Merry December All,
We are entering the season of Advent. Christmas music has been playing on the radio. Thanksgiving has come and gone, and now we are here at the beginning of a new church year with plenty of things happening.
So, what is new this Advent?
This year, Advent is all about arriving. Arriving, you say? Well, yes. It is about arriving to wait. Believe it or not, the concept of arriving to wait is not new. Each year, when Advent arrives, we dip our toe into a river. A river that is familiar but also new. What Advent does is invite us to notice something that is new in the midst of all our familiar preparations for Jesus’ birth.
And yes, Advent is a journey, and this journey that we will be on is about reversing the expectations that we all have. Just think, each year, we hear the story of this babe born in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger, as the shepherds watch over their flocks by night. It is the same story we hear each year, and yet we seem to forget about the expectations. So, as we work toward that wonderful night of light, how are we preparing for those expectations that come from the Christ child?
This year, I call on each one of us to encounter what we already think we know in a brand-new way. So how do we do that? We do it by finding and receiving the Good News in the places we do not expect. Because this year as we look at the prophets and as we read and listen to the Gospels, something will help us along on our Advent journey, which is this: hope, peace, joy, and love. And guess what? These are the things we are called to live into as disciples who are waiting in anticipation. Friends, the kin-dom of God is near. The Christ child is born again!
Come and listen as we anticipate the coming Christ!
Blessings,
Pastor Greg Leslie
