On Advent...

Advent began today (well, technically yesterday...but I'm writing this a little late...of course I wouldn't be writing it at all except for the ringing phone which awoke me shortly before midnight...and I'm still up so might as well make something good out of it). 

I know that not all of us continue to hold onto many of the traditions of those that have gone before (and some that still walk alongside). But as I have worshiped Jesus with Anglicans and Wesleyans, Calvinists, Arminians, Catholic nuns, charismatics, Presbyterians and Baptists, and some who would refuse any name but simply ‘christian’ I’ve found some of the traditions of these to be a wonderful means of worship (or invitation to worship).  The barometer is, of course, the heart.  Ritual for ritual’s sake can be trouble.  I encourage you, if you choose to take part in tradition because that is what you always do, to examine your heart.  If Jesus isn’t really a true part of what you’re doing, trade your tradition for the true and living Christ and come awake.  

This year, I celebrate Advent…which I assure you is not solely about little pieces of chocolate or cheap plastic toys hidden behind a little door of an “Advent Calendar” as many of my friends have thought.  Rather, it is an intentional welcoming and expectant hope of Christ’s arrival.  Those who preceded Christ’s birth into the world had the expectation of  the long-awaited Messiah, while we who live after (and because of) his resurrection, have hope that He, the Savior, will come again.  We hope and maintain that His redemption is at work, even now…preparing our hearts and the world for His return. 

The resources below are suitable for individual and family.  I would of course encourage you to celebrate with your children and spouse if you’re a family. You may leave an indelible taste for hope in your children for the lifetime they have ahead of them.  

   

[I found these resources through @NoelPiper on twitter, but was reminded of Advent and clued into its deeper meaning through Ann Voskamp's blog (www.aholyexperience.com)].

I love that the introduction passage to this Advent resource (http://www.thevillagechurch.net/mediafiles/advent-guide.pdf )  hails from the same passage of scripture that our guest speaker Colby Garmin (Pillar Church)  shared from this morning in 1 Peter 1.   

Here’s another Advent resource from the Navigators: http://www.navpress.com/images/pdfs/9781576839485.pdf.

For anyone who sometimes struggles with the holidays, who finds it difficult to sustain hope and gratitude and joy, perhaps you will join us Advent-observers and participants this year. 

I’m forgoing the candles, acknowledging that they are a wisp or shadow of the thing they are meant to represent anyway…If you choose to celebrate with candles, please take precautions to burn them and extinguish them safely.

In Him.