Today we begin a new church year. It might surprise us that a new church year begins roughly a month before the calendar new year. Yet, the Christian church year always begins before Christmas, starting with the season of Advent.
Also, we light the first candle on our Advent wreath known as the Prophecy Candle. This candle reminds us that the light of God’s prophecy kept burning brightly on the pages of the Old Testament in preparation for the birth of our Savior. The word Advent itself comes from a Latin word meaning “he comes.” The Advent season has a two-fold focus: it prepares us for Jesus’ first coming in His birth at Bethlehem, while at the same time there remains a focus on His second coming on Judgment Day at the end of the world’s history (The latter is the case for today’s readings).
Notice, too, that the colors of the church’s vestments change. The appropriate colors of blue or purple symbolize repentance and royalty respectively. The colors remind us that it’s necessary to be prepared to meet our royal King Jesus through repentance and faith in His forgiveness. Advent assures that Jesus came as our Savior to give us forgiveness and will one day bring about our final redemption as He takes us to heaven. The Scripture readings for this new church year will now follow the ILCW B series.