Two days ago, the Friday after Thanksgiving, my wife and I lugged our Christmas decoration boxes down from our attic. It’s time to glam up our house for Christmas. My guess is that you have done or soon will do the same.
Last week at Thanksgiving dinner one of my nephews told me that they have 100 boxes of lights that they are going to put up this year. I looked at him with disbelief and said, “Are you serious? 100 boxes?” He said, “Well maybe 40 boxes.” They are trying to win the unofficial neighborhood Christmas light competition this year. Even with only 40 boxes of lights, I suspect they’re going to have a good shot at winning.
It is wonderful to get into the Christmas spirit!
We’re doing the same in our church family because today, Sunday, December 1, is the first Sunday of Advent. Our church family invites people to participate in worship by lighting the candles on the Advent Wreath and reading a short liturgy during Advent.
We place the Advent wreath in the front of our sanctuary, and we shine the color purple shining from the floor lights. The wreath and lights are symbols of the season of Advent.
When I see the purple color during Advent, I think of the color of a bruise. Bruises appear when damage has been done, but healing is taking place. Advent is a lot like that. During Advent we enter a period of introspective examination, and that kind of examination can sometimes hurt. It is often painful when we are confronted with the truth about ourselves. But facing the truth is usually the first step in healing.
What I am talking about is our relationship with Jesus. Is there any way that you need to confess and repent? Confession and repentance can be difficult, but confession and repentance can also lead us to grow more like Jesus. That’s why Advent is a time of spiritual preparation before we celebrate Christmas. During Advent, we are getting ready to remember the first coming of Christ, and in so doing we are also readying ourselves for his second coming, which is precisely what he said we should do.
As we do nearly every year, we will be pausing the current blog series to have a Advent series. This year we return to the traditional Advent themes of Hope, Joy, Love and Peace. My prayer is that these devotionals will also help you prepare for the great celebration of Christmas by reflecting on those important Advent themes.
To start us off this coming week, I welcome Kirk Marks who will be blogging about Advent Hope.
Engaging Scripture 