December 2013

Advent, according to the dictionary,  means a coming or arrival.  Advent is the period including the four Sundays just before Christmas.  Lutherans and many other Christians use this time to prepare themselves for the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

Martin Luther, according to legend, began the use of Christmas trees.  The legend says he was walking in the woods one winter night and was struck by the beauty of a fir tree glistening with snow in the moonlight.  He is said to have set up a small fir tree in his home and decorated it with lit candles to simulate what he had seen in the forest.

Hymn number 268 in the ELW is a Christmas hymn called “From Heaven Above” written by Martin Luther.