Advent 2

Advent is not really the season of preparing for Jesus' birth, as though he had never come in the first place. Advent is the season of preparation for his coming again... Do I really believe that Jesus is coming back, not just coming to individual souls one by one in their own hearts, but coming to call the entire universe into judgment, coming to bring history as we know it to a close, coming to bring his everlasting kingdom to pass? That's what the New Testament sets before us—not a private, invisible, spiritualized coming of Christ but a cosmic event that will be visible to everyone. "Every eye will now behold him, robed in dreadful majesty." This claim that the church makes is too serious to fool around with. If we don't mean it, we should put an end to Advent. We should take the phrase out of the Nicene Creed: "He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead." We shouldn't say that every Sunday if we can't believe it. 

Fleming Rutledge
Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ

The Advent season communicates a message of immense importance! Hope and promise are at the center of Advent and each one of us should feel that a promise has been made to him or her by the God who, unlike human beings, keeps his promises.

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation