Advent 1 - Hope

Candle Lighting Liturgy from Whole People of God, a wonderful resource for prayers, liturgy, sermon starters, and scripture discussions. 

Today is the first Sunday in the season of Advent. In this season we prepare for the coming of Christ. One of the ways we can celebrate Advent is by making an Advent wreath and lighting its candles to remind us of the gifts Christ brings to the world. It also helps us count the Sundays on our journey to Christmas. 

The Advent wreath includes many symbols. The wreath is in the shape of a circle, without beginning or ending. This reminds us that there is no beginning and no ending to God. God’s love and care for us never ends. The evergreen branches are a sign of ever new life. The candles tell us of the light which came into the world with Jesus Christ. The traditional colours of the Advent candles, three violet and one rose, are penitential colours, reminding us that we need God’s help to be the people we are meant to be. The white candle which we light on Christmas Eve signifies the coming of Christ.

 Today we light the first candle, the candle of hope. 

Like the ancient Hebrew people we cry out to God from a broken and hurting world. We, too, know how it feels to be like leaves blown about in the wind. We acknowledge that our lives are not what God meant them to be. And like the ancient Hebrews we welcome the words of hope from Isaiah that we are like clay and God is the potter. God created us and will recreate us, shaping us in love. Shalom will come if we put our trust in God.

 Today, we celebrate the hope of Israel, and the hope that we have in Jesus Christ.

We continue to hope in God’s promise that Christ will come again to fill our lives and the life of the world with love and joy and peace.

 Prayer:

O God, help us to be open to your shaping of our lives, that we may be channels of hope, love, peace, and joy to our hurting world.

Amen