First Sunday in Advent

Today is the first Sunday in Advent. And I was so pleased that we got to sing Cheryl's song Come, Messiah, Come! in worship this morning. It's one of my favorites.

The whole service was great. We even had the Covenant Players involved and they did one of the best dramas I've ever seen them do (and I've seen them in action for 25+ years). We had the Pacific Gate unit which is Karin Karlman (Sweden), Cathy Purucker (South Africa), and Kurt Purucker (New Mexico).

Advent is the beginning of the church calendar in the Western world. There are four Sundays in the season of preparation which culminates in the celebration of the Nativity (Christmas).

The painting to the left was done by Roger Hutchison in 2005. Both the Virgin Mary and the star in the sky are watching and waiting for the appointed hour. Take a look at the Episcopal Church's visual arts exhibition.

See my post from last year on Advent wreathes ~ link

One of the best online Advent devotionals is Following the Star (a part of d365.org) ~ link