hoping.”
We’ll have several articles on Advent in the coming weeks here at sojournmusic.com. Also, beginning this weekend and lasting for the next several weekends we will publish various scripture readings you can use during Advent season, both for personal devotions in the home and for corporate liturgical elements such as the Call to Worship, Call to Confession, Assurance of Pardon, and Prayer for Illumination (for definitions of these and other liturgical elements, see our short article by worship leader Lorie King).
Read about the Sojourn CD Advent Songs, listen to four free tracks and if you’d like, download it for whatever price you want to pay (or even get it for free if you recommend it to five friends)
Order Advent Songs as a physical CD
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