Let the Advent Season begin

Jonathan and Laurie Christmas 2006
Jonathan and Laurie Christmas 2006 (our first Christmas together)

Forget the huge sales, the Black Friday or Buy Nothing Day trends… this is what kicks the Advent season off for me…

Trombone Shorty and other musicians from New Orleans perform O’ Holy Night on Studio 60:

(download a copy here)

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

Find out more about Trombone Shorty on his website.

What is the official start of the Advent Season for you?

Goosebumps and Justice (advent reflections)

If you haven’t had a chance to – I’d highly recommend taking 40 min and listening to our advent reflections from the podcast last week.

Perhaps pull it up on your computer/Hi-Fi/iPods and listen as a family around the fire tonight or tomorrow evening.

Enjoy the thoughts, reflections and music and remember what this season of the year is all about.

Shrinking the globe

Yesterday, Thursday evening, 7:30 GMT (to be exact), two churches came together in Motherwell, Scotland for a singing of Christmas carols.

Calvary-Christian-Fellowshi

While this may seem like a small thing, it quickly became a great shared experience with friends half the world away.
Continue reading Shrinking the globe

Songs of Advent

Our homemade Advent wreath

I love that songs tell us so much about our faith, our story, our journey. They also tell us a lot about our communities. The songs communities sing are very telling about how the community sees one another, life, God, faith, community, etc.

While I believe Advent should be such a major part of our Christian life and story I’m struggling to come up with many Advent songs. Is it because of my own traditions, or is it because of our huge emphasis on Christmas Day itself?

Here’s the two I can think of right now…

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

As you can see, I’m struggling to come up with many.

What Advent songs can you think of?

What do you sing at this time of year?

Do you separate Advent from Christmas or are they one in the same?