Advent 2025, Week 1: Psalm 112, Preview
Earlier this week I broke our church family’s candle lighter. Do you know what I mean by “candle lighter”? I’ve searched online numerous times to learn if it has an official name, but I can’t find one. It seems “candle lighter” is the official name. Or “candle lighter with bell snuffer.” In some churches, acolytes use them in every worship service to light candles each week. At Faith Church we only use it to light the candles on our Advent wreath. The candle lighter has a wooden handle and metal pole with a retractable wick and a bell-shaped snuffer.
And I broke it. But not on purpose.
It broke when I was trying to fix it. So I guess you could say it was already broke, and I made it worse. What I was trying to fix was a blockage in the wick’s retracting mechanism. It was jammed, gummed up with wax. As I attempted to unjam the wick’s sliding mechanism, the tab used for moving the wick back and forth broke off. I tried numerous attempts to create a workaround, and in the process I further damaged the mechanism.
Thankfully Amazon came to the rescue, and we should have a new candle lighter with bell snuffer for this coming Sunday. We also have matches in the kitchen if we need a plan B.
I’m telling you this because during Advent, I experience the muscle memory of an annual rhythm that not only Faith Church, but Christians around the globe, participate in each year. That rhythm includes pulling out the Advent wreath and the purple communion table cover from the storage room, candles from the fridge, changing the floor lights to a purple hue, and of course, the candle lighter. This coming week on Wednesday, we’ll also gather to decorate our building even more. Why?
Because the 2025 Season of Advent begins this Sunday 11/30! Advent is a season of preparation, during which time we ask the Spirit of God to convict of us anything we have allowed in our lives that is out of line with God’s heart. That’s why the color of Advent is purple, like a bruise, which is a purple-colored indication of a hurt that is now being healed. During Advent, we are being healed as we confess and repent, looking forward to the great celebration of Christmas, which reminds us that the King who came is coming again. Advent prepares us for the return of the King.
To help guide us, we’ll be using Christianity Today’s Advent devotionals, Darkness Then Light, which includes a daily devotional, as well as weekly themes that our Advent blog series will follow. This coming week the theme is from Psalm 112:4, “Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.”
We get started this coming Monday.
Engaging Scripture 