- What is Advent?
Is it a part of Christmas?
Is it something that we, in the modern church,
should even be celebrating?
In this video, I'm going to unpack for you
the meaning behind Advent and why it's just
as relevant today for us in the modern church
as it has been for the church for the past
two millennia, and finally, I'm going to share with you
a list of my recommended songs that your church
can sing during the Advent season
to build that anticipation and hope for Christmas.
Coming up.
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Hey, my name is Jake Gosselin,
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in the description.
Well, it's that time of year again,
and Thanksgiving is behind us, for those of us
in the United States, and, usually for most of us
in western culture, once Thanksgiving is past,
we start focusing on the Christmas season.
And, I'm sure, at your church,
you and your fellow leadership team
are already focusing on Christmas Eve services
and even Christmas services.
This year it's a little weird,
we have Christmas Eve on a Monday,
which is right after our Sunday services.
Our church is actually just doing a Sunday service
that week, we're not doing separate Christmas Eve
services, so our Christmas Eve services are going
to be on that Sunday before Christmas,
in case you were wondering.
But the reason I wanted to make this video
is to help us pause and think about the season
that we are actually in.
It's not Christmas time yet.
Christmas doesn't start until December 25th.
That's why we have Christmas Eve on December 24th,
a day before, it's the eve of Christmas.
And all of December, at least the four weeks
prior to Christmas, that is called Advent.
Historically speaking, to give this a little bit
more context, the church has observed what is known
as the liturgical calender.
The purpose of the liturgical calendar
is to tell the gospel story over the span
of a whole year.
I think this is a very useful tool.
I actually used to be a worship leader
in the Anglican church,
and the Anglican church is known for being
more liturgical and observing these types of things.
I think a lot of our modern, evangelical churches
are actually missing out, not observing some of these
really great elements of the liturgical calendar.
But everybody at least has the baseline of observing
the liturgical calendar when it comes to
Christmas and Easter.
Often, the most neglected seasons of the church calendar
are Advent and Lent, and I bet you are familiar with
those terms, but unfortunately, especially
in the contemporary evangelical world,
we just don't give these seasons much thought
or attention.
It's my argument that, if we did leverage these seasons
more strategically in our worship planning,
they could actually accomplish a lot of great things
when it comes to our congregation's spiritual lives
and growth as disciples.
So, maybe in a few months, I'll make a video about Lent,
but right now, let's talk about the season of Advent.
In short, the season of Advent is supposed to be
a season of hope, anticipation and even repentance
in preparation for the coming of Christ.
So, you probably heard of the Psalms,
Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel, or,
Come Thou Long, Expected Jesus.
Those are probably the most popular Advent songs.
They're not Christmas songs, they're Advent songs.
And what those songs do is they help us remember
that even though Christ has come, right?
Christ's birth already happened 2,000 years ago,
his kingdom has not yet fully been established.
So we're looking forward to the second coming of Christ.
So, in the season of Advent, not only are we looking
forward, but kind of looking backward toward the
birth of Christ, but we're also looking forward
to the second coming of Christ.
And I think all of you guys would agree that
Christ's kingdom has not fully manifested itself
here on Earth.
We're still broken, imperfect people,
we're all sinners, we still have a lot of wars going on,
we still have a lot of natural disasters happening,
the world is full of pain and suffering
and evil and darkness.
And the season of Advent is the time to
acknowledge this reality.
But, it's also a season of time to acknowledge that
we have hope, right?
We have hope in the coming of Christ,
the light of the world is coming.
That's why we have the Advent wreath, right?
We light one of those purple candles each week,
and the wreath gets brighter and brighter
and then, finally, we light the Christ candle
that's at the center of the wreath and then
it just symbolizes that the light of the world has come.
As a worship leader, it's really your responsibility
to help emphasize this theme of the Advent season.
I like what they say in the Worship Source book,
this is one of my favorite books
that really helps resource you as a worship leader.
I'll put a link in the description of this video
for this book on Amazon.
And here's what they say in the worship source book
about Advent.
They say, a deliberate attention must be built
into our practice of the Advent season.
Christ has come, and yet not all things
have reached completion.
While we remember Israel's waiting and hoping
and we give thanks for Christ's birth,
we also anticipate his second coming
at the end of time.
For this reason, Advent began as a penitential season.
A time for discipline and intentional repentance
in the confident expectation
and hope of Christ coming again.
So, as we long for Christ's coming,
we also want to long for our lives to be changed
and our hearts to be transformed, right?
When you're in a season of preparation,
something big is about to happen,
you want to make sure that things are ready,
our hearts are ready.
So that's the essence of the Advent season.
And now, I have a couple practical takeaways
for you to implement this Advent theme into
your worship services in the next few weeks.
Linked in the description of this video
is my complete list of my favorite
contemporary worship songs for Advent
and Christmas time.
And I've created a list specifically for Advent,
because I think we as worship leaders
need a little bit more help in guidance
in finding those songs that hit on the themes
of longing and repentance and hope
for Christ's second coming.
You'll find that some of the songs
that I have in this list seem like they're
Christmas songs, but they're actually Advent songs,
and then, I actually have a couple recommendations
of songs that you could use year-round,
but they just do a really great job
of hitting on these themes of confession
and repentance and hope in Christ's coming.
Another practical thing you can do
is implement some Scripture readings,
and/or just prayers that you could lead
as a worship leader or you could also have
the congregation join you in these Scripture readings
and prayers and I highly recommend that you
check out the Worship Source book.
They have a whole chapter on the season of Advent.
They have a bunch of ideas of Scripture passages
that you and your congregation could read
and they also have some pre-scripted prayers
that you could read as well.
So check out the Worship Source book,
I'll put the link in the description of this video.
And then, my third practical tip for you
for emphasizing this theme of Advent
is really thinking about the design and look
of your worship space.
A lot of us lead contemporary worship
and a lot of us also have different media
elements like lighting and video.
Consider using some darker colors during this season.
You don't want it to look completely depressing,
but I plan on using a lot more of, like,
those darker purple and blue lighting scenes
in our worship gathering.
And then, when we celebrate Christmas
and that Christ has come, we'll brighten things up
a bit with some other color schemes.
So, to recap, just be intentional about the songs
you pick, the prayers and Scripture readings
that you share during worship,
and then about the overall aesthetic
and look of your worship services.
So go ahead and click the link in the description
of this video, or you can download my
Advent and Christmas song guide,
and also check out that Worship Source book,
it'll not only give you a great guide for Advent
but also the other seasons within the church calendar.
And, finally, let me know if you have any questions
about the season of Advent,
by just leaving a comment below this video.
If you want to take your worship ministry
to the next level, whether it's the way
you can pastor your congregation in worship,
or if you want to integrate some new tech
into your worship gatherings,
check out worshipleaderschool.com,
we got a complete course library,
we have a dedicated online forum
where you can connect with other worship leaders
and ask questions, and then, finally,
you can log onto our weekly office hours calls
that I'm hosting over Zoom video,
and you can get some real time help.
So go to worshipleaderschool.com
or click the link in the description to learn more.
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