We Need a Little Advent…

October is upon us, and we're in the thick of planning for Advent!

I know, I know, I know. No one wants to think about that just yet- I, too, saw the first Christmas commercial of the season in mid-September and raged about it for the better part of an hour.

But I beg of you this year, please do not conflate Advent with the secular world's commercial interpretation of Christmas. If you let yourself get sucked in to the disingenuous hype that is the rest of the world's celebration of Christmas, you'll miss the fact that you need Advent. Yes, you. You specifically.

For the church, Advent is one of the penitential seasons (along with Lent). It's a time to take a real and honest look at yourself and your world. It's a time to realize that our current circumstance isn't what God has intended. And it's a time to think about what we can do to change that.

God has made us a promise; Jesus is coming back, and things will be set right. Advent is a time to recommit to our part in that redemption.

I'm not going to lie to you; there's a lot of terrible in the world right now. But despair is a lie. Despair is your soul's reaction to thinking that these issues are ours alone to conquer.

We know better. We have the hope of God's promise.

That's why we need Advent this year more than ever.

Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates;

behold, the King of glory waits;

the King of kings is drawing near;

the Savior of the world is here!