Blogging through December

The word Advent means "coming" or "arrival." During Advent we celebrate the birth of Jesus the Christ in his first Advent, and we anticipate his return as Christ the King. Without a doubt there is something magical about this time of the liturgical year that is filled with waiting and longing and hoping. This year, during our waiting time, we will examine THE STORY of our faith while engaging several children's story books written about some of our Christmas traditions. So make plans to be with us as we consider the legends of the Christmas tree, the Christmas stocking, and others. 

In addition, you may wish to prepare for worship by reflecting on the readings provided in our Advent devotional by Henry Nouwen, Wait for the Lord. May the following prayer written by John Bell bless you along the way. 

You keep us waiting.

You, the God of all time,

want us to wait

for the right time in which to discover

who we are, where we are to go,

who will be with us, and what we must do.

So thank you…for the waiting time.

You keep us looking.

You, the God of all space,

want us to look in the right and wrong places

for signs of hope,

for people who are hopeless,

for visions of a better world which will appear

among the disappointments of the world we know.

So thank you…for the looking time.

You keep us loving.

You, the God whose name is love,

want us to be like you—

to love the loveless and the unlovely and the unloveable;

and, most difficult of all,

to love ourselves.

So thank you…for the loving time.

And in all this,

you keep us.

Through hard questions with no easy answers;

through failing where we hoped to succeed

and making an impact where we felt we were useless;

through the patience and the dreams and the love of others;

and through Jesus Christ and his Spirit,

you keep us.

So thank you…for the keeping time,

and for now,

and for ever,

Amen.

I look forward to accompanying you on the journey through Advent. 

Shalom,

Glenda