One of the most peculiar things for me to subscribe to when I became Lutheran was the liturgy and the church calendar.  I’ve been in a liturgical church for five years  and I’m just now starting to really anticipate the rhythm and the meaning of it.  In some ways, it seems simple and straight forward but then it’s also rich, complex  and layered with the purpose of focusing on the gospel of Christ.   By following a set calendar and lectionary, the scriptures are covered in a systematic way, with the life and cross of Jesus at its’ center.

The time of Advent,  that begins today, is a time of prayerful, repentant and  joyous  waiting.

We wait for our Lord to come.

The waiting itself  implies our desperation.  We need Him so desperately to come to us.

We sit in the darkness of our sin with no hope of saving ourselves.

He must come to us for we are unable and unwilling to come to Him.

But the waiting is also joyous.   We  anticipate the coming of our Lord as He comes to us in our past, present and future.

He has come, in His very incarnation, as the tiny baby in the manger, eager to grow in the nurture and will of His Father.

He comes to us today, in the Word and Sacraments, as He feeds us on Himself, the very Bread of life, forgiving us our sins and giving us hope and salvation.

He will come again, on the last day, to take His bride home to heaven.

The season of Advent teaches us to wait, to yearn, to remember what it was like to live in darkness and to remember that we are helpless on our own.

We are desperate for the One who comes.

We pray:

Gracious Lord and Savior,

Come to us today and  meet us in our need.

Come to us in love and forgiveness as we confess before You our utter hopelessness.

Come to us with Your abundant mercy and love, which we neither deserve nor can merit.

Come and do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

We wait.   We hope.   We bring our sin and brokenness.   We wait for Life.

We wait for You to come.

You alone part the Red Sea and drown our sins in the waters of Holy Baptism.

You alone make manna fall from heaven and feed us life-giving Bread.

You alone speak life-giving Words of mercy.

Come to us today.   For You alone we wait.

Come, Lord Jesus.

This year, due to space limitations, our Jesse Tree is made of ribbons, to which we will add our ornaments daily as we read the corresponding Old Testament stories corresponding to those ‘ancestors’ in Christ’s family tree (Ann Voskamps’ Jesse Tree Journey contains printable ornaments).     We light one candle of our Advent wreath for each Sunday in Advent and then light our  Christ Candle on Christmas Eve.

our Jesse Tree and Advent wreath

Last year, I used this Jesse Tree Book, which was perfect for the ages of my girls.   But I wanted something with more depth this year, something like the iphone app I found last year, which is a wonderful collection of readings, prayers, hymns and sacred artwork.   Pastor Scott Ryll is the author/compiler of this wonderful resource, which I posted about last year.    I’ve printed it  and plan to use it along with Ann Voskamp’s  wonderful {and free} pdf file of the Jesse Tree Journey.   Thank you sweet Ann, for your gift to us.   I’ve printed these two resources and will compile them into a notebook to use year after year.

If you are new to the liturgical calendar, this Issues, Etc podcast is incredibly helpful.    For more information on Advent, you’ll find this podcast helpful.

Reading for the first Sunday in Advent from the Advent blog.  Church calendar can be purchased here.

Blessed Advent to you all.