Spiritual Life
A6
Thursday, December 2, 2021
SPIRITUAL LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Communion served at
in-person service
SUBMISSIONS
LA GRANDE — St. Peter’s
Episcopal Church will meet for
worship at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Dec.
5. The service will include Holy
Communion. Masks and social dis-
tancing are required.
The service will be livestreamed,
and the link to that stream will be
posted on the church’s Facebook
page on Saturday, Dec. 4. That
same link can be used to watch the
service at a later time.
Advent observance features
special reading and music
LA GRANDE — First Chris-
tian Church (Disciples of Christ)
will celebrate Peace on the Second
Sunday of Advent, Dec. 5, during
the 10 a.m. worship service. Pastor
Archie Hook’s message will be
drawn from John 14:27-29: “Peace
I leave with you; my peace I give
you. I do not give to you as the
world gives. Do not let your hearts
be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Churches and faith-based groups are encouraged to submit Highlights for the Spiritual Life
page by 4 p.m. Tuesday for publication Thursday. Submit by email to news@lagrandeob-
server.com (with Highlights in the subject line).
The Advent reading and candle
lighting will be done by Ginger
Webster, Nicole Wallace and Brody
and Kennedy Wallace, and the ser-
vice will feature a special musical
number by Liz Cooper and Vicki
Grammer.
Fellowship time
follows worship
LA GRANDE — Zion Lutheran
Church’s worship service on
Sunday, Dec. 5, begins at 9 a.m.
The service, which will include
Holy Communion, will be followed
by a time of fellowship. Masks and
social distancing are required.
The service will be streamed
live to YouTube, and the link for
that stream will be posted on Zion’s
Facebook page and website on Sat-
urday, Dec. 4.
Attend Dec. 5 stake
conference virtually
or in person
NORTHEASTERN OREGON
— Elder Gary Stevenson of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Lat-
ter-day Saints will speak at a spe-
cial stake conference on Sunday,
Dec. 5, accompanied by Elder
Ken Firmage, Area Seventy. This
meeting will start at 9 a.m. (PST)
and can be attended in person or
virtually. The meeting will also be
broadcast to Baker City, John Day,
Enterprise and Pine Valley. The
virtual link for the meeting will be
sent out via email — contact your
ward’s leadership if you are inter-
ested and have not received it by
Saturday.
Waiting, watching and preparing
for the advent of the Messiah
the Season of Christmas
(which lasts the 12 days of
Christmas, beginning on
Christmas, not ending on
it). Of course, even folks
in liturgical churches are
often ready for Christmas
music and decorations long
before Christmas Eve. And
there’s nothing wrong with
enjoying the Christmas
atmosphere well before
Christmas. (I certainly do.)
But in worship, we
have a diff erent focus.
The season of Advent is a
time of waiting, watching
and preparing. It is a time
of hearing the Old Tes-
tament prophesies of the
coming Messiah, of God’s
desire to save humankind,
and hearing John the Bap-
tist cry out “Prepare the
way of the Lord.” In fact,
many of the texts for the
Christmas portion of Han-
del’s Messiah are from
these Old Testament texts,
not from the New Testa-
ment Christmas narrative.
So, in our worship, it won’t
be until the fourth Sunday
of Advent, less than a week
before Christmas, that we
will start to hear about
Mary, Joseph and angelic
visitors.
And yet Advent (which
ROBERTA
SMYTHE
WALKING WITH
THE SHEPHERD
n liturgical churches
such as mine (Lutheran
and Episcopal in my
case, though there are
others), this past Sunday
was the beginning of a new
church year. For these litur-
gical denominations, the
church year begins with the
fi rst Sunday of Advent. Of
course, you don’t have to
be part of a liturgical tra-
dition to be familiar with
some Advent practices,
like an Advent wreath or
an Advent calendar, both
used to count down to
Christmas.
But for liturgical
churches, Advent is more
than a countdown to
Christmas. It is a season in
its own right. Depending
on a given congregation or
pastor within the liturgical
tradition, there may be
little or no Christmas music
during the four Sundays of
Advent (with the possible
exception of the children’s
Christmas pageant). Rather,
Christmas music is saved
for Christmas Eve and
I
means “coming”) goes
beyond waiting and pre-
paring for the coming of
Jesus as an infant. It is
also about preparing our-
selves for the coming of
Christ into our lives today.
Additionally, it is about
watching, waiting and pre-
paring for when Jesus will
come again in the future.
Though we may listen to
Christmas music in our cars
and homes during Advent,
may put up Christmas dec-
orations and lights, may be
engaged in the more tra-
ditional Christmas prepa-
rations of gifting and cel-
ebrating during Advent,
we also set ourselves apart
for a time each week in
worship, to focus on the
larger narrative that shows
how much of biblical his-
tory was leading up to
Jesus’ birth, and why his
birth was necessary. Once
we hear and learn of the
“reason for the season”
over the course of Advent,
we can then better appre-
ciate the awe and wonder of
that precious birth.
———
Roberta Smythe is the
pastor of La Grande’s Zion
Lutheran and St. Peter’s
Episcopal churches.
The “Come, Follow Me” lesson
for the week of Dec. 6 will be based
on the Articles of Faith (in the Pearl
of Great Price) and Offi cial Dec-
larations 1-2 (in the Doctrine and
Covenants). Declaration 1 ended
the practice of plural marriage in
1890, and Declaration 2 removed
all restrictions with regard to race
that applied to the priesthood prior
to 1978.
Members are encouraged to visit
www.lighttheworld.org to learn
about special ways to celebrate this
season as we celebrate the birth and
life of Jesus Christ.
Dec. 8 Advent service
includes soup supper
LA GRANDE — The sermon
at Faith Lutheran Church’s La
Grande service on Sunday, Dec. 5,
beginning at 10 a.m., will expound
on John the Baptist’s ministry of
preparing people for the arrival
(“advent”) of God in the fl esh,
Jesus Christ. His ministry included
the warnings about things that were
to come. With Jesus’ fi rst coming,
the Messiah did the necessary work
to grant salvation to humankind;
with his next coming, there will be
wrath. Following the Divine Ser-
vice will be a meeting and a meal.
On Wednesday, Dec. 8, Faith
Lutheran’s midweek Advent service
will focus on the “Cloud in the Tab-
ernacle.” A soup supper is served at
5:30 p.m., and the service begins at
6:30 p.m.
Facebook page provides
access to service, sermons
LA GRANDE — The First
Presbyterian Church will celebrate
the Second Sunday of Advent at
9:30 a.m. Dec. 5. Pastor Laura will
preach from Ezekial 37:1-4 with a
sermon titled “The Spirit’s Peace.”
Masks and social distancing are
required.
The service is also available
online, at www.facebook.com/
groups/fpclagrande. Access to the
sermons are available at that link
anytime.
— The Observer
What is the season of Advent?
The Observer
Advent, which begins
the church’s liturgical
year, began Nov. 28, 2021.
Advent encompasses
the four weeks leading
up to the celebration of
Christmas. The season
of Advent, which means
“coming,” is observed by
many as a time of prepa-
ration of hearts and minds
for the anniversary of the
Lord’s birth on Christmas.
Many congregations
celebrate Advent by put-
ting up an Advent wreath
and lighting candles each
week. The use of the
wreath and candles during
Advent are a longstanding
tradition that was origi-
nally adopted by Christians
in the Middle Ages as part
of their spiritual prepara-
tion for observing Christ’s
birth.
The wreath and candles
are full of symbolism tied
to the Christmas season.
The wreath itself signifi es
continuous life. The circle
of the wreath, which has
no beginning or end, in the
Advent tradition symbol-
izes the eternity of God,
the immortality of the soul
and the everlasting life
found in Christ.
The candles also have
their own special signifi -
Getty Images
In the Christian tradition, Advent candles are lit on the four Sun-
days preceding Christmas, representing hope, faith, joy and peace.
A white candle, which often is added on Christmas Eve, is a symbol
of the purity of Christ.
cance. Often congregations
light one candle on each of
the four Sundays leading
up to Christmas.
The fi rst candle sym-
bolizes hope. It is some-
times called the “Prophecy
Candle” in remembrance
of the prophets, espe-
cially Isaiah, who fore-
told the birth of Christ. It
represents the expectation
felt in anticipation of the
coming Messiah.
The second candle rep-
resents faith. It is called
the “Bethlehem Candle,”
as a reminder of Mary
and Joseph’s journey to
Bethlehem.
The third candle sym-
bolizes joy and is called
the “Shepherd’s Candle.”
The third Sunday of
Advent is sometimes
referred to as Gaudete
Sunday (“gaudete” means
“rejoice”). It is meant to be
a reminder of the joy that
the world experienced at
the birth of Jesus.
On the fourth week of
Advent, the fi nal candle is
lit to mark the fi nal week of
prayer and penance as the
faithful wait for the Mes-
siah. This fi nal candle, the
“Angel’s Candle,” symbol-
izes peace. It is a symbol of
the message of the angels:
“Peace on Earth, Good
Will Toward Men.”
Some traditions place a
white candle in the middle
of the wreath that is lit
on Christmas Eve. This
candle is called the “Christ
Candle” and represents the
purity of the life of Christ.
Celebrating the season
of Advent is a way to open
your mind and heart to
welcome the Christ child.
— This article was
adapted from
www.mercyhome.org.
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963-4018
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