The Meaning of Advent...

The Season of Advent
Anticipation and Hope

Dennis Bratcher

The Colors of Advent The Spirit of Advent Evergreens and The Advent Wreath
Celebrating Advent An Advent Reflection Music for Advent

Advent is the beginning of the Church Year for most churches in the Western tradition. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day, which is the Sunday nearest November 30, and ends on Christmas Eve (Dec 24). If Christmas Eve is a Sunday, it is counted as the fourth Sunday of Advent, with Christmas Eve proper beginning at sundown.

The Colors of Advent

Historically, the primary sanctuary color of Advent is Purple. This is the color of penitence and fasting as well as the color of royalty to welcome the Advent of the King. Purple is still used in some traditions (for example Roman Catholic). The purple of Advent is also the color of suffering used during Lent and Holy Week. This points to an important connection between Jesus’ birth and death. The nativity, the Incarnation, cannot be separated from the crucifixion. The purpose of Jesus’ coming into the world, of the "Word made flesh" and dwelling among us, is to reveal God and His grace to the world through Jesus’ life and teaching, but also through his suffering, death, and resurrection. To reflect this emphasis, originally Advent was a time of penitence and fasting, much as the Season of Lent and so shared the color of Lent.

In the four weeks of Advent the third Sunday came to be a time of rejoicing that the fasting was almost over (in some traditions it is called Gaudete Sunday, from the Latin word for "rejoice"). The shift from the purple of the Season to pink or rose for the third Sunday Advent candles reflected this lessening emphasis on penitence as attention turned more to celebration of the season.

In recent times, however, Advent has undergone a shift in emphasis, reflected in a change of colors used in many churches. Except in the Eastern churches, the penitential aspect of the Season has been almost totally replaced by an emphasis on hope and anticipation.

In many churches the third Sunday remains the Sunday of Joy marked by pink or rose. However, most Protestant churches now use blue to distinguish the Season of Advent from Lent. Royal Blue is sometimes used as a symbol of royalty. Some churches use Bright Blue to symbolize the night sky, the anticipation of the impending announcement of the King’s coming, or to symbolize the waters of Genesis 1, the beginning of a new creation. Some churches, including some Catholic churches, use blue violet to preserve the traditional use of purple while providing a visual distinction between the purple or red violet of Lent.

This does not eliminate any sense of penitence from the Season. With the focus on the Advent or Coming of Jesus, especially in anticipating His Second Advent, there remains a need for preparation for that coming. Most liturgical churches incorporate confessional prayers into the services of Advent that relate to a sense of unworthiness as we anticipate His Coming. It is appropriate even in more traditional services of worship to incorporate confessional prayers as part of the anticipation and preparation of the Season.

With the shift to blue for Advent in most non-Catholic churches, some churches retain pink among the Advent colors, but use it on the Fourth Sunday of Advent. It still remains associated with Joy, but is sometimes used as the climax of the Advent Season on the last Sunday before Christmas.

Red and Green are more secular colors of Christmas. Although they derive from older European practices of using evergreens and holly to symbolize ongoing life and hope that Christ’s birth brings into a cold world, they are never used as liturgical colors during Advent since those colors have other uses in other parts of the church year (see Colors of the Church Year).

The Meaning of "Advent"

The word Advent means "coming" or "arrival." The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent. Thus, Advent is far more than simply marking a 2,000 year old event in history. It is celebrating a truth about God, the revelation of God in Christ whereby all of creation might be reconciled to God. That is a process in which we now participate, and the consummation of which we anticipate. Scripture reading for Advent will reflect this emphasis on the Second Advent, including themes of accountability for faithfulness at His coming, judgment on sin, and the hope of eternal life.

In this double focus on past and future, Advent also symbolizes the spiritual journey of individuals and a congregation, as they affirm that Christ has come, that He is present in the world today, and that He will come again in power. That acknowledgment provides a basis for Kingdom ethics, for holy living arising from a profound sense that we live "between the times" and are called to be faithful stewards of what is entrusted to us as God’s people. So, as the church celebrates God’s inbreaking into history in the Incarnation, and anticipates a future consummation to that history for which "all creation is groaning awaiting its redemption," it also confesses its own responsibility as a people commissioned to "love the Lord your God with all your heart" and to "love your neighbor as yourself."

The Spirit of Advent

Advent is marked by a spirit of expectation, of anticipation, of preparation, of longing. There is a yearning for deliverance from the evils of the world, first expressed by Israelite slaves in Egypt as they cried out from their bitter oppression. It is the cry of those who have experienced the tyranny of injustice in a world under the curse of sin, and yet who have hope of deliverance by a God who has heard the cries of oppressed slaves and brought deliverance!

It is that hope, however faint at times, and that God, however distant He sometimes seems, which brings to the world the anticipation of a King who will rule with truth and justice and righteousness over His people and in His creation. It is that hope that once anticipated, and now anticipates anew, the reign of an Anointed One, a Messiah, who will bring peace and justice and righteousness to the world.

Part of the expectation also anticipates a judgment on sin and a calling of the world to accountability before God. We long for God to come and set the world right! Yet, as the prophet Amos warned, the expectation of a coming judgment at the "Day of the Lord" may not be the day of light that we might want, because the penetrating light of God’s judgment on sin will shine just as brightly on God’s people.

Because of this important truth, especially in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Season of Advent has been a time of fasting and penitence for sins similar to the Season of Lent. However, a different emphasis for the season of Advent has gradually unfolded in much of the rest of the church. The season of Advent has come to be celebrated more in terms of expectation or anticipation. Yet, the anticipation of the Coming of the Messiah throughout the Old Testament and Judaism was not in connection with remembrance of sins. Rather, it was in the context of oppression and injustice, the longing for redemption, not from personal guilt and sin but from the systemic evil of the world expressed in evil empires and tyrants. It is in that sense that all creation groans for its redemption as we witness the evil that so dominates our world (Rom 8:18-25).

Of course, there is the problem of longing for vindication from an evil world when we are contributors to that evil. This is the power of the images of Amos when he warns about longing for the "Day of the Lord" that will really be a day of darkness (Amos 5:18-20). Still, even with Amos’ warning the time of Advent is one of expectation and anticipation, a longing for God's actions to restore all things and vindicate the righteous. This is why during Advent we as Christians also anticipate the Second Coming as a twin theme of the season. So, while some church traditions focus on penitence during Advent, and there remains a place for that, the spirit of that expectation from the Old Testament is better captured with a joyous sense of expectancy. Rather than a time of mourning and fasting, Advent is celebrated as a time of joy and happiness as we await the coming of the King. (see Can We Sing Christmas Carols During Advent?)

There will be time enough during the rest of the journey through the Church Year to remember our sins. It begins in Epiphany when we hear about the brotherhood of the Kingdom, and realize our failure to effect it. Then as we move toward and through Lent we realize that the coming of Jesus served more to lay bare our own sin than it did to vindicate our righteousness. There will be time to shed Peter's bitter tears as we realize that what started with such possibility and expectation has apparently ended in such failure.

It is only as we experience that full cycle, beginning with unbridled joy in Advent that slowly fades into the realization of what we have done with and to the Christ, that the awful reality of Good Friday can have its full impact. And in that realization we can finally be ready to hear the Good News on Resurrection Sunday! That is the journey that the disciples took. And so there is value in taking the same journey beginning with the anticipation and joy of Advent!

So, we celebrate with gladness the great promise in the Advent, yet knowing that there is also a somber tone as the theme of threat is added to the theme of promise. This is reflected in some of the Scripture readings for Advent, in which there is a strong prophetic tone of accountability and judgment on sin. But this is also faithful to the role of the Coming King who comes to rule, save, and judge the world.

Because of the dual themes of threat and promise, Advent is a time of preparation that is marked by prayer. While Lent is characterized by fasting and a spirit of penitence, Advent’s prayers are prayers of humble devotion and commitment, prayers of submission, prayers for deliverance, prayers from those walking in darkness who are awaiting and anticipating a great light (Isa 9)!

The spirit of Advent is expressed well in the parable of the bridesmaids who are anxiously awaiting the coming of the Bridegroom (Matt 25:1-13). There is profound joy at the Bridegroom’s expected coming. And yet a warning of the need for preparation echoes through the parable. But even then, the prayer of Advent is still:

Come, O Come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel!

Evergreens and The Advent Wreath

The beginning of Advent is a time for the hanging of the green, decoration of the church with evergreen wreaths, boughs, or trees that help to symbolize the new and everlasting life brought through Jesus the Christ. Some churches have a special weekday service, or the first Sunday evening of Advent, or even the first Sunday morning of Advent, in which the church is decorated and the Advent wreath put in place. This service is most often primarily of music, especially choir and hand bells, and Scripture reading, along with an explanation of the various symbols as they are placed in the sanctuary.

The Advent wreath is an increasingly popular symbol of the beginning of the Church year in many churches as well as homes. It is a circular evergreen wreath (real or artificial) with five candles, four around the wreath and one in the center. Since the wreath is symbolic and a vehicle to tell the Christmas story, there are various ways to understand the symbolism. The exact meaning given to the various aspects of the wreath is not as important as the story to which it invites us to listen, and participate.

The circle of the wreath reminds us of God Himself, His eternity and endless mercy, which has no beginning or end. The green of the wreath speaks of the hope that we have in God, the hope of newness, of renewal, of eternal life. Candles symbolize the light of God coming into the world through the birth of His son. The four outer candles represent the period of waiting during the four Sundays of Advent, which themselves symbolize the four centuries of waiting between the prophet Malachi and the birth of Christ.

The colors of the candles vary with different traditions, but there are usually three purple or blue candles, corresponding to the sanctuary colors of Advent, and one pink or rose candle. One of the purple candles is lighted the first Sunday of Advent, a Scripture is read, a short devotional or reading is given, and a prayer offered. On subsequent Sundays, previous candles are relighted with an additional one lighted. The pink candle is usually lighted on the third Sunday of Advent. However, different churches or traditions light the pink candle on different Sundays depending on the symbolism used (see above on Colors of Advent). In Churches that use a Service of the Nativity, it is often lighted on the fourth Sunday of Advent, the final Sunday before Christmas.

The light of the candles itself becomes an important symbol of the season. The light reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world that comes into the darkness of our lives to bring newness, life, and hope. It also reminds us that we are called to be a light to the world as we reflect the light of God's grace to others (Isa 42:6). The progression in the lighting of the candles symbolizes the various aspects of our waiting experience. As the candles are lighted over the four week period, it also symbolizes the darkness of fear and hopelessness receding and the shadows of sin falling away as more and more light is shed into the world. The flame of each new candle reminds the worshippers that something is happening, and that more is yet to come. Finally, the light that has come into the world is plainly visible as the Christ candle is lighted at Christmas, and worshippers rejoice over the fact that the promise of long ago has been realized.

The first candle is traditionally the candle of Expectation or Hope (or in some traditions, Prophecy). This draws attention to the anticipation of the coming of an Anointed One, a Messiah, that weaves its way like a golden thread through Old Testament history. As God’s people were abused by power hungry kings, led astray by self-centered prophets, and lulled into apathy by half-hearted religious leaders, there arose a longing among some for God to raise up a new king who could show them how to be God’s people. They yearned for a return of God’s dynamic presence in their midst.

And so, God revealed to some of the prophets that indeed He would not leave His people without a true Shepherd. While they expected a new earthly king, their expectations fell far short of God’s revelation of Himself in Christ. And yet, the world is not yet fully redeemed. So, we again with expectation, with hope, await God’s new work in history, the second Advent, in which He will again reveal Himself to the world. And we understand in a profound sense that the best, the highest of our expectations will fall far short of what our Lord’s Second Advent will reveal!

The remaining three candles of Advent may be associated with different aspects of the Advent story in different churches, or even in different years. Usually they are organized around characters or themes as a way to unfold the story and direct attention to the celebrations and worship in the season. So, the sequence for the remaining three Sundays might be Bethlehem, Shepherds, Angels. Or Love, Joy, Peace. Or John the Baptist, Mary, the Magi. Or the Annunciation, Proclamation, Fulfillment. Whatever sequence is used, the Scripture readings, prayers, lighting of the candles, the participation of worshipers in the service, all are geared to unfolding the story of redemption through God’s grace in the Incarnation.

The third candle, usually for the Third Sunday of Advent, is traditionally Pink or Rose, and symbolizes Joy at the soon Advent of the Christ. It marks a shift from the more solemn tone of the first two Sundays of Advent that focus on Preparation and Hope, to a more joyous atmosphere of anticipation and expectancy. Sometimes the colors of the sanctuary and vestments are also changed to Rose for this Sunday. As noted above, in some churches the pink Advent candle is used on the fourth Sunday to mark the joy at the impending Nativity of Jesus.

Whatever sequence is adopted for these Sundays, the theme of Joy can still be the focus for the pink candle. For example, when using the third Sunday to commemorate the visit of the Magi the focus can be on the Joy of worshipping the new found King. Or the Shepherds as the symbol for the third Sunday brings to mind the joy of the proclamation made to them in the fields, and the adoration expressed as they knelt before the Child at the manager. If used on the fourth Sunday of Advent, it can symbolize the Joy in fulfilled hope.

The center candle is white and is called the Christ Candle. It is traditionally lighted on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. However, since many Protestant churches do not have services on those days, many light it on the Sunday preceding Christmas, with all five candles continuing to be lighted in services through Epiphany (Jan 6). The central location of the Christ Candle reminds us that the incarnation is the heart of the season, giving light to the world.

Celebrating Advent

Advent is one of the few Christian festivals that can be observed in the home as well as at church. In its association with Christmas, Advent is a natural time to involve children in activities at home that directly connect with worship at church. In the home an Advent wreath is often placed on the dining table and the candles lighted at meals, with Scripture readings preceding the lighting of the candles, especially on Sunday. A new candle is lighted each Sunday during the four weeks, and then the same candles are lighted each meal during the week. In this context, it provides the opportunity for family devotion and prayer together, and helps teach the Faith to children, especially if they are involved in reading the daily Scriptures.

It is common in many homes to try to mark the beginning of Advent in other ways as well, for the same purpose of instruction in the faith. Some families decorate the house for the beginning of Advent, or bake special cookies or treats, or simply begin to use table coverings for meals. An Advent Calendar is a way to keep children involved in the entire season. There are a wide variety of Advent calendars, but usually they are simply a card or poster with windows that can be opened, one each day of Advent, to reveal some symbol or picture associated with the Old Testament story leading up to the birth of Jesus. One unique and specialized Advent calendar that can be used either in the home or the sanctuary is a Jesse Tree. (We have available an online Advent calendar with devotionals for each day of Advent as well as Christmas through Epiphany Day: NazNet's Advent and Christmas Celebration). All of these provide opportunities to teach children the significance of this sacred time, and to remind ourselves of it as well.

In congregational worship, the Advent wreath is the central teaching symbol of the season, the focal point for drawing the congregation into the beginning of the story of redemption that will unfold throughout the church year. For this reason, members of the congregation are often involved in lighting the Advent candles and reading the appropriate Scriptures each Sunday. While in some churches it is customary for this to be done by families, it can also be an especially good opportunity to demonstrate the unity of the entire community of Faith by including those without families, such as those never married, divorced, widowed, elderly who live by themselves, or college students away from home.

Small Things and Possibility: An Advent Reflection

We live in a world in which bigger and better define our expectations for much of life. We have become so enamored by super size, super stars, and high definition that we tend to view life through a lens that so magnifies what we expect out of the world that we tend not to see potential in small things. But as the prophet Zechariah reminds us (Zech 4:10), we should not "despise the day of small things," because God does some of his best work with small beginnings and impossible situations.

It is truly a humbling experience to read back through the Old Testament and see how frail and imperfect all the "heroes" actually are. Abraham, the coward who cannot believe the promise. Jacob, the cheat who struggles with everybody. Joseph, the immature and arrogant teen. Moses, the impatient murderer who cannot wait for God. Gideon, the cowardly Baal-worshipper. Samson, the womanizing drunk. David, the power abusing adulterer. Solomon, the unwise wise man. Hezekiah, the reforming king who could not quite go far enough. And finally, a very young Jewish girl from a small village in a remote corner of a great empire.

It never ceases to amaze me that God often begins with small things and inadequate people. It certainly seems that God could have chosen "bigger" things and "better" people to do His work in the world. Yet if God can use them, and reveal Himself through them in such marvelous ways, it means that He might be able to use me, inadequate, and unwise, and too often lacking in faith that I am. And it means that I need to be careful that I do not in my own self-righteousness put limits on what God can do with the smallest things, the most unlikely of people, in the most hopeless of circumstances. I think that is part of the wonder of the Advent Season.

I am convinced that one of the main purposes of the incarnation of Jesus was to provide hope. While most people today want to talk about the death of Jesus and the Atonement of sins, the early Church celebrated the Resurrection and the hope it embodied. It was a proclamation of a truth that rang throughout the Old Testament, that endings are not always endings but are opportunities for God to bring new beginnings. The Resurrection proclaimed that truth even about humanity’s greatest fear, death itself.

Both the season of Advent and the season of Lent are about hope. It is not just hope for a better day or hope for the lessening of pain and suffering, although that is certainly a significant part of it. It is more about hope that human existence has meaning and possibility beyond our present experiences, a hope that the limits of our lives are not nearly as narrow as we experience them to be. It is not that we have possibility in ourselves, but that God is a God of new things and so all things are possible (Isa 42:9, Mt 19:26, Mk 14:36)

God's people in the first century wanted Him to come and change their oppressive circumstances, and were angry when those immediate circumstances did not change. But that is a short sighted view of the nature of hope. Our hope cannot be in circumstances, no matter how badly we want them or how important they are to us. The reality of human existence, with which the Book of Job struggles, is that God's people experience that physical existence in the same way that others do. Christians get sick and die, Christians are victims of violent crimes, and Christians are hurt and killed in traffic accidents, bombings, war, and in some parts of the world, famine (see The Problem of Natural Evil).

If our hope is only in our circumstances, as we define them to be good or as we want them to be to make us happy, we will always be disappointed. That is why we hope, not in circumstances, but in God. He has continually, over the span of four thousand years, revealed himself to be a God of newness, of possibility, of redemption, the recovery or transformation of possibility from endings that goes beyond what we can think or even imagine (Eph 3:2). The best example of that is the crucifixion itself, followed by the resurrection. That shadow of the cross falls even over the manger.

Yet, it all begins in the hope that God will come and come again into our world to reveal himself as a God of newness, of possibility, a God of new things. This time of year we contemplate that hope embodied, enfleshed, incarnated, in a newborn baby, the perfect example of newness, potential, and possibility. During Advent, we groan and long for that newness with the hope, the expectation, indeed the faith, that God will once again be faithful to see our circumstances, to hear our cries, to know our longings for a better world and a whole life (Ex 3:7). And we hope that as he first came as an infant, so he will come again as King! (See The Second Coming)

My experience tells me that those who have suffered and still hope understand far more about God and about life than those who have not. Maybe that is what hope is about: a way to live, not just to survive, but to live authentically amidst all the problems of life with a Faith that continues to see possibility when there is no present evidence of it, just because God is God. That is also the wonder of Advent.

Music for Advent

Traditional Songs for Advent

(Full lyrics for these can be found at various places online, such as The Cyber Hymnal™)

Christ, whose glory fills the skies

Come, thou long expected Jesus

Comfort, comfort ye, my people

Creator of the stars of night

Day of wrath! O day of mourning, Part 1 (English translation of Dies Irae)

Go, labor on! Spend and be spent

Hark! A thrilling voice is sounding (English translation of Vox clara ecce intonat)

Hark! The glad sound

Hark! The voice eternal

High o'er the lonely hills

Hosanna to the living Lord (for the first Sunday of Advent)

Let all mortal flesh keep silent (English translation of Σιγησάτο παρα σαρξ βροτεία)

Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates (for the first Sunday of Advent; two versions)

Lift up your heads, rejoice (for the third Sunday of Advent)

Light of those whose dreary dwelling

Little children, Advent bids you (for the fourth Sunday of Advent; Second Advent)

Lo! He comes, with clouds descending

Lord Christ, when first thou came to men (two versions)

O Come, Divine Messiah

O come, O come, Emmanuel! (English translation of Veni, veni Emanuel)

O Day of God, draw nigh

O North, with all thy vales of green

O very God of very God

O Savior, rend the heavens wide

O Word, that goest forth on high

On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry

Rejoice, rejoice, believers!

Savior of the nations, come! (English translation of Veni Redemptor gentium)

Sleepers, wake!

The advent of our King

The day is surely drawing near (for the fourth Sunday of Advent; Second Advent)

The King shall come when morning dawns

The Lord will come and not be slow

The world is very evil (English Translation of Hora novissima)

Thy kingdom come! on bended knee

Thy kingdom come, O God

Wake, awake, for night is flying

Watchman, tell us of the night

When shades of night around us close

Modern and Contemporary Songs for Advent

(Full lyrics for some of these can be found at various places online, such as The Cyber Hymnal™; others are fully copyrighted and can be obtained only from publishers)

At the coming of the Lord

Be Immanuel in me

Before the starry universe

Breath of heaven (for the fourth Sunday of Advent)

Child of wondrous love

Come, our Lord (also a song for Eucharist)

From David's city

Have mercy

Hear the prophets talking

I need a silent night (for the third or fourth Sunday of Advent)

Immanuel, Immanuel

Light a candle

People look east

Prayer for God's presence

Prepare us

The Advent candle shines with hope

There's a voice in the wilderness crying

This is my song (tune Finlandia; for the fourth Sunday of Advent)

To a maid engaged to Joseph (for the third or fourth Sunday of Advent)

Veiled in darkness Judah lay (for the fourth Sunday of Advent)

We have a hope

Welcome to our world (for the fourth Sunday of Advent)

When will the Savior come?

Advent Songs Sung to Christmas Tunes

(Full lyrics for these can be found at various places online, such as The Cyber Hymnal™)

The King shall come when morning dawns (using tune Antioch, Joy to the World)

Watchman, tell us of the night (using tune Mendelssohn, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing)

The people that in darkness sat (using tune Christmas, While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks)

Lo, He comes with clouds descending (using tune Regent Square, Angels from the Realms of Glory)

Of the Father's love begotten (using tune W Zlobie Lezy, Infant Holy, Infant Lowly)

Instrumental

(Music and arrangement scores for these are fully copyrighted and can be obtained only from publishers)

Gabriel's Oboe

-Dennis Bratcher Copyright © 2010, Dennis Bratcher All Rights Reserved
See Copyright and User Information Notice

Bits and Bytes with the Bagleys

~ Bits & Bytes for Bagley Backers - November 2010 ~
Wesleyan Bible Colleges in Africa The Wesleyan Church in Africa operates six Bible colleges located in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Congo, Zambia, Swaziland, and Mozambique. These colleges serve as the cornerstone of the church's efforts to equip men and women for ministry in the church. This past month we had the privilege to attend the annual graduations at Emmanuel Wesleyan Bible College in Swaziland and Xai Xai Bible College in Mozambique. The role of the Bible colleges in the development of the African church is more critical than ever. With the rapid growth of the church in Africa currently being experienced the need for well-trained theologically-sound leaders is greater than ever. Even though great things are being accomplished, our schools face very significant challenges. Consider the following: This past month 9 students graduated from Xai Xai Bible College and 8 from Emmanuel Wesleyan Bible College. In the past seven years over 100 students have graduated from Xai Xai Bible College and are actively serving in ministry. Pilgrim Wesleyan Bible College (Zambia) has a record enrollment of 32 this year. (Recent PWBC graduate Evariste Mazeaza and his family from Congo are in the photo at the top of this newsletter.) Faculte Wesleyenne de Theologie (Congo) has no classrooms or library, but meets in a church and has two faculty members with earned doctorates in theology. They have an enrollment of 11 students. The facilities of Gbendembu Wesleyan Bible College (Sierra Leone) were heavily damaged in the civil war and are in the process of being rebuilt by the church. The Wesleyan Bible College of Liberia is working to build a multi-story building in Monrovia to house its classrooms, offices and library. Faculty at over half of the colleges failed to receive their salary at some point this past year because of budgetary shortfalls. All of the colleges are under African leadership, though there are GP missionaries at three schools (PWBC, EWBC, and Xai Xai). In This Issue Wesleyan Bible Colleges in Africa Growth Continues in Mozambique Prayer Requests Praise Points Our Event Calendar Support Team Forward to a Friend Our Event Calendar Nov. 21 -- Truro, NS - Central Nova Wesleyan Church Nov. 28 -- Maple Ridge, NB - Maple Ridge Wesleyan Church Dec. 5 -- Fort Fairfield, ME - Community Wesleyan Church Jan. 4-7 -- Jacksonville, FL - The Gathering Jan. 7-8 -- Jacksonville, FL - Leadership Council Jan. 16 (PM) -- Pickens, SC - Pickens View Wesleyan Church Jan. 23 -- Hillsborough, NC - Hillsborough Wesleyan Church Jan. 29-30 -- Painted Post, NY - Victory Highway Wesleyan Church Feb. 3 -- Departure for South Africa Support Team We are very grateful for all who have made a commitment to become part of our regular prayer and/or financial support team. If you haven't done so, you can join the team by clicking the link below. Thanks! Forward to a Friend You can help us by forwarding "Bits & Bytes" to friends who will be interested in the work of Global Partners in Africa. Just click on the link below. Friends who receive the email will also be given an opportunity to sign up to receive it in the future. Forward this message to a friend An easy to print version of this email can be found here. Growth Continues in Mozambique At the Xai Xai Bible College graduation Mozambique National Superintendent Graca Nhathelo made an impassioned plea to the graduates to back up their theological training with holy living as they assume their posts of ministry. "Your education means nothing, if the truth is not demonstrated in the way you live," he told them. Rev. Nhathelo also spoke briefly of the continued growth of the church in Mozambique. The national board had set a goal of planting the Wesleyan Church in all ten provinces of Mozambique and made plans to do so. Five years ago they sent two young missionary church planters to Nampula province and in those five years have planted 33 churches. (GP missionaries, Jim & Karen Pickett, were sent to assist the Mozambican church in this outreach.) Long range plans included ministry to Niasa province, but it happened much sooner than planned. Several converts in Nampula were young men from Niasa who had come to Nampula looking for work. Following their conversion they returned home and this past month Rev. Nhatehlo and missionary Orai Lehman visited six churches the young converts have planted in their home province. In Matthew 16:16, Jesus said, "I will build my church . . . " and He is continuing to do so in Mozambique. Graca Nhathelo makes a point at graduation and later chats with Bob. Prayer Requests Please help us pray for the following needs: Pray for the recent graduates from our colleges that God will help them as they transition into ministry roles and that their ministry will bear much fruit. Please pray that God will give Rev. Graca Nhathelo and the national board of Mozambique strength and wisdom as they give leadership to the rapidly growing church in their country. Please pray for the staff of our Bible colleges as they look for ways to enable our schools to be financially stable and that they will have courage to take initiative to address pressing issues. We will be in North America for three months before we head back to Africa. Please pray that God will help us to make the connections we need to make during this time and that He will help us find the remaining amount of faith promises we need before we are deployed. All our missionary staff at Zimba Mission Hospital in Zambia are scheduled to come home for home ministries in the coming year. Pray for God's help in provision as we look for ways to cover the bases in their absence. Praise Points Thank you for praying that our daughter Tracy would find employment. She is now working at Walmart, and although it is not her ideal job, she is receiving a pay check again. Tickets have been purchased for us to return to Africa in February and our schedule for our time on the field is already getting filled up. Praise God for faithful and sacrificial supporters whose giving has helped make our deployment a reality. Praise God for a dedicated team of Africans and missionaries working sacrificially at our African Bible colleges. Their ministry is multiplied many times over as their students go out into their places of ministry.
Bob & Brenda Bagley | rbagley112@gmail.com

Simos Family Ministry Update

Giving Thanks... During this Thanksgiving season, we are truly thankful and amazed at how God has worked. We sold our business, Josh transitioned to being home full time, Toni took on a job outside of the home, sold our house, found an amazing house to rent, sold a vehicle, God provided us with another vehicle and God has provided us with 55% in pledges from people like you! Plus, we are thankful for God's blessing of health! Wow! That's a lot of reasons to be thankful! We are so humbled to be used by God in this ministry. We hope to be at 75% by January 2011 which would allow Toni to be home and keep us on target for departure June 2011. Please join us in prayer for this departure date. We also need others who will stand with us. Please contact us if you are able and willing to partner with us by pledging financial support. We are so thankful for you, our brothers & sisters in Christ who make it possible for us to go! You mean so much to us! Kinsey @ FCA Elle @ Recess Well actually; Elle hasn't had recess lately, she's not been playing outside anyway. We found out a couple of weeks ago from her teacher that Elle was volunteering to stay in during her recesses to help with the special needs children at her school. She loves it! Gabe @ Church :) Gabe has been a real trooper! Always listening when I'm speaking at various churches (no matter how many times he's heard it), but certainly always happy when we're back at our home church where he can be with his friends.

Thank You Partners! click to Donate now Freedom Intl Ministries Team Update The Hilgemans are living in Santiago, learning Spanish and preparing to move to San Pedro in June 2011. They will begin Village Ministry in July 2011. The Mitcheners, now a family of 3 with new baby Noah!, are busy with deputation in Virginia. Summer 2011 Mission Trips As mentioned, the Hilgemans will begin Village Ministry after arriving in San Pedro. Village Ministry will start with 10 weeks of a VBS-like ministry starting the first week of July and running thru the first week of September. We need teams to fill those 10 weeks to assist in this ministry. Please contact us if you are interested in more information. Fun note: Like a Rock! Our ol' Chevy Astro Van is still going! 1/4 million miles and counting!! (funnier yet, it registers 100 mph) We truly thank God for keeping our vehicles running! www.itisforfredom.com JoshSimos@itisforfreedom.com ToniSimos@itisforfreedom.com

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Hanging of the Greens

Boonville Wesleyan Church will be having our annual "Hanging of the Greens" service Sunday November 28th at 5:00PM. Come and enjoy special music and readings on the first Sunday of Advent.

The theme of readings and teachings during Advent is often to prepare for the Second Coming
while commemorating the First Coming of Christ at Christmas. With the
view of directing the thoughts of Christians to the first coming of
Jesus Christ as savior and to his second coming as judge, special
readings are prescribed ...for each of the four Sundays in Advent.

“‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah. “‘In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land. ...The LORD Our Righteous Savior."-Jeremiah 33: 14-16 NIV

Weekly News...

Mark Vice-5:00PM Sunday November 21, 2010 Boonville Wesleyan Church A Message from Mark Vice: "I have been involved with music ministry for over twenty years and have had the opportunity to sing alongside such groups as J.D. Sumner and the Stamps, The Kingsmen Quartet and others. Beginning in the mid 80`s I began playing and singing with a group out of Bedford, Indiana, New Grace Quartet. During my time with New Grace, I learned to play several instruments. In the mid 90`s my wife and I formed a group, Heritage, with another couple Doug and Trina Hanner and played a variety of gospel music. For the last five years I have been playing and singing with Open Heart Ministries out of Bedford, Indiana. We schedule approximately seventy engagements each year at churches, town festivals and special church events. While with Open Heart I felt a calling to pursue a ministry that would allow me to use the talents God has given me in an even greater way to glorify Him. As a result, I am actively involved with scheduling churches and civic events to spread God`s word through song. I play a variety of instruments and incorporate many of them into each service. Some of the instruments I play are guitar, banjo, dobro, harmonica, mandolin and fiddle. I sing original material as well as the well known standards in several styles of music from Southern Gospel to Contemporary. Since I travel solo, and at times my wife and daughter accompany me, I must utilize tracks. However, I understand the need to incorporate live instruments throughout the program, and do so. I am educator in Bedford, Indiana and have been working with children for twenty-two years. I was a classroom teacher for six years and have been a building principal for the last sixteen years. I am currently the principal at Parkview Intermediate School in Bedford, IN. My wife, Marta, teaches fourth grade at Shawswick Elementary and we have been married for thirty-three years. We have two children, Jordan a senior at Wabash College and Morgan a freshman at Bedford North Lawrence High School. We attend Davis Memorial Church of the Nazarene in Bedford IN. Throughout my professional career, and personal life, I have come to understand that every person has the responsibility to lift others up. It was through the obedience to do God's Will that others lifted and guided me in finding and accepting Jesus as my personal Savior. Each of us in our own way may be the only hope, joy, and love others may encounter. As Jesus demonstrated these attributes during His short time on earth, He has called us to do the same. Through the message in song, it is hoped that all will be encouraged to pursue a life that reflects the love of our Lord and lets the world see Jesus in each of us." Yours In Christ, Mark

Weekly News...

• Sunday November 21th-Mark Vice (Formerly of Open Heart)-5:00PM Service
• Nutrition Class: Monday November 22th: 6:30PM
  
• Saturday November 27th-Penny Williams/John Sutton Wedding-2:00PM
  
• Sunday November 28th-"Hanging of the Greens"-5:00PM Service
  
• Sunday December 5th-2:00PM-Christmas Parade
• Sunday December 12th-Annual Christmas Carry-In Dinner
• Happy Birthday:Henry Lunenburg & Bill Johnson (11/15) -Mike Mullen(11/16)
• Happy Anniversary: Jeff & Shari Knirs-Ray and Ruby Woolsey
• Wednesdays at Woodmont: 6:30PM
• Sunday Night Prayer Service: 6:00PM after Evening Worship (Sue Lochmueller)
  

Weekly News...

• Sunday November 14th-Hoosier Harmony Quartet-5:00PM Service
• Sunday November 21th-Mark Vice-5:00PM Service
  
• Sunday November 28th-"Hanging of the Greens"-5:00PM Service

We appreciated and were enriched by the testimony of the Josh and Toni Simos family as they shared about their ministry and upcoming missions work in the Dominican Republic.

"What do These Stones Mean?"

Guest Sermon by

Rev. Robert D. Shofner, Jr.

Senior Pastor

St. John's UCC Boonville

1860-2010-Celebrating 150 Years

Supper was late that night because they had stayed in the fields until it was dark to finish getting in the grain. When at last they sat down to eat, Father first said a prayer of thanks to God for the good harvest. They were all hungry and tired after their long day's work, but even after they had eaten, they lingered well past the children's bedtime, all of them together enjoying the comfortable feeling of a job well done.

The little one's eyes drifted shut at last, and even the ten year old twins, Amos and Asaph, were trying to keep from yawning. Father stood up briskly; "Off to bed! All of you, at once!" he cried. "You need your sleep. Tomorrow we are going to take a little trip."

Immediately, all three children were wide awake! "Where? Where?" chorused the twins. And little Rachel begged, "Can I go, too?" Father smiled. He picked up Rachel and carried her to bed. "Yes, little one," he answered, "we are all going." "Where? Tell us where," the boys yammered. And their father replied, "We are going to Gilgal. There is something there I want you children to see." "What is there to see in Gilgal?" Amos asked. Father looked mysterious. "In Gilgal," he told them, "there is a pile of rocks." The children stared at him. "What's so great about a pile of rcoks? We've got plenty of those in our own fields." But Father wouldn't say any more. "You will see," he answered in that maddening way of a parent, "when we get there." And with that the children had to be content.

The next morning Mother packed a simple lunch. The boys walked proudly at their father's side, but the little one raced around them in excited circles until at last Father picked her up and set her on his shoulder. Long before they actually arrived, they could hear a rushing noise in the distance. "What's that?" Amos asked. And Father answered, "It's the river." The river? There were streams near their own fields which they used for water, but none of them made a noise like that!

And then, unexpectedly, Father announced, "We are here!" The boys looked around, disappointed. It was exactly as their father had said. Just a dumb old pile of rocks! But they were near enough to the river now to see the green ribbon of the valley, and the spray which the water flung into the air from the rapids, and the sound of its passing was a roar in their ears. "I still don't see why we came all this way to look at a pile of dumb old rocks," Asaph complained. "But that river ... now, that's worth looking at!"

"That is exactly why we came, "Father admonished. "These rocks came from the bottom of that river." The boys stared in disbelief. "But how?" Asaph asked. And Amos tried to explain, "Maybe in the dry season a strong swimmer could dive to the bottom?" "It was not the dry season," their father began. "It was just about this time of the year. Sit down, and I will tell you all about it." And they all sat down, and Mother spread out the bread and cheese and fruit she had packed. Father asked the blessing and then, as they ate, he told them the story.

"It all happened before I was born. When I was about your age," he smiled at the twins, "my father brought me here on just such a day as this, and that is how I know the story."

"Our people were all camped on the other side, and this noisy, dangerous water was between them and the land God had promised to give to them. But, you'll someday learn, it is often when things seem desperate that our God displays His power most wonderfully! Anyway, Joshua was the new leader, for Moses, as you have been told before, had died on the other side of the river. Joshua called the priests. And he said to them, 'Take the ark of God, and go before the people, and step into the river.' The priests lifted up God's holy ark to their shoulders. They looked at the wild, rushing waters, and then they stepped into it!"

"Wow! That took some nerve," the boys exclaimed.

Father shook his head. "Not nerve, my sons. It took faith in God! For the ark is the place where God lives among His people. And so it was not really the priests who were leading the people. It was God Himself! The priests stepped into the water. And at that very instant the water stopped rushing past the camp. It piled up in a high wall above them! A dry path lay open ahead!"

The children listened with wide-opened eyes. "Even the water obeys God," Asaph whispered.

"Yes," Father replied. "He is the God of all the earth!" He continued with the story. "The priests went to the middle of the river bed. They stood there holding the Ark of the Covenant. And all that great crowd of people hurried across to the other side!

"Then Joshua chose 12 men, one from each of the 12 tribes. 'Go down to the river bed,' he told them, 'and each of you pick a large rock and carry it back here.' And so one man from each of the 12 tribes of Israel carried a rock up from the river's bottom. And that night Joshua set them up here at Gilgal."

The children turned to stare with new found wonder and respect at the pile of stones.

"Yes, my children, those are the very same rocks," Father told them. "And then, after everyone had crossed safely, at last the priests carrying the Ark crossed too. And as soon as the Ark of God was lifted up to this shore, the river returned to its bed and rushed down as before, just as you here it today!"

"Someday," Father went on, "you will have children of your own. And when your children are old enough to understand, you must bring them here, just as I have brought you, and as my father brought me! And then you must show them these rocks, and tell them about the power and loving care of our God, so that they, too, can learn to trust in the promises of God!"

Quite a story. But let me tell you another one.

“And on they came.” German immigrants of various Protestant faiths settled in the Mississippi valleys in the early 19^th century. Like the Hebrews before them, they came in search of a land, a land that promised prosperity, and freedom from fear and tyranny. A church-minded people, they soon organized places of worship to honor their God. But it was not easy. Many obstacles stood in their way, like the mighty rushing waters of the Jordan River stood in the way of the Hebrews so long ago. The words of our history offer this praise: “Just when the waves of misfortune seem to overwhelm them, over the crest they would come, frantically fighting seemingly insurmountable odds for that which they loved, their church.” On November 4, 1860, this congregation, The German Evangelical St. John’s Church, was born.

Throughout the past century and a half, the people strove to keep the church an active setting for ministry and service. They also paused to celebrate their past and to look to the future, just as we are doing today. By the 25^th anniversary, the people were gathered in a solid, brick sanctuary on this site. The 50^th anniversary was celebrated with the dedication of a new pipe organ. The 75^th was noted for many improvements to the property. The 80^th marked the adoption of a new name – St. John’s Evangelical and Reformed Church; which was changed in the 1950’s to reflect the birth of a new denomination, the United Church of Christ. The 90^th was celebrated by the laying of the cornerstone of the new St. John’s of the future, built on the same cornerstone of the original sanctuary.

By the 100^th anniversary, a new parsonage was completed and dedicated. The 110^th anniversary was marked by the completion of the new Christian Education building.

All these improvements to the property served one purpose, to house the many and varied ministries of St. John’s. Throughout the centuries the people of God have been active and busy serving the needs of this community and the world beyond. In the words of our 125^th anniversary celebration:

“Let the memory of past achievements urge us to greater accomplishments in the future. Our church was built on solid ground … through hardships, through war, through sorrow and suffering, our church has stood firm. Its light has been a guiding influence that has gone into hundreds of homes, into offices, schools and shops, wherever its members have tried to follow Christ’s way of life.”

And now we celebrate our 150^th anniversary. Our history has been added to, reflecting the costs and joys of faithful discipleship. In the words of that additional narrative: “Weddings and funerals, celebration and renewal, the life of St. John’s continues into the new decade. As we approach our 200^th anniversary, our congregation looks forward to new challenges as we negotiate the ups and downs of life in a Christian community. Our faith sustains us – as the t-shirt that many of our members wear during St. John’s activities says, ‘It’s a faith thing.’”

So today we gather to celebrate. Why? Lest we forget. Forget what? All the hard work our foreparents invested in this church? No. Lest we forget that it is by God’s grace and provision we are even here today.

Returning to our first narrative from the Book of Joshua, the nation was commanded to set stones as a memorial. There were three specific reasons for doing so.

First, the generation that was entering the land to conquer it needed a memorial, because the road ahead would be hard and there would be times when they would become discouraged. When they returned to the place of the stones, they would be reminded of the power and faithfulness of God.

Second, the generations to come would need the memorial, since children easily forget the faith and instruction of their parents.

Third, the people of the world needed the memorial as a testimony to the existence and nature of the one true God.

We gather here today for the same task. This sanctuary stands as a memorial for those who have gone before, for us today, and for our children’s children tomorrow. Those hardy immigrants who came to this Promised Land faced a rough and difficult road. Yet they trusted in the provision and promise of a faithful God, and as a result, “truly they did not bury the talent which the Lord had given them; rather they ‘builded better than they knew.’” And that which they built served to remind them of the faithfulness of the true God.

For us gathered today, this sanctuary stands as a memorial that we may tell our children of God’s mighty acts in our past history so that our children might not forget and might remain faithful to our God.

For the people of our community and the world beyond, this sanctuary stands as a testimony to God’s power and blessing, for it is from these walls that the people of His church reach out to help and nurture and sustain those in need, that our good works done in the name of Jesus Christ will shine among persons, that they will give thanks and glory to our God.

At the meeting place called Gilgal, the Hebrews consecrated themselves through reenacting the covenant signs of circumcision and the Passover. It was utter folly, in the eyes of the world, for them to incapacitate themselves while surrounded by enemies, but the wisdom of God is not like human wisdom, and it was far more important that the hearts of the people be right with God.

And so it is with us today. God wants our hearts to be right with Him, and with one another. Now it is time for our own re-consecration. In our celebration, we are called upon to reaffirm the covenant we have with our God and with each another. We are invited to the sacrament of the Lord’s Table in remembrance of all that God, through Christ, has graciously done for us.

At Gilgal the people were to remember God’s covenant, promises, and past acts of deliverance, in order that they might live as God’s people in the days that lay ahead.

Today we learn the same lesson. As we reflect upon our church’s past, as we take in the beauty of this holy space, we want to learn that what we do is important. But what we are is more important still. And we are God’s people, doing God’s work. “With God’s help we can light candles of kindness and goodwill. We can dream great dreams and work toward the fulfillment of our dreams. With the light of our church and of God’s love to guide us, we can look to the future with hope and confidence.” It is indeed, above all else, “a faith thing.”

Let us pray.

Gracious and faithful God, we thank You that You have called out men and women to be Your people in this community. We thank You for the past faith and efforts of those who have gone before us, and we thank You for this time to remember, for it is indeed a goodly heritage we enjoy.

Speak to our hearts and minds, and may Your Holy Spirit guide us to rededicate our lives this day, giving honor to our past, trusting in Your provision for the future, and bringing all glory to You, O Lord and God.

And the people said, “Amen.”

Moral Awareness Sunday

Oct. 27, 2010

The Wisdom writer said, “Godliness makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Prov. 14:34 NLT). John Wesley applied that truth to the principle of morality when he said, “True Christianity cannot exist without both the inward experience and outward practice of justice, mercy, and truth; and this alone is genuine morality.”

In the 2009 State of the Church, The Wesleyan Church’s Board of General Superintendents said, “It is impossible to calculate the impact Wesleyans have as ‘salt’ and ‘light’ in the world. But we are in the midst of a surge of fresh concern for expressing faith in public life . . . .” Wesleyans are urged to remember their calling to serve this present age. How: First, by being aware of the creeping influence of immorality, and second, by committing themselves to rejecting a worldview that does not reflect the standards God’s Word.

Reformation Sunday, October 31, offers Wesleyan churches an ideal time to take their own stand against the trends of the age. Like Luther, we stand before a culture that has, in many ways, departed from the Judeo-Christian beliefs upon which our nation was founded. October 31 is Reformation Sunday, commemorating Martin Luther’s posting of his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg Church.

1. Call attention to the meaning of Reformation Sunday.

2. Invite the congregation to prayer for spiritual renewal and transformation.

3. Include the Moral Awareness video clip in your worship service.

4. Pray for the leadership of your nation, your region, your church, and Wesleyan ministries worldwide.

View video on Moral Awareness

Quotes from the Past...

"But a Constitution of Government once changed from
Freedom, can be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever." ~ John Adams, letter to Abigail Adams, July 15, 1776