40 Days is over, and now the Christian season of Advent is upon us. Along with Thanksgiving, this season is a time to remember what the Lord has done for us. In this season of Advent, we focus on the first coming of Christ, when He came as a baby in a manger. Advent consists of the four Sundays preceding Christmas, and the term literally means "coming." We remember the first coming of Christ, and we look forward to His second coming.
Each week of Advent has a particular theme associated with it, and this week's theme was "hope." Hope in the Bible doesn't refer to an anticipated possibility, but rather a "confident expectation." Our Hope is in Jesus Christ and His coming - when He says He is coming back, we have hope - the confident expectation that He will. So hope was our theme for this week, and we looked at the "Signs of Hope and Hopelessness" in the Bible in regards to the specific people surrounding the birth of Christ and how they reacted to the first coming - the shepherds, the wisemen, Herod, the innkeeper, Mary & Joseph, and the religious leaders. The message went well and was received well.
We had 135 people in this service, including 12 of my family members (holdovers from Thanksgiving). There was something special about the worship in both services that connected with my spirit - I was not just moved, but I felt that God was smiling on what we were doing. At service's end, one lady raised her hand that she prayed with me, and she received Jesus Christ into her life. It was a FANTASTIC day to be at The Journey.
I look forward with anticipation to each week of Advent, as we build up to Christmas Day and the lighting of the Christmas Candle.
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