By Pastor Tim White

This time of year can really be dark. It seems like yesterday that 5:00 am was a beautiful time to enjoy the spectacular sunrises in the Pacific Northwest. Now 5:00 am is like the middle of a very dark night. In this dark time of year, we miss light. And we need light to shine into our lives. As for the rest of our planet, light brings health, optimism, new energy, and motivation.  

Most religions in non-equatorial regions developed festivals to mark the darkest days of the year with hope. Christians celebrated this time leading into Christmas with Advent. And since early Christians struggled to know the date of Christ’s birth the darkest time of the year was when it became tradition to celebrate this holy festival of Christmas.  

The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming” which is a translation of the Greek word Parousia.  By the 6th century, however, Roman Christians had tied Advent to the coming of Christ. We celebrate Advent in the four weeks leading up to Christmas. The Catholic Tradition had Hope, Faith, Joy and Peace all leading to Love on Christmas morning. As each new reformation took place, different churches would change the order as Martin Luther did in reviving the faith of German Lutherans. Each tradition of Advent was meaningful.

I like to follow the Catholic Order because it is the oldest, but I could celebrate any Christian Order of Advent. This year Dr. Rey Diaz is going to be here on Sunday the 19th of December to preach and he asked to preach on Hope. So, we change the order and rotated Hope to the 19th of December and Faith then becomes our opening to Advent.

We need this season to refresh our faith. Stagnant faith becomes rigid and cold. This season is designed to renew our lives, our churches, our nation, and our families. We all need to kick off Advent 2021 with a faith infusion. Please join us at our In Person Service or Online this Sunday at 10:30am. Online can be found on You Tube, Facebook Live or the church Apps.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White