Why Do Christians Celebrate Advent?

Flickr, @John Morgan

Although Advent is an extremely old Christian tradition, it is a relatively new addition to the evangelical calendar. In fact, I didn’t learn about Advent until I was an adult, and I attended church throughout my teen years! However, these days it’s quite common for American churches of all different denominations to have advent wreaths, and many families use Advent calendars to countdown until Christmas.

Despite this increased popularity, I don’t think that many of us understand Advent. We light our candles and open our calendar windows without ever asking, “What is Advent, where did it come from, and how is it connected to Christmas?” In other words, we never ask, “Why in the world am I celebrating Advent!?”

Since I’m an explorer by nature, I’m going to seek these answers during the next few weeks. Would you like to join my Advent journey? Email your Advent questions to 1worldmanyquestions@gmail.com, and I’ll try to answer your questions while I seek my own. Let the exploration begin!

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