Latter-day Saint Seasonal Materials: December 2024

"Our King and Savior draweth nigh. O come, let us adore him!"

First purple candle lit

"Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God . . . And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it." (Isaiah 40:5)

While the four Advent themes of hope, love, joy, and peace are sometimes recalled in different orders, hope is almost always the theme celebrated on the First Sunday of Advent. As the first candle of an Advent wreath is lit, a family choosing to use this custom as a way of preparing for Christmas can thus use the occasion to remember how the Christmas Story recalls the birth of the Promised King, an event prophesied and hoped for from the time of Adam until that first Christmas.

An example of this hope is reflected in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus as well as the angel’s message to Joseph, promising the birth of Immanuel, or “God with us” (Matthew 1:1-23). But the celebration of Advent does not just remember Jesus’ first coming. It can also celebrate his presence and importance in our lives now while also helping us look forward to his second coming.

First Advent 2019, with a new addition, Rachel's fiancé, Luke Petersen

Reading scriptures that reflect these aspects of the hope that we have in Jesus is a valuable part of a family celebration of Advent. Traditionally Advent scriptures are drawn from Old Testament prophecies that were taken to anticipate the coming of Christ. In our family we draw passages from the New Testament and the Book of Mormon as well, some of which, also look forward to the Second Coming or the promises that will come to us in the next life.

First Advent 2017

The Promised Advent

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn . . . ” (Isaiah 61:1–3, emphasis added)
“For, for this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his coming; and not only we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all the holy prophets which were before us. Behold, they believed in Christ and worshiped the Father in his name, and also we worship the Father in his name . . .” (Jacob 4:4–5, emphasis added)

The first Sunday of Advent is when we set up our Nativity.

Music for First Advent

Music is an important part of the celebration of Advent as it is of the Christmas season generally. In some traditions only carols especially meant for Advent are sung in the weeks leading up to Christmas, with Christmas carols themselves being reserved for Christmas Eve and the “Twelve Days of Christmas” that begin with Christmas Day. However, families can use any familiar carols for their home celebrations, though our family always opens our Christmas season by singing “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” which is the traditional carol for the beginning of Advent.

The original Latin text dates back as early as the reign of Charlemagne (771–814). The English text and the tune that is now familiar were not published until 1854, though the melody seems to have been based on an earlier French original.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appears.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny.
From depths of hell thy people save,
And give them vict’ry o’er the grave.

Chorus

O come, O Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by thine advent here,
And drive away the shades of night,
And pierce the clouds and bring us light.

Chorus

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might
Who to thy tribes, on Sinai’s height
In ancient times did’st give the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.

Chorus

Here is a version with Hebrew as well as English. It was recorded by Joshua Aaron at the Tower of David in the Old City of Jerusalem:

On the Eve of His Coming: The Annunciation to Zacharias and the Benedictus

A plaque with the Benedictus in `En Kerem

I suggest that after discussing that week's theme families also consider reading each week one of the familiar parts of Luke 1 and Matthew 1 that lead up to the actual birth of Jesus. This helps set the realization of the prophecies of Jesus' birth into the immediate context of their fulfillment, and it also adds to the excitement of the Christmas season as we join Zacharias and Elisabeth and then Mary and Joseph in their experiences.

For the first week of Advent, I recommend reading the Annunciation to Zacharias, focusing on how the promise of John the Baptist's birth revolved around how he would prepare the way of the Lord (Luke 1:5–17). This can be followed by the Benedictus, Zacharias' prophetic blessing to his son, which focuses above all on the salvation that the promised Messiah was to bring (Luke 1:67–79).

And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel;

for he hath visited and redeemed his people,

And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us

in the house of his servant David;

As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets,

which have been since the world began:

That we should be saved from our enemies,

and from the hand of all that hate us;

To perform the mercy promised to our fathers,

and to remember his holy covenant;

The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,

that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies

might serve him without fear,

In holiness and righteousness before him,

all the days of our life.

And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest:

for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;

To give knowledge of salvation unto his people

by the remission of their sins,

Through the tender mercy of our God

whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,

To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1:67–79)

Click here to see a brief video clip of me reading the Benedictus, the blessing that Zacharias later pronounced upon his son.

On the steps of the Church of John the Baptist at `En Kerem

Samuel watching groups of pilgrims at the John the Baptist Church

The Hope That Christ Brings

“Therefore Being Justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Romans 5:1–5, emphases added)
“And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal . . .” (Moroni 7:41, emphasis added)

While not as familiar to many Latter-day Saints, a beautiful Advent hymn that prays for Jesus to come into our lives now as well as in his promised Second Coming is "Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus" by Charles Wesley.

Looking Forward to Christ's Second Advent

“Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.” (Mark 13:35–36, emphasis added)
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17)

A traditional Advent carol that casts our thoughts towards the Lord's Second Advent is "Lo, He Comes with Clouds Descending."

The traditional Anglican collect from the Book of Common Prayer reads:

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

This is a lovely literary reflection on both the first and the second Advent of Jesus.

This Year in Jerusalem

We are spending the 2024 Advent and Christmas season in Jerusalem, where I am completing my assignment as the academic director of the BYU Center here.

Today we joined in worship with Rev. Stewart Gallin at the historic St. Andrew's Scots Memorial Church.