We have approached  the season of Advent.  I want to offer a word of explanation so that our celebration will be more meaningful this year.  It is my hope that a fuller understanding of Advent will bring you closer to God and help you experience the Holy Spirit in a powerful way.

 

The season of Advent has a long and honorable history in the Christian faith.  Over the centuries, its celebration has touched millions of people.  Today Advent is celebrated as a season of expectant and joyful longing for the fulfillment of God’s promised reign, as we wait for the One who has already come.  The word advent means “arrival that has been awaited” (Especially of something momentous).  For us in the church, Advent is the four Sundays that precede Christmas.  It is meant to be something unbridled, something exciting, even adventurous.

 

More than likely, when your parents knew you were on the way, they immediately began preparing a way for your coming.  They may have decorated a nursery, painted walls, purchased a crib or screamed from the top of their lungs somewhere.  Nevertheless, they waited and counted down the days until finally—-a glorious day!  Their child was born.

 

In Advent we prepare the way of the Lord.  We renovate our souls so that our hearts may prepare him room.  And finally, a glorious dawn breaks, shattering the darkness.  God comes near; Emmanuel, “God is with us.”  This is Advent.  And it is anything but dull.  Make this Advent what it is meant to be, and adventure!

 

So get to renovating your heart.  Recover that old couch, clean up the yard, sweep off the porch, set the table for a banquet.  Christ is coming!  It’s on this Sunday come and let’s get our praise on!

 

Hallelujah,
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