Advent

Why is light important in everyday life?
We found out what happens during advent and that it is a time for Christians to prepare for Jesus' birth.

Lots of us said that we use advent calendars to count down to Christmas day.  Churches and many families use an advent wreath to count down the 4 weeks of advent.

The Sunday closest to 30th November, is the first Sunday of advent.  The first candle on the advent wreath is lit, another candle is lit over the following 3 weeks with a fifth one (a white candle) being lit on Christmas day.  Each candle has it's own meaning.

Candles:
1: Hope “Hope is like a light shining in a dark place.  As we look at this candle we celebrate the hope we have in Jesus Christ”.
2: Peace “Peace is like a light shining in a dark place.  As we look at the candle we celebrate the peace we find in Jesus Christ”.
3: Love “Love is like a candle shining in a dark place.  As we look at the light of this candle we celebrate the love we have in Christ”.
4: Joy “Joy is like a light shining in a dark place.  As we look at the candle we celebrate the joy we find in Jesus Christ”.
5: Jesus “The flame of this candle reminds us of that He is the light of the world and that if we follow Him, we will never walk in darkness, but will have the true light of life”.

We collected greenery from our outside area, used florist oasis, 4 red candles and 1 white candle to work in groups to make some advent wreaths.

At Hickling, pre-school came over to join us, it was great to see them working with everyone.