Today we begin a new church year as we enter the “Festival Half of the Church Year” with the season of Advent. The word Advent comes from the Latin verb advenio, meaning “to come to.” The word “Advent” in Latin means, “He comes.”
Certainly, the end of the church year reminded us that Jesus would again come to judge on the last day of the world’s HIStory as we know it. To be sure, the Advent season has this same focus as well. But Advent also stresses Christ’s first coming, which we celebrate in His incarnation at Bethlehem—when true God took on human flesh and blood and became true man.
Also, with the “advent” of this new church year, we move on to the ILCW “C” series of Scripture lessons. Please remember we follow a church year “pericope.” There are several pericopes available. The “Inter Lutheran Commission on Worship” developed the church year calendar with its given readings that we will follow. The ILCW, then, has a three-part series of reading for each Sunday, namely, an Old Testament, Psalm, Epistle and Gospel. The goal during these A, B, and C series, respectively, is to cover the main sections/teachings of the Bible during a three-year period.