Advent begins with a call to get ready, and it is a reminder to get out of our sense of complacency. However, it is hard to be complacent when things are difficult. When all is going well, then we need the two-by-four of Advent to wake us up. But when things are difficult, we use Advent as a prayer, as a reminder to hope. The following are some hymn suggestions that pair with the selected readings for this worship series.

Abbreviations:

UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
TFWS: The Faith We Sing
W&S: Worship and Song

First Sunday of Advent

What is it that we are waiting for? What are we looking for? The first reading for this first Sunday of Advent reminds us that what we long for is not a historical remembrance but a new reality, a new encounter.