FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT
 
Isaiah 2:1-5
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:37-44
Psalm 50:1-15
 
Today marks the beginning of the season of Advent, a time of preparation, a time of going toward the coming again of the Massiah, a time of great expectation and great anticipation. Are we preparing our hearts and spirits to receive again the coming of the Christ child into the world? or are we getting ready for the depression and anxiety that accompanies . . .

FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT
 
Isaiah 2:1-5
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:37-44
Psalm 50:1-15
 
Today marks the beginning of the season of Advent, a time of preparation, a time of going toward the coming again of the Massiah, a time of great expectation and great anticipation. Are we preparing our hearts and spirits to receive again the coming of the Christ child into the world? or are we getting ready for the depression and anxiety that accompanies the secular holiday season? If we allow ourselves to get caught up in the consumer Christmas we can easily find that instead of preparing to sing "O Holy Night" we will find ourselves living out one holy nightmare.
 
The Advent we celebrate has nothing at all to do with the number of shopping days left until Christmas. The hanging of the greens, the placement of the poinsettias, the lighting of the first Advent candle-all these invite us to dream of a better world, to allow expectant visions that have nothing to do with sugar plum fairies. Advent invites us to fill the cup of today with a full measure of tomorrow. Both the passage from Isaiah and words from the Matthew express the Christian hope for a different brighter future.
 
  Christian friends,  I urge you to read the Bible text for the day.
 
     He is coming, Hope sublime
     Short is now the waiting time;
     From my expectant eyes adoring teardrops start,
     He is coming, O, 'Tis music to my heart.
 
THOUgHT FOR THE DAY - The most neglected prayer in the Bible is "Even so, come, LORD Jesus."