{"id":78868,"date":"2025-12-03T08:01:39","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T13:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/?p=78868"},"modified":"2025-12-03T13:08:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T18:08:25","slug":"happenings-at-wawa-first-united-december-3-first-sunday-of-advent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/03\/happenings-at-wawa-first-united-december-3-first-sunday-of-advent\/","title":{"rendered":"Happenings at Wawa First United – December 3 First Sunday of Advent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Sunday was the First Sunday of Advent.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Are you ready for the coming of the Christ Child? There are so many things to do.<\/p>\n

In many churches the Advent Wreath is is placed in front of the Congregation and each Sunday a candle is lit,<\/p>\n

Together, the four Advent candles represent a journey of hope, peace, joy and love, guiding believers through a meaningful preparation for Christmas. Each of these candles holds significant meaning, symbolizing different aspects of the Advent season.<\/p>\n

The first candle, commonly known as the Candle of Hope, is traditionally purple and is lit on the first Sunday of Advent. This candle symbolized the hope and expectation for Christ\u2019s coming into the world. As we enter the Advent season, it serves as a reminder that the wait for the Messiah is filled with hope and promise.<\/p>\n

The biblical foundation for this hope can be rooted in passages such as Isaiah 9:2, which speaks of the people who walked in darkness seeing a great light. Lighting the Candle of Hope encourages individuals and congregations alike to reflect on their desire for\u00a0 salvation and the joy that accompanies the anticipation of Christ\u2019s arrival.<\/p>\n

The Second Candle (Advent 2)\u00a0 The Candle of Peace. The second candle, also purple, is known as the Candle of Peace. This candle is lit during the second week of Advent and represents the peace that Christ brings to the world. The message of peace is deeply interwoven with Advent themes as believers prepare their hearts for the coming of Jesus, who is often referred to as the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Lighting this candle invites a spirit of tranquility and reconciliation, urging us to foster peace within ourselves, our families and the larger community. It is a time to reflect on the ways we can contribute to healing and understanding in a world that often feels chaotic and divided.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Life is \u201ca tale told by and idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing\u201d, says Shakespeare\u2019s Macbeth.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Today, we lament the information overload pushed at us, akin to drinking from a firehose, wonder whether any of it is actually important, and may choose to \u201cunplug\u201d as self-care. And yet, here we are at the beginning of the season that cries out to us:\u00a0 \u201cBe on Alert!\u201d Paul calls to us to \u201cwake from sleep.\u201d And so, too, does Jesus: \u201cKeep awake therefore\u00a0 … you also must be ready.\u00a0 \u201cUnlike a social media feed, though, these calls should not lead us to numbed apathy or to hyper- charged anxiety. Apathy leads us to believe that this world in its current state is all that life has in store. Anxiety unleashes the fear that existence is out to get us, each sign from the heavens charged with the portents of doom. The call, though, is not to be anxious or apathetic, but to be alert to what God is up to. In truth, we do know something about what is to come, about the coming reality God is already bringing about. We know the story, and as ones who knows the story, we have a sense of \u201cwhat time it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Creation Connection: <\/strong>\u00a0Paul admonishes us to throw off the shadowy works of night and wake up, putting on the armour of light. While not on Paul\u2019s list, might we need to wake up from our behaviours of wastefulness and environmental damage? Might they be not just poor choices, but actually the works of evil we\u2019re called to throw off?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (Used with permission the Gathering A\/C\/E\u00a0 2025\/26)<\/p>\n

Sunday December 7 \u2013 Second Sunday of Advent<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scriptures: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Isaiah 11:1-10\u00a0 The peaceable reign of God.<\/p>\n

Romans:15:4-13\u00a0 The root of Jesse and hope of Gentiles<\/p>\n

Matthew 3: 1-12\u00a0 John the Baptist preaches<\/p>\n

Lay Leader: Maria\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lay Reader: Brenda<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Announcements:<\/strong><\/p>\n

We invite all those who are faith seekers to join us on Sunday morning at 11 am.<\/p>\n

The Prayer Shawl group will meet on Sat. Dec. 6 at 2-3:30 pm. All knitters and crocheters are most welcome to join in the fellowship of creating a shawl that may be given to a special person.\u00a0 Materials can be supplied if needed,<\/p>\n

Christmas Carol Sing : Thurs. Dec. 4 at 7 pm at Calvary Pentecostal<\/p>\n

Christmas Movie Night: Thurs. Dec 11 at 7 pm at Calvary Pentecostal<\/p>\n

Dec. 3- International Day of Persons with Disabilities<\/p>\n

Dec. 5 \u2013 World Soil Day<\/p>\n

Dec. 6 \u2013 National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women<\/p>\n

Dec. 10 \u2013 Human Rights Day<\/p>\n

Dec 14 to 22 –\u00a0 Hanukkah<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last Sunday was the First Sunday of Advent. Are you ready for the coming of the Christ Child? There are so many things to do. In many churches the Advent Wreath is is placed in front of the Congregation and each Sunday a candle is lit, Together, the four Advent candles represent a journey of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":71384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-24 07:50:38","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78868"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78870,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78868\/revisions\/78870"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}