ADVENT SUNDAY 1 - COMING

 ADVENT SUNDAY 1

This is the first Sunday of Advent.  The word Advent means “Coming” and Advent is a season of the church year observed in many Christian denominations as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for both the celebration of the birth of Christ at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming.

Four Sundays before Christmas in homes and churches you can see an Advent wreath with 3 purple candles and 1 pink around the outside and a larger white one in the middle.  Some people vary the colours on the outside from all purple or blue to all white. 

The colour of the candles isn’t the main issue. It’s the opening our hearts and minds to remember and celebrate that Jesus truly is the reason for the season and that we really do need to have Him work in our hearts to get us ready to see Him face to face and to spend eternity with Him.

We begin our prayer today with the words of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist as he responded to what God showed Him about the coming of Jesus to be our Saviour:

“Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people. He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David, just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago. Luke 1:68-70

Now we will be saved from our enemies and from all who hate us. He has been merciful to our ancestors by remembering his sacred covenant—the covenant he swore with an oath to our ancestor Abraham. Luke 1:71-73

We have been rescued from our enemies so we can serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live.  Luke 1:74-75

God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light

as we remember how your Son Jesus Christ put on  human flesh and in great humility came to live with us. 

He is the great King of Kings and Lord or Lords and we also remember how He will come again in glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead. 

Increase our longing for the life Jesus paid so dearly for us to experience.  Give us the strength to grow in love, and every day to rejoice in his presence as we welcome the light of his truth.

We are grateful God that:

 a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

Amen

Let’s set our hearts and minds to focus on what really matters and prepare our hearts to welcome the Christ child.