from Luke 1:46-55, Psalm 30:1-5
Perhaps more than ever we are desperate for Christmas to mean something more than gifts under the tree and time spent with family. What if, in this season of Advent, we didn’t just go through the motions of preparing for Christmas…what if we didn’t celebrate an “Almost Christmas,” but instead gave ourselves fully to the expectation…to the anticipation of what Christ’s coming means for this world?
More than ever, it seems like the Advent theme we need to be most true is the theme of Joy…and yet, it may seem like it is the most elusive. Sure there are moments that we might feel happiness, or there are joyful moments…but they are often fleeting. Certainly this can’t be what is offered in Christ…a feeling sense of happiness.
What if it’s not the gift that is bad, but our lack of understanding the fullness of what Joy in Christ means.
w/ Vern Collins