New Beginnings

This is yet another attempt to be better about letting people know what is going on in life, the universe, and everything.  It's a bit of an open journal, so some things will be interesting and well written, and other things not so much.  I'm leaving this open to anyone and everyone to find, so we will see if anyone follows it. 

And yes I realize that my grammar is often quite atrocious.   

--Bill

O come, O come, Emmanuel – A Prayer for the Future

Advent (from the Latin word adventus meaning "coming") is the season of looking forward and preparing for the coming of the “Babe of Bethlehem” with was called “Emmanuel” which means “God with Us”.  We adorn the church in blue as a symbol of hope, looking forward to the future.  This coming that we are looking for is not just the simple remembrance of that first Christmas morn that our savior entered the world; instead it is the second coming of Christ from heaven to bring life eternal to all believers and putting an end to all earthly strife. 

Right now looking forward in hope is difficult if we focus too much on the troubles of the world.  There is a lot of conflict in the political and economic realms, and it does not look like these conflicts are going to be resolved anytime soon.  The result of sin entering into the world was a broken world that is not able to find peace only sorrow.  As the church then we take up the blue banners of advent and stride forward knowing that even as we walk forward into great tribulation, we have the Lord of Life with us at all times.

This advent season’s theme uses the great hymn of advent “O come, O come, Emmanuel” and the Epistle lesson for each week and focusing on the church in prayer.  We renew our prayer for the one “God with Us” because this earthly life is too much for us to bear on our own.  Each week we will look at how God hears our prayers for Wisdom, our prayers for Life, and our Prayers for Answered Prayers.  We can pray all these things in confidence because Christ has already come and will come again.

God's Blessings,

Vicar Shupe

It’s not Christmas yet!

Already I have been witnessing Christmas decorations going up in the stores, and all I can think of is, “ITS NOT CHRISTMAS YET”. Thanksgiving and advent haven’t even come yet.  Thanksgiving was plenty early for me as a kid to get all excited about Christmas, and now stores are trying to make up for more conservative shoppers by pummeling them with Christmas shopping before they have even had a chance to buy after Halloween candy at half price.  It is no wonder that the message of Christmas is being lost in the hustle and bustle of Christmas preparation. 

This is what makes observing the church year so valuable, because it gives the year a structure that is centered on Jesus’ life and his teachings.  Each season contains a different focus that emphasizes a different part of his life or teaching that provides a full look at who Jesus is over the course of a year.  Even Advent, which comes before Jesus’ birth in the church year, helps us to understand Jesus’ life through the stories of John the Baptist and the predictions of Jesus’ coming.  We see Jesus through his life as a baby through Adulthood and also after the resurrection.  By using this focus, it helps prevent a one sided view of Jesus as his miracles, parables and teachings come out throughout the year, as seen in his teachings.  This also simplifies the year, by not having to decide what parts of Jesus’ teachings and ministry to cover in the Gospel lesson from week to week because they are all spread out in a carefully planned order, in order to present the full teachings of Jesus.

The use of the Liturgical year helps the modern church connect to the historical church through the passing down of simple traditions.  The church year did not spring up overnight, but slowly grew and evolved to help shape the worship of the church.  Easter was the first and most prominent season, because of the early church’s focus was upon the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  That mortal focus helped remind Christians each year of the salvific work that Jesus accomplished through his death on the cross and his resurrection from the tomb.  The rest of the year grew from the leading into and from Easter, giving the actions of Holy Week more context to Christians.  By going through the entire narrative of Jesus’ life the historic church was simply reading through the Gospel week to week.  This structure comes from the texts that we profess and it is good, right, and beneficial that we let the texts guide our worship life.

As we go through this November, we should remember Christmas and the joy that came on that first Christmas day, but we should remember that we have more than a day, we have an entire year that remembers the blessings and teachings of God in Christ Jesus.

God’s Blessings

Vicar Shupe