Advent- a season marked by the four Sundays previous to Christmas.
When was the last time your family anticipated a special vacation, occasion, or event?? Perhaps it was a cross-country trip or a family occasion such as a wedding, a graduation, the birth of a child, or a 75th birthday. How was your life different in the days leading up to that event?
Preparation would almost certainly be part of the answer to this question. How do you prepare for Christmas? Shopping for gifts, planning visits, preparing meals, decorating the house, and making a trip to that favorite place to select a Christmas tree—all of these are typical to our preparations for Christmas. Yet they can all fail to prepare us for what Christmas is all about.
Though the story is old and familiar, we need to hear it again, with hearts that are hungry to grasp the wonder of the Word made flesh, dwelling among us. The story of a Father Who promised to send a Redeemer to the fallen world; of a Redeemer Who gave His perfect life for sinners and brought with Him the kingdom of grace; and of the glorious return of this Redeemer as King of kings and Lord of lords.
It is my prayer that you and your family and friends will use this guide to read from God’s Word each day of Advent, and that the hymns included as well would help you to prepare to celebrate Christ’s coming this Christmas. The passages listed for each of the Sundays in Advent will be read as the Call to Worship, and you can prepare for worship each Saturday evening by reading the passage and singing the carol listed for that Sunday. If there are young children in your family, choose one simple thought from the Scripture passage and perhaps one line from the hymn to explain and illustrate. You’ll find that you will grow in understanding as you bring biblical truth to the level of your children.
Above all, I pray that your Christmas would be filled with the joy of Christ, and that together we would celebrate the joy of belonging to Him while we long for His coming again in glory. May you know His love more fully this Christmas!
John Bennetch, Director of Worship
