As I was studying this week about advent and what it means, the importance of advent really came alive to me and got me excited to celebrate this season of Christmas with y’all, our church family. I hope it will do the same for you.
For the next four weeks, in church, we will be lighting a candle each week and talking about what that candle represents in regards to advent.
So first, what is advent?
Advent comes from the Latin word “adventus” which means “coming”. And as I was reading about the celebration of advent and Jesus’ coming, I realized that there are 3 comings that we can celebrate during this time. The first coming is of Jesus’ birth into the world. Christmas. The second coming is of the spirit when he saves us of our sin and his spirit enters our life. The third celebration of coming is what we look forward to when Christ will come again and bring his people into eternity with him.
So keep that in mind as we celebrate advent over the next few weeks, we celebrate the coming of Christ’s birth, the spirit coming into our lives, and Jesus’ second coming for his church.
First, we light the candle of HOPE. Aren’t you thankful for hope today?
To me, God is my hope in these two ways.
He is our hope for today.
And he is our hope for eternity.
Say out loud, “hope for today.” Psalm 33:20 says, “We put our hope in the Lord. He is our help and our shield.” We have a God who offers help to us today, in the here and now. We are invited to come to him for help.
In a time that may seem divisive, a time of a pandemic, a time of stress and worry, sickness, a time of loss or grief, or even a time of celebration, he is our sure and certain hope.
Let me give you an example… I can “hope” that my kids will nap well today so that we can go get a Christmas tree later. But my actual hope today is not in that… it’s that Jesus is with me, he loves me and he is my help no matter what my circumstances bring. Good nap or no nap.
He is my hope for today. And to even get through today.
Now say out loud, “hope for eternity.” 1 Peter 1:3-4 says “…because God raised Jesus from the dead; Now we live with great expectation {HOPE} and we have a priceless inheritance in heaven.”
When we put our faith in Jesus and begin to live for God, he promises eternal life after death with him in heaven. We, the Christian people, are a people of hope!
Prayer: God thank you for the HOPE that you offer for help today, and for eternal life with you. We live in great expectation that your promises are true. Thank you for this season of advent where we celebrate your coming.
-Sarah
Posted in Kids, Staff Blog