The candle of hope
Every year, despite the lingering threat of the dreaded ‘four candles‘, we use an Advent Crown in church on the four Sundays of Advent. Each year I explain the significance of the four candles. There seem to be various versions, but the one I am using this year is as follows:
- The Candle of Hope (the patriarchs)
- The Candle of Peace (prophets)
- The Candle of Love (John the Baptist)
- The Candle of Joy (Mary)
This morning I am preaching on Jacob the Patriarch’s blessing on Judah,(Genesis 49 v. 8 -11) and all that would spring from it.
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Hope is…
…a tiny birthday candle to light a whole continent
…a single green shoot in acres of treeless forest
…a burst of poppy brightness from the bombed-out wreckage of a civilization.
…a single snowflake whitening a blackened landscape
… a shard of frost tracery on a tarmacked wasteland
Hope is…
…coming