A collection around the following 6 categories to explore:
2024 Sun Dec 22
The Shape of Advent in Scriptures
Each week in Advent has a specific theme:
Week 1- The End of Time / Remaining Awake
Week 2 – God promises for Peace and Justice / John the Baptism
Week 3 – Rejoice (Gaudete Sunday) / John the Baptist
Week 4 – The Messiah
Advent comes from a Latin word – “advenire” – which means to come to/ During Advent. There are three comings:
• The Coming of God to the world as a human baby
• The Coming of God to the world in His glory at the end of time where God’s purposes will be fulfilled. The second coming
• The Coming of God into the world today. Jesus comes to us now in word and sacrament, in prayer and praise, in his Body, the Church
Advent causes us to remember that we are a people who live “between.” We live between the incarnation and the parousia, the day of the Lord.
Advent is a journey, a pilgrimage of watching and waiting. We are not ready for the Christ Child as we have work to do.
Advent Online Learning
Many of these courses were part of Christian education in earlier years when classes were scheduled before church.-
No login or password is needed. You can start and stop the courses as desired.
1 Luke’s canticles – Combines four stories from Luke with insights from artists, prayers, and hymns from around the world. Based on Songs in Waiting by Paul Chandler Luke’s Canticles
2 Matthew’s Infancy Stories. Comparable to Luke but with a decidedly Jewish character and an emphasis on Joseph.much different than Luke. Matthew’s Infancy Stories
3 Christmas Carols – 15+ carols for the days leading to Christmas. The background and musical selections are included. They surround us at Christmas. How much do you know about them? Christmas Carols
4 Handel’s Messiah, Prophesy and Birth of the Messiah. The premiere Christmas work with the music and text Handel’s Messsiah. The story of the Christmas part of the Messiah together with the music.
5. Dickens : A Christmas Carol and the Bible. The premiere Christmas novel, here with the influence of the Bible and much of Dickens time. A deep read into the Christmas classic for references to the Bible and Dickens’ religious beliefs Dickens : A Christmas Carol and the Bible
6. Renaissance Art and the Christmas Story The Renaissance was the first period where art came into its own depicting the stories we know and love. The study is divided by subject and includes about 15 art examples. Renaissance Art and the Christmas Story
Advent 4 – Apollo 8, Christmas Eve at the moon
It has been more than 50 years since this mission and since the first 10 verses of Genesis was read to 1.5 billion people, the largest audience to that time.
It was commemorated by a celebration at National Cathedral on Dec. 11, 2018 called “Spirit of Apollo”. The webcast is here.
Dean Randy Hollerith introduced it. Hollerith called it an “this amazing mission that I would call a pilgrimage. It revealed not only dark side of the moon and but gave our most powerful images of our small and fragile world God’s precious gift awash in an unimaginably large universe. I think of it as a holy journey not only what it accomplished and what it showed of our place in our God’s grand’s creation.”
The six-day mission lifted off on Dec. 21, 1968, with its crew of Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders.
The voyage had many firsts.