Imagine that you sit down to Thanksgiving dinner and what’s passed around the table is a big raw turkey, a bowl of dirty, cold, fresh out of the ground potatoes, a loaf of stale bread, some bullion cubes, and a few bowls with flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and butter. Sure, all the ingredients are there to make a fine meal, but there’s clearly something missing and that thing is…
Preparation.
We can buy all the ingredients for a Thanksgiving feast, but without investing the time and the care that it takes to adequately prepare them, they aren’t anywhere near as good as they should be, or as good as we expected them to be.Preparation is the thing that puts the pieces together, measures out the ingredients, mixes them, and warms them to precise temperatures for a measured amount of time.Without that preparation, we end up with raw meat and stale bread instead of a succulent roasted turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and dessert.It is the preparation that makes the house smell so good, and drool with anticipation.
It seems so obvious when we think about Thanksgiving and food.
So, why does it seem so hard to understand when we think about the season of Advent?These four weeks are a time that has been deliberately set aside as… a season of preparation.It is a time for us to set out the ingredients, Jesus, Mary, Joseph, hope, faith, joy, love, prophets, shepherds, angels, and everything else, measure them out in the right proportions, mix and season them, and warm them in the love of our community of faith.And then, at just the right time, it all comes together, and what is served is just what we imagined and just we needed to fill our souls to overflowing.
During this season of preparation, we invite you to come into the kitchen with us.Join us as we set out the ingredients, measure, share news of family and friends, mix, season, and warm it all, and us, in the love of faith and community.The result, on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, will be much more satisfying and fulfilling than raw turkey and bowls of uncooked ingredients. Like Thanksgiving dinner, the thing that makes us drool with the anticipation of Christmas, and so deeply satisfies our souls, is found in setting aside the time to prepare it, together.
What does it cost, and what is it worth to be a member of something?
Many of you will remember the advertising campaign that was used by American Express from 1974 to 1987 that said, “Membership has its privileges.” Membership, of course, cost money, but for many frequent travelers, the membership benefits were, and are, worth far more than the annual fee for the card.
Similarly, joining the local Country Club can be worthwhile if you like to play golf on a regular basis and if you use the benefits that come with membership.
If you just want to show off, you can probably find someone that will, for a small fee, make you a fake American Express Gold Card or a fake Country Club membership card that you can show off at parties. But your fake card isn’t going to give you any of the benefits that you get with the real thing. You won’t get 24 hour concierge service, or emergency airline ticketing, or collect reward points, you won’t get to play golf or even get in the door to eat in the country club banquet room. A fake card lets you pretend that you’re a member, but does not give you any of the benefits of actual membership.
All that may seem to be an odd thing to think about during Advent, but it may help us to understand some of the things we hear in our scripture passages this morning. We begin with God’s words about the coming messiah, to the people of Israel, recorded by the prophet Zephaniah (Zephaniah 3:14-20)
14 Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! 15 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you, he has turned away your enemies. The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more. 16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak. 17 The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew youin his love; he will exult over you with loud singing 18 as on a day of festival. I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it. 19 I will deal with all your oppressors at that time. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. 20 At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the Lord.
God makes it clear that the coming of the Messiah will be a reason for rejoicing and happiness. On that day fear will be taken away and replaced with joy, gladness, and love. Shame will be transformed into praise as the people who have been dispersed around the world will return and be welcomed home at last.
That fits with the joyful themes that we expect as we prepare for Christmas during the season of Advent. But we might be a little confused when we discover that this isn’t at all the picture that John the Baptist paints as he preaches in the wilderness in Luke 3:7-18.
7 John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 9 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” 11 In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” 12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” 13 He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation and, be satisfied with your wages.”
15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16 John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you withthe Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
18 So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.
John starts with, “You brood of vipers” and a warning to flee from God’s punishment and anger, but still ends with Luke describing his words as “good news.” How does that work? Much of John’s message is about God uprooting unproductive followers, and a reminder that we cannot rest on the faith and work of our parents or other ancestors, and he cautions everyone to be fair to others regardless of their profession, and to honor God in all that they do. But still, how does this get summarized as “good news?”
And, as it that wasn’t confusing enough, Paul seems to echo the optimism of Zephaniah as he writes to the church in Philippi (Philippians 4:4-7) saying:
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
So, which is it? Should we rejoice or flee? Should we have peace, or should we be worried about God’s wrath, anger, and punishment?
And the answer is just as simple as it was for American Express or the country club across town. Membership has its privileges but the card you carry in your pocket needs to be the real one. Coming to church on Sunday just so that you can tell your friends that you are a Christian isn’t going to be enough if you live the rest of the week as if Jesus, and everything that he teaches, doesn’t matter. Putting money in the offering plate won’t make a bit of difference if your faith doesn’t change the way that you live your life when you aren’t in the church building. Saying that you are a Christian doesn’t make you one. Being a genuine follower of Jesus Christ means living a life that models the teachings of Jesus. Love your neighbor, love those how hate you and who persecute you, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger and the foreigner, care for the poor, and all those other things that you find in the Gospel message that we talk about here every week.
We can’t just go to church; we have to be the church. We can’t just say that we love Jesus, we have to live, and we have to love, like Jesus.
Once we manage that, then we will be the people that Paul was describing. Our gentleness will be known to everyone, we won’t need to worry, and we can rest in the peace of God. John’s message is that fake membership cards aren’t going to be enough, but that genuine membership is free.
And it is for that reason that we rejoice. Because this is indeed good news, of great joy, for all the people.
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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
This morning we need to talk about preparation. We know that the motto of our Troops 50 scouts is to always “Be Prepared.” But for what should we prepare? If we look at how we often use the world preparation, it appears in quite a few places and means something different in each case.
If a restaurant advertises for a Prep Cook, what they need is someone to get their day started, to make the ingredients for meals, so that food can be made to order later. Prep cooks might make bread dough, or mix batches of pancake batter in the morning, or they could be peeling potatoes or chopping vegetables that will be used later.
If we go shopping and we buy “prepared food,” what we’ve purchased is food that has already had most of the work done for us. If we cook from scratch, as we read through our cookbooks or online recipes, we find that each one often tells us how much “prep time,” or preparation time, is required before we start cooking. And, if we’re trying to pass an upcoming state board exam, we might sign up, and pay, for a “test prep” class to make sure that all the most important information is fresh on our minds.
All these things are important and I want you to keep them in mind as we read today’s scriptures and consider what it is for which we are preparing. We begin this morning with the Old Testament prophecy of the coming messiah found in Malachi 3:1-4 where we hear these words:
3:1 See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; 3 he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
Malachi says that God is sending a messenger to prepare the way ahead of his arrival and when he arrives, he will refine and purify his people until they become suitable and righteous offerings that are pleasing to God. And then in Luke 3:1-6, we hear Isaiah’s words used to describe John the Baptist as a person who has come to prepare the way before the arrival of the Lord when he says…
3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was rulerof Galilee, and his brother Philip rulerof the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias rulerof Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
Luke says that John’s mission was to prepare for the arrival of the Messiah that had been foretold by Malachi, Isaiah, and other Old Testament prophets, and the purpose of his preparations were so that every human being could see the salvation and rescue of God. John’s appearance as the fulfillment of scripture, as the person whom God sent to prepare the way for the arrival of the Messiah, is an important part of Advent and the story of Christmas. But we all know that the Messiah, Jesus came. So, what does that mean for each of us? The arrival of Jesus happened more than two thousand years ago. We can’t take John’s job; we can no longer prepare for the arrival of Jesus… or can we?
In Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, he writes to a church that was established well after Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Like us, they knew the Christmas story and they knew, as we do, that they could not prepare for Jesus’ arrival. But there was still something that God was calling them to do, and we hear that calling in the words of Philippians 1:3-11 when Paul says:
3 I thank my God every time I remember you, 4 constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, 5 because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s gracewith me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. 9 And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight 10 to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, 11 having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.
Paul says that the calling of the church is not to prepare for Jesus’s arrival, but to be so filled with the love of Jesus that our love overflows into the world and into the lives of the people around us. But our calling to love is in addition to our calling to prepare. While we are no longer called to prepare for the arrival of the Messiah, we now have three callings instead. We are now called to prepare our minds so that we will increase our knowledge, gain insight, and grow in faith, to prepare our hearts so that we will be pure and righteous, and to prepare our actions so that we will share the message of Jesus and produce a harvest of righteousness that brings glory and praise to God.
As we walk through the season of Advent and as we read the story of Christmas, let us remember that it is not just a story from long ago and far away. It is a story of here and now, of you and me, and it is a calling for us to have hope, to have faith, and to prepare the way with just as much joy and passion as John the Baptist did two thousand years ago. But while John was called to prepare for the arrival of the Messiah, we are called to prepare ourselves, our neighbors, our friends, our communities, our nation, and our world for the King that will rule for all eternity.
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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
I read today that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is closed for the first time since the Black Plague in 1349.”
And I then proceeded to hope that we would return to worship withing a few short weeks, or months, and celebrate a postponed Palm Sunday and Easter celebration together.”
Clearly, that is not the way that things turned out.
Nevertheless, we have held together, encouraged one another, found new ways to worship, new ways to be “together,” endured, and overcome, many challenges along the way.
Today we can better see the light at the end of the tunnel. Three different vaccines (so far) are available in the United States, and many of us have begun, or have already completed, the process of vaccination. Things are, finally, beginning to “open up” and return to the normal that we once knew, and yet… many things have been changed forever. We continue to watch the signs, and to discuss, and evaluate, ways in which we can meet safely without endangering the most fragile among us. And we continue to hope that we can return to “in-person” worship… “soon,” and we hope that we will not be proven wrong as we were a year ago.
Nevertheless, we press on toward the prize for which Christ has called us and we continue to do as much as we are able to do. We will celebrate Palm Sunday, together, in our church parking lot and online on YouTube for those who aren’t able to be here, or who don’t yet feel safe in trying. And, because we can’t find a safe way to make Easter feel “normal” and include music and banners, and other things, we will celebrate Easter online as we did last year, and hope, again, that next year will be different.
I leave you with the same words that I used last year, simply because they still ring true.
In the meantime, I hope that you will take the time to use this time, before, during, or after the calendar Easter, to prepare your hearts and draw closer to God.
And, until we meet in worship again, please take the time to check on one another, take care of one another, and please call the church office if you need errands run, or if we can help to meet any other needs that you might have.
Take heart. Have hope. We will get through this… together.
Blessings,
Pastor John
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In just a little over two weeks, we will celebrate Ash Wednesday and begin the church season of Lent. But what is Lent? The dictionary definition says this:
noun: Lent
the period preceding Easter that in the Christian Church is devoted to fasting, abstinence, and penitence in commemoration of Christ’s fasting in the wilderness. In the Western Church it runs from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday and so includes forty weekdays.
In remembrance of Jesus’ forty days of fasting and prayer in the wilderness as he prepared to begin his ministry, we spend forty days in preparation for the celebration of Easter. Of course, as the dictionary definition pointed out, that is forty weekdays and not forty consecutive days because, traditionally, Sundays are each a “little Easter” and are not counted.
But what difference does it make?
Or, a better question might be, what will you do differently for these forty days?
In our modern era, the most well-known thing to do is to “give up” something for Lent. For many of us who grew up Protestant, giving up something for Lent might be well-known, but it tends to be poorly understood. To put it simply, giving up something for Lent, is a form of fasting. We give up coffee, or chocolate, or buying takeout food as a substitute for fasting, or giving up food entirely, for forty days.
But still, what’s the point?
The dictionary is not helpful. The dictionary definition of a fast says, “abstain from all or some kinds of food or drink, especially as a religious observance.” And, as I noted, simply saying that a fast is a “religious observance” is not helpful in understanding its purpose. A fast is supposed to be a mechanism to draw us closer to God. Usually, fasting and prayer are twins of a sort, or something that we would normally do together. The point of fasting is two-fold, I think. The first part comes closer to the dictionary definition that it is a part of a religious observance, in that it demonstrates our obedience to God and our desire to know God better. But as the first twin of the pair, fasting also is a reminder to us to spend time in prayer. As we fast, whether it is from food, from chocolate, from television, or whatever, we will be reminded to pray whenever we have a desire, out of hunger or out of habit, for the thing from which we are fasting. Whenever we are hungry, we are reminded to pray. Whenever we habitually reach for a chocolate bar, or for the television remote, we are reminded to spend time in prayer instead. During our time of fasting, we fill the time we would have done something else, eating or watching television, etc., with prayer, Bible reading, devotional time, or some other thing that draws us into God’s presence and into a closer relationship with him.
So, do we have to fast during these forty days of Lent?
No, we do not. While I have, I typically do not. But, that said, Lent remains a season that is deliberately set aside for us to prepare our hearts, minds, and spirits, for the celebration of Easter. It is a time for us to reflect, repent, and draw closer to God. Fasting is just one way of doing that (and it’s a good one).
As you read this, I urge you to use this season of Lent in the way that it is intended. If you choose to fast from something, that’s great (but if you want to fast from food, please have a conversation with your doctor before you do). But whether you fast, I hope that you will find some way of drawing closer to God. Take the time to reflect, to repent, and to draw closer to God. Find a good Lenten devotional and spend time, each day, reading it, reading the scriptures that it recommends or suggests, reflecting, repenting, and praying.
Rather than turning the calendar on Easter Sunday morning and saying “Happy Easter” to friends and family like someone crossing the finish line without running the race, I urge you to spend some time in preparation. I hope that we will each take the time to run the race and spend the season of Lent drawing closer to God and preparing our hearts for Easter.
Lent is not something that God requires of us. It is a gift that has been given to us.
When we take the time to draw closer to God and prepare our hearts during the season of Lent, Easter becomes even more meaningful and affects us even more deeply.
Lent is a gift.
What will you do with it?
Blessings,
Pastor John
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Our season of Lent begins this coming Wednesday, February 26th.
But what does that mean?
The season of Lent is a time that we have set aside on our church calendars, to remember and to reflect. We know that Spring is coming. And with its arrival, we will celebrate Jesus’ resurrection at Easter. But in order to better appreciate Easter, to fully participate in, and to better enjoy the celebration, we set aside time to prepare.
If you think about it, we go through this sort of preparation for many things. Of course, we could do things on the spur of the moment, but many things of importance in our lives deserve more thought. We plan for vacation by buying tickets, reading travelogues, buying a good summer book to take along, as well as sunscreen, snacks for the car or the airplane on our journey, and other “essentials” so that we are prepared, both mentally and physically, to fully enjoy our holiday. We do the same thing was we prepare for scout camp, or for back to school. We spend time and effort to prepare so that everything will go smoothly and be as enjoyable as possible when the time for those events arrives.
And since Easter is the biggest event of the church year (bookends with Christmas) we do the same thing. For us to arrive at Easter as spiritually prepared, mature Christians, we shouldn’t try to cram all our preparations into one hurried trip to Wal-Mart the night before. Instead, let us commit to a season or preparation so that we will arrive on Easter morning renewed, refreshed, equipped, expectant, and joyful.
Join us, so that we can journey together during this season of anticipation.
Blessings,
Pastor John
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As we begin the season of Lent, much like Advent, we are called to spend some time in reflection. As a church, we spend 40 days remembering the gospel story that leads up to our celebration of Easter and, as individuals, we are called to do the same. Easter is wonderful, but the thing that makes it a reason for celebration is contained in the story that leads up to it. Of course, we will welcome you to our church at Easter even if you don’t, but won’t you also join us in the deeper meaning as we remember the story, study God’s word, and prepare our hearts during the season of Lent?
Our Lenten season begins next week with Ash Wednesday services here at Christ Church at 7:00 pm. There will also be a weekly Lenten Bible study each Thursday at 7:00 pm entitled “Embracing Uncertainty” by Magrey R. deVega. Please accept our invitation to come to these, and to our weekly Sunday worship as we prepare our hearts for Easter. Of course, if you don’t live anywhere near Christ Church (in Alliance, Ohio), we encourage you to visit a congregation near you.
We are, once again, entering the Advent Season. Advent literally means the arrival of someone, or something, of great importance, but for us it is more than just marking the calendar to make note of his arrival. We all know that our celebration of Jesus’ birth is on December 25th, but still, we deliberately set aside four weeks, and four Sundays, prior to that for special recognition and celebration?
But why?
We set aside time, because we are creatures of habit. We get in ruts, we get stuck in our routines and habits, and we tend to live every week in the same pattern as the last. If we allow ourselves to do that at Christmas, then Jesus’ birthday will get overrun with the busyness of the ordinary and ordinary is the one thing that it should never become.
Instead, we set aside Advent as a season of preparation just as we set aside Lent as a season to prepare for Easter. For four weeks, we remember and reflect on the many aspects of the Christmas story. We remember the shepherds and the angels, Mary and Joseph, Elizabeth and Zechariah, Anna and Simeon, and finally, the arrival of Jesus. Each of the characters of the Christmas story have something to tell us and we can be shaped by God as we learn from them.
I hope that you will join us on this journey of preparation. Oh sure, you can just pop in on Christmas Eve and feel as if you’ve worshipped, but then you’ll have missed the greater message. You could save a lot of time if you only watched the last ten minutes of Star Wars or Casablanca or Gone with the Wind. But while only watching the climax of the story may inform you how the story ends, it doesn’t carry you along on the journey, it doesn’t inspire, it doesn’t stir your emotions or let you feel the passion of the story.
To say that you have experienced these films and been changed or shaped by them, you need to watch the whole thing, often more than once. We watch them, and we imagine ourselves as a part of the story. We take the time to put ourselves in the place of the characters and imagine what it would be like to live through the story as they did. Good movies, and good books, do all those things to us and this is the story that surpasses them all. This is the greatest story ever told.
And so, I invite you to join us on an Advent journey as we prepare our hearts for the arrival of the King of kings. I hope that, if you can, you will commit yourselves to worshipping with us, not just on Christmas Eve, but every week during this sacred season of preparation. Allow yourself to be drawn into the story, to experience its drama, its emotions, and its passion. I promise that if you do, you will experience a Christmas Eve, and a Christmas, that will be more deeply meaningful, more passionate, more life-changing, than you will ever find possible by simply skipping to the end of the story.
Advent isn’t about being warm, or having the house well stocked, or even about feeling festive on Christmas morning.
As we enter December, we are also entering the season of Advent. Advent, much like the season of Lent before Easter, is meant to be a season of preparation.
But what does that mean?
Honestly, an easy way to think about it is the same way we think about preparing for many other things during this time of the year. We know that winter is coming, and with it our usual mix of snow, ice, and cold weather. And so, in preparation, many of us have spent time digging our winter coats, hats, mittens, scarves, and other things from the backs of closets. We’ve stocked up on salt for the driveway and made sure that our snow shovels and snow blowers are ready to go. Similarly, we have begun preparing our homes for Christmas by pulling our decorations out of the garage, attic, basement, crawlspace, or wherever else we’ve stored them since last year. And we’re making plans to bake cookies, make candy, bake pies, and whatever else needs done to make us feel “ready” for the arrival of Christmas day.
Some of us, and I am one of them, need this time. It is sometimes hard for me to feel festive at Christmas. I drift more easily toward “humbug” than to “Ho ho ho.” And so to prepare, I deliberately try to listen to Christmas music, and watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and other classic Christmas specials that we grew up with, along with various Hallmark Christmas movies on television.
But Advent isn’t about being warm, or having the house well stocked, or even about feeling festive on Christmas morning.
Advent is about our heart condition.
Advent asks us to think about whether or not our hearts are ready to receive the Christ child at Christmas. Advent asks us if we are ready to accept the greatest gift that God has ever offered to us. And so, for four weeks, we are offered this season of preparation. This is a time for us to consider the condition of our hearts. To read, and to listen to the stories of scripture, to fellowship and sing with others and, just as we are preparing our homes, to prepare our hearts so that we will be truly “ready” for Christmas and the arrival of God’s greatest gift to humanity.
So consider this an invitation to the season of Advent. Come with us on a journey together. Let us spend time worshipping together, singing together, and studying together. I invite you to be a part of something bigger than yourself. Perhaps to pick up an Advent devotional and have a few moments of daily quiet time alone with God.
You wouldn’t dream of being snowed in this winter without coats and hats, shovels and salt, and a pantry full of food (with a few cookies and fudge).
You want to be prepared.
The Savior of the world is coming. God’s greatest gift.
Please take the time to prepare your heart as well.
Our season of Lent begins this coming Wednesday, February 26th.
Pastor Partridge 