Moderator encourages us to remember the heart of Advent

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland has marked the start of Advent with a video.

During the short film, Rt Rev Dr Shaw Paterson encourages us all to remember what is at the heart of Advent and Christmas.

"We need to use this moment – this time called Advent to tell people not just about the birth of a baby in Bethlehem, but also about why Jesus came into the world," he says.

"What Jesus did – the stories about his life, the parables, the miracles and why he was crucified.

"We need to tell people about Jesus conquering death and rising from the grave to open the gates of heaven – we need to tell people about the Kingdom of God."

The theme for this year's Advent is ‘Love comes down at Christmas', inspired by Luke 1:79:

"to shine on those living in darkness

and in the shadow of death,

"o guide our feet into the path of peace."

Get involved

To celebrate this year, we will be sharing Advent stories from across the Church. We'd be delighted for churches to share those stories with us.

Contact us with your faith-filled, thought-provoking, uplifting and encouraging stories and photos and we will share as much as we can with the wider Church on the website and across our social media channels. We will do our best to share as much local church content as we can during December.

To share your stories with us please email our Media Relations address at mediarelations@churchofscotland.org.uk. Please note that we ask that you get in touch with your plans by Monday 16 December.

You can also contact us on X @churchscotland, or find us on Facebook or on Instagram.

Or you can find out more, including service times and about any special festive events, by checking your local church's website, or by popping into church for a service during December