Can you recall a time when you were surprised? Perhaps by something totally unexpected? Were you caught completely off guard? Maybe you thought afterward, "if only I had known," or "I wish I had been prepared!" Getting ready...
being prepared.
Well, the Advent season is your chance! Advent starts a new year in the life of the church! A time to get ready for God's wonderful surprise - the birth of the Savior, God's beloved Son.
The word "advent" is derived from a Latin term that means "coming" and the Advent season begins four Sundays before Christmas.
It is a time that invites us to wait for the coming of Jesus and to prepare for the celebration of Jesus' birth.
It is truly a time of hopeful expectation.
As we wait with hope, Matthew 24:36-44 reminds us of Jesus' coming in power and glory at the close of the age.
While many may wonder when that will be, Jesus tells us that "no one knows the day or hour...
only the Father knows" (Matthew 24:36, CEV).
And we are admonished by Jesus to "be ready" since we don't know when he will come (verse 44).
All around us it seems that the commercial world is urging us, with increased intensity, to get ready for Christmas - window decorations begin appearing as early as October; our mailboxes are flooded with holiday circulars and catalogs; stores open the day after Thanksgiving at 4:00 and 5:00 a.
m.
, seeking to lure buyers with special sales and other shopping incentives.
How easy, and perhaps tempting, to get caught up in the frenzied pace of the pre-Christmas season.
Are we any different from the unprepared people in Noah's day who "were eating, drinking, and getting married right up to the day that the flood came" (Matthew 24:38, CEV)? Think how surprised they must have been when God acted! To be so preoccupied can cause us to lose sight of and miss what God has in store.
Yes, the Advent season bids us pause, reflect, and prepare for God's amazing surprise.
We are invited to prepare our hearts so that we will be ready to receive God's gift of love, God's own Son.
When Jesus was born, no one expected the Messiah to come as a baby.
Surprise...
! God's gift of love came to us in an unexpected and joyful way.
With the birth of Jesus, God broke into human history to dwell among us.
God's sending the Holy Spirit empowers us to be prepared for the unexpected hour when Christ will come again.
The apostle Paul warns us to "wake up" and to "live properly" because "the day when we will be saved is nearer now" (Romans 13:11, CEV) than ever before.
Living "in between Advents," we prepare for the birth of Jesus - Emmanuel, God with us - and we joyfully await his coming again.
In the days of Advent, be open to God's surprises in your life as you prepare your heart to welcome and receive the Savior.
As in Noah's time, God will act when we least expect it.
Are you ready?
being prepared.
Well, the Advent season is your chance! Advent starts a new year in the life of the church! A time to get ready for God's wonderful surprise - the birth of the Savior, God's beloved Son.
The word "advent" is derived from a Latin term that means "coming" and the Advent season begins four Sundays before Christmas.
It is a time that invites us to wait for the coming of Jesus and to prepare for the celebration of Jesus' birth.
It is truly a time of hopeful expectation.
As we wait with hope, Matthew 24:36-44 reminds us of Jesus' coming in power and glory at the close of the age.
While many may wonder when that will be, Jesus tells us that "no one knows the day or hour...
only the Father knows" (Matthew 24:36, CEV).
And we are admonished by Jesus to "be ready" since we don't know when he will come (verse 44).
All around us it seems that the commercial world is urging us, with increased intensity, to get ready for Christmas - window decorations begin appearing as early as October; our mailboxes are flooded with holiday circulars and catalogs; stores open the day after Thanksgiving at 4:00 and 5:00 a.
m.
, seeking to lure buyers with special sales and other shopping incentives.
How easy, and perhaps tempting, to get caught up in the frenzied pace of the pre-Christmas season.
Are we any different from the unprepared people in Noah's day who "were eating, drinking, and getting married right up to the day that the flood came" (Matthew 24:38, CEV)? Think how surprised they must have been when God acted! To be so preoccupied can cause us to lose sight of and miss what God has in store.
Yes, the Advent season bids us pause, reflect, and prepare for God's amazing surprise.
We are invited to prepare our hearts so that we will be ready to receive God's gift of love, God's own Son.
When Jesus was born, no one expected the Messiah to come as a baby.
Surprise...
! God's gift of love came to us in an unexpected and joyful way.
With the birth of Jesus, God broke into human history to dwell among us.
God's sending the Holy Spirit empowers us to be prepared for the unexpected hour when Christ will come again.
The apostle Paul warns us to "wake up" and to "live properly" because "the day when we will be saved is nearer now" (Romans 13:11, CEV) than ever before.
Living "in between Advents," we prepare for the birth of Jesus - Emmanuel, God with us - and we joyfully await his coming again.
In the days of Advent, be open to God's surprises in your life as you prepare your heart to welcome and receive the Savior.
As in Noah's time, God will act when we least expect it.
Are you ready?
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