Excerpt from Celebrate Advent
John Hendrix, Susan Meadors, David Miller

People, look east and sing today:
Love is on the way.

The gifts of Christmas come in unexpected ways. Our gift for the Advent season at Northside Baptist Church, Clinton, Mississippi, came from these words in our hymnal. During the Advent season we turned our eyes toward the east and sang a new song, "People, Look East." This hymn calls on different parts of creation to prepare for the coming Christ child.

The first three notes, sung in unison, punctuate the call to action and readiness. The gently swing of the rhythm and the cheerful and majestic D-major harmonies fit the theme of creation making ready--being busy, looking, singing, announcing--for "Love the Lord is on the way."

Speaking and singing of Christ in these ways gave us new ways of seeing ourselves. "Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we see Christ as he is" (1 John 3:2).

This book is a collection of resources to help churches celebrate Advent. It is built around a central theme based on an English carol that provides the images for each of the four weeks of Advent. This Advent celebration was developed for our church's use during December 1996. For publication, it has been revised and supplemented with explanatory and educational materials.

These materials are the product of many hands. While the pastoral staff of the church developed the basic ideas for the services, implementation of them required the assistance of the worship committee and many other talented people in the congregation. It would be a mistake, therefore, for any church to attempt to duplicate exactly the material within this book. Instead, this book should serve as a guide to inspire creative thinking that heightens the worship experience. Liturgy means "common work." The goal for this book, then, is to further the common work of worship in other churches.

John Hendrix, Susan Meadors, and David Miller are the authors of "Celebrate Advent", published by Smyth & Helwys Publishing. To order, go to the online bookpage or call 1-800-747-3016.

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