Every year has a beginning and an end.  It begins on January 1st but up to about 200 years ago New Year’s Day was on March 1st.  The Church’s Year, however, begins on another day still – Advent Sunday.

Now, just as the year is divided into seasons – spring, summer, autumn and winter – so the Church’s Year has its own seasons.  If we look carefully we shall see that they tell us about what we have been learning in the Creed.

When we began the talks about the Creed we thought of the earth beginning millions of years ago.  We saw how life appeared and how God the Father made human beings to love him and to be loved by him for ever.  It was not long, however, before human beings turned against God and forgot all about him.  After the Jewish people spent had spent 2,000 years in getting ready for him, God the Son at last came in the Person of Our Lord Jesus Christ to bring human beings back to himself again.