Advent 2021
This December we are going to take a break from Galatians to observe Advent. Advent comes from the latin “adventus” which means “coming." During Advent we prepare to celebrate the coming of Christ at Christmas. It may seem strange to prepare to celebrate but if you don’t prepare you won’t be ready to celebrate; it will sneak up on you and your heart will be as frantic as the person going out on Christmas Eve to buy gifts and groceries. We want all that preparation done ahead of time.
Our Advent theme this year is God of Light. Many Christians find themselves struggling with the trajectory of our world and culture, there are countless opportunities to worry and despair, but consider the context into which Christ was born. The world was dark, it was a star, a glimmer of light in the pitch night sky, that guided the Magi. God had not spoken to His people for four hundred years, the king of Israel was ruthless, even slaughtering children, he was appointed by a foreign power and was not of the line of David. Israel’s priests were worthless men and her lawyers didn’t understand the law. That was the context into which God sent His Son; it was dark, but the darkness was primed for light. Christ did not come for the righteous but for sinners; He came to defeat the dark; He was sent into a world of dragons because He knew how to slay them. If you’re despairing today because there are dragons in the land, it isn’t time to recoil in fear, it’s time to prepare for a feast, for Advent, time to prepare for the coming of the dragon slayer. He has come and our dragons will be slain, skinned, and made into His footstool. In Christ, the day has dawned and the night has fled.
Merry Christmas, beloved City Church! May the Lord be so near this Christmas.