Fourth Sunday in Advent

This season of Advent has been amazing. On the Sunday before Advent began, I approached our associate pastor and asked if we could celebrate Advent this year. We were already looking forward to Pastor Joe Murrell's return to Pine Valley Community Church after a four-year absence following ten years of pastoring here previously. Pastor Joe and his lovely wife, Jenny, were packing their home in Paradise, California in preparation to return to Pine Valley when the Camp Fire swept through Paradise, destroying their home along with nearly 16,000 additional residences, businesses, and other structures. So Pastor Jeff thought that celebrating Advent, which Pastor Joe had done in his time previously at PVCC, was a great idea. We worked out the details, and it's been wonderful celebrating Advent as a church together, especially during this time of transition. 

Since Pastor Joe returned, he has preached on "Advent and Joy" and, today, on "Advent and Love." So Advent at PVCC this year has not merely been about families coming up to light the Advent candles and read the Scriptures covering the four themes of Advent: Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. Advent has permeated the entire service, from the sermons to the prayers to the worship songs. And this morning four members of our worship team sang a lovely arrangement of the German Advent carol "Es ist ein Rose entsprungen" which was first published in 1599 and was translated into English by Theodore Baker in the 1890s and renamed "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming." The poetry of this hymn is absolutely incredible, and hearing it sung in four parts acapella was even more impressive. Here are the English lyrics: 

1. Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming
   From tender stem hath sprung!
   Of Jesse’s lineage coming,
   As men of old have sung.
   It came, a flow’ret bright,
   Amid the cold of winter,
   When half spent was the night.
2. Isaiah ’twas foretold it,
   The Rose I have in mind;
   With Mary we behold it,
   The virgin mother kind.
   To show God’s love aright,
   She bore to men a Savior,
   When half spent was the night.
3. This Flow’r, whose fragrance tender
   With sweetness fills the air,
   Dispels with glorious splendor
   The darkness everywhere.
   True man, yet very God,
   From sin and death He saves us,
   And lightens every load.
4. Although I know best the version sung in German by the Kings Singers of Kings College, Cambridge, Charlotte Church sings a lovely version in English that I've included for you here, with the lyrics included. 

What a way to celebrate the fourth and final Sunday of Advent with Christmastide peeking around the corner!! 

And here is the Collect for the Fourth Sunday in Advent from the Book of Common Prayer 2011:

O LORD, raise up your power, we pray, and with great might come among us; And, as our sins and wicked ways greatly hinder us in running the race that is set before us, let your abundant grace and mercy come quickly to help and deliver us; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit, belongs all honor and glory, now and always. Amen. (References: Isaiah 51.9; Hebrews 12.1; Romans 3.24-26)

Wishing you all a blessed Advent and a joyous Christmastide!!

With love,