Advent – Advent says ‘Be Exctied!’

Powerpoint Pictures: Birthday cake; Christmas Tree; School Bell; Pregnant Lady; Party Poppers

What things do you look forward to?  What events do you get excited about – where you count down the days until they take place?

Your birthday.  Christmas.  End of school term.  For your new baby brother or sister to arrive.  A party or special event like watching a football match or play at the theatre.

Now Advent is a special time of the year that helps us to celebrate Jesus saving us by reminding us of His first coming to save His people by dying on the cross and also that He will come again to get rid of all sin, suffering, death and Satan and bring His people into a new creation.

But we are still waiting for Jesus to come again, so how do we wait?

We are to wait by being ready for His coming by trusting Jesus to save us and by following Him each day.

We are to wait by being patient knowing that because Jesus hasn’t returned there is still time for people to repent and trust in Him and be saved.

And we are also to be excited.

Jesus’ return is far more exciting than our birthday or Christmas or a party.

In fact it is so exciting that all of creation is waiting for it to happen.  The apostle Paul writes, “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.” (Romans 8:19)

Creation is waiting with excitement for all of God’s people to be changed to be like Jesus, which is going to happen when He returns, and like the rest of creation we should be looking forward to that moment too.

Be excited!

(Photo: Hans Kristian Pedersen)

Advent – Advent says ‘Be Patient!’

Powerpoint Pictures: Pedestrian Crossing; Car Journey; Child looking out of a window; Presents under Christmas Tree

Are you someone who is patient?

Do you do any of the following things: Push button at a pedestrian crossing to speed it up?  Say the words ‘Are we nearly there yet?’ on a car journey?  Look out the window for someone to come thinking that it will make them come quicker?  Pick at the corners of your Christmas presents to see what you’ve been given?

We’ve seen that it is good to celebrate Advent because it helps us to celebrate Jesus saving us.

It reminds us of His first coming and how from the time of Adam and Eve and the promise of the serpent crusher, God’s people were waiting for Jesus to come and save His people.

It also helps us to remember that like them, we too are waiting.  We are waiting for Jesus to come again and get rid of all sin, suffering, death and Satan once and for all and bring His people into a new creation.

But how do we wait?

We are to wait by being ready for His coming by trusting Jesus to save us and by following Him each day.

Another way we are to wait is by being patient.

We may want Jesus to come now, but there is a good reason why He hasn’t which is why we need to wait patiently.  What is this good reason?

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.  He is patient with yo, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.” (2 Peter 3:9-10)

The good reason is to give more time for people to repent and trust in Jesus.  Because Jesus hasn’t returned yet, it must mean there are still people He wants to save.  This should encourage us to tell our friends and family members the good news about Him.

Be Patient!

(Photo: Hans Kristian Pedersen)

Advent – Advent says ‘Be Ready!’

Powerpoint Pictures: People queuing who aren’t paying attention; People queuing who are paying attention

We don’t have to celebrate Advent, but it is good to do so because it helps us to celebrate Jesus saving us.  The way Advent helps us to do this is by focusing our thoughts and attention on Jesus’ coming.

It reminds us of His first coming and how from the time of Adam and Eve and the promise of the serpent crusher, God’s people were waiting for Jesus to come and save His people.

It also helps us to remember that like them, we too are waiting.  We are waiting for Jesus to come again and get rid of all sin, suffering, death and Satan once and for all and bring His people into a new creation.

But how do we wait?

Look at this picture of people queuing.  They are waiting for something.

Now in a queue there are two types of people who are waiting or queuing.

There are the sleepy queuers.  They are those who aren’t paying attention to what is going on around them.  The queue may suddenly move forward and they don’t realise this and stay where they are allowing a large gap ahead of them to form.

Then there are the awake queuers.  They are those who are ready and alert.  As soon as the queue moves, they move.

When it came to Jesus’ first coming we find these two types of people waiting.

Some people, like Herod, were sleepy, they weren’t ready for Jesus to come into the world, in fact they didn’t really want Him to.  “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem… Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?  When Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.” (Matthew 2:1-3)

But there were some, like Simon, who were alert and awake, ready for Jesus to come.  “Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout.  He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.” (Luke 2:25)

As people who are waiting for Jesus to come again, the question for us is, how are we waiting?

Are we asleep or are we awake?

Advent says to us “Be Ready!”

How?  By trusting in Jesus to save us and by following Jesus as we obey His teaching.

Be Ready!

(Photo: Hans Kristian Pedersen)

Advent – Why celebrate Advent?

Powerpoint Pictures: Different types of calendars

What types of calendars are there? [Year Calendar; Advent Calendar; Academic Calendar; Family Planner; Liturgical Calendar].

As a church we don’t follow the liturgical or church calendar, but we do mark certain events during the year like Advent.

Why does Advent appear on this church’s calendar?

Here’s the answer: To help us celebrate Jesus saving us.

But don’t we do that every week.  Yes we do on Sunday or the Lord’s Day, just like the first followers of Jesus did.  “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread.” (Acts 20:7)

In fact God’s people have celebrated Jesus saving them for thousands of years.  The people of Israel celebrated Jesus saving them from slavery in Egypt every Sabbath.  “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.  Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” (Deuteronomy 5:15)

So if we celebrate Jesus saving us every Sunday, why do we need to mark certain events like Advent during the year?

We don’t have to.  But it can be good to focus our attention on different parts of Jesus’ saving work.

In addition to the Sabbath, the Jews also had special festivals and occasions to remember what Jesus had done for them including the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles.

By marking Advent it helps us to celebrate Jesus saving us by reminding us that God kept His promise to save His people from their sin when Jesus came into the world, and that one day He will keep His promise to bring His people into a new creation when Jesus comes again.

Whilst we don’t need to celebrate Advent I think it is good to do so to help us celebrate Jesus saving us!

(Photo: Hans Kristian Pedersen)