God is Great. God Is Good.
It is Christmas time that we celebrate the gift of God to us His people. In His great mercy, He chose to save us from our sins and to adopt us as His children. He did this through sending us His son – Jesus the Christ, our Messiah, our Savior.
At Christmas we remember Jesus birth. When He condescended to us and became like us but without sin. In scripture we find many examples of people making “markers” – things to remind them about what God did for them. Sometimes they set them up on their own and other times God commanded it. They were opportunities to remember and opportunities to tell future generations about the works of God. That is the concept behind advent – remembering what God has done through sending His son.
In our world there is so much made of Christmas. It is filled with competing priorities. It draws our attention to ourselves. Advent is the way that we combat the draw of the world. We purposefully turn our thoughts to the gift of God…His Son! We are reminded our need of Him and of His great love for us.
Each week contains a main reading. It is meant for Sunday, but can be any day. That reading contains scripture and a reflection of what that means. There are then other readings of just the scriptures that continue to tell the story.
Advent has many traditions. There are many ways of accomplishing the same thing – focusing on the gift of God. For our family, we break each week down as follows:
- Week 1 – Prophecy – The Expression of Hope
- Week 2 – Bethlehem – The Demonstration of His Love
- Week 3 – Angels – The Proclamation of Peace
- Week 4 – Shepherds – The Response of Joy
- Christmas Day – Christ – Our Savior has Come
Merry Christmas! May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ bless you in this season and draw you ever closer to Him!