A Blog To Help Us To Prepare For Advent...
For the first time in a cagillion years I am ahead of schedule. Just about every year prior to this I have done a good job reminding parents of Advent and when it begins. I have even offered lots of practical ideas to families so they can celebrate advent with their family. The problem was those ideas came as advent was upon us, when it was difficult to decide and implement something without feeling like you are behind the 8-ball right off the bat. Well, things are gonna be different...and its not just an empty promise. Here we are, November 1, with over a whole month to plan and decide how you will lead your family this Christmas.
What Is Advent and why should we Celebrate it?
Let me raise and answer an important question for us to consider. Why do we need to celebrate Advent? Well, let me answer what it is first. Advent simply means the arrival of an important person. In our case, we are celebrating the arrival of the most important person of all, Jesus!
Now I will answer why it is so important to celebrate it. After I answer these I will offer some ideas for how your family can celebrate it.
We celebrate advent because:
Christmas Has Been Hijacked By Consumerism:
You don’t have to be a Christian to celebrate Christmas. However, it likely that if you celebrate advent it is because you are a Christian. Most Christian children understand Jesus is the reason for the season. Lets be honest, however, there is no way that will be meaningful to them when it gets buried under the aftermath of shards of wrapping paper that once enticingly concealed the identity of gifts in excess of $77. Yes, Jesus is the reason for the season but...NINTENDO! I am not bemoaning or begrudging our practices. I am saying, however, that a more thorough and concentrated effort will be required if Christ will be the true substance of our Holiday.
Christmas Is Assaulted By Secularism Humanism:
In our day egalitarianism is the cultural mantra that guide much of our thinking. This has led to the notion that all religions should be equally celebrated. Now, people feel evangelistically bold when they say Merry Christmas to someone. This isn't a zinger. I am being serious. The effect of this is that simply connecting Christmas with Christ is a victory. In other words, Jesus is the reason for the season spells out "goal achieved." Well, not really, there are so many glorious avenues to explore related to the celebration of the birth of Christ. When the Christ connection remains shallow in the minds of those who celebrate Christ in Christmas it can have an averse effect, namely, it can perhaps cause young minds to weigh the competing views of Christmas (or Happy Holidays) and find the view of secular humanism to be more compelling than the birth of Christ. Isn't the unity of mankind in warmth, good cheer and gift giving more immediately realized than the distant notion that God became a man?
Theologically, Christmas Is A Big Deal:
Think about it. God became a person and was born upon this earth. Wow. This builds off the last point. There is so much glory here and so much incredible impact available to sinners at this point that simply takes time and more time to explore. Galatians 4:4 says Jesus was "born under the law", suggesting that his birth means he was now subject to the same stipulations of the law that he would have to fulfill. Had Jesus simply descended from heaven into the God-man he would not be in the same boat as all of humanity who were born with a sin nature and need a savior to fulfill the law, from birth, in order to relieve the stipulations of the law upon those who have failed to meet it's requirements (Romans 8:3).
Christmas Encompasses the Consummation of Human History:
When Christians celebrate advent they are effectively celebrating a double advent. Most attention is given to the arrival of Christ some two thousand years ago. However, his first advent spells out the certainty of his second advent. Some people argue about whether or not Aaron Rodgers is better than Tom Brady. Christians wonder whether Christmas or Easter is more theologically significant. If I would be tipped in one direction it would be Christmas for the reason I am riffing on here: it points us to the ultimate purpose for which God created: so that people can dwell with God and enjoy his glory throughout eternity. In the meantime, we are taught that the longing we have for Christmas day should be the longing Christians should be marked by between advents. If ever there was a strong theological argument for gift giving I think this is it...because it created longing and expectation like no other holiday. This is an important part of the Christmas experience.
Now, onto some resources that you may be able to utilize. The first Sunday of Advent is December 2.
Light Advent Candles: The four candles have historically referred to hope, peace, joy and love. We will be lighting candles at church each Sunday but it would be neat for you to do this at home with your family as well. At home you can wait until it is dark (in December, that is about 20 hours per day) and you can light the candle so that children get the sense of light shining in the darkness. Talk about how sin is a major obstacle to hope, peace, joy, and love and how God overcame the consequence of sin through his Righteous Son, Jesus. We now have hope, peace with God, joy in his love, and forgiveness by his sacrifice.
Read A Good Story Book: The best advent series is by Arnold Ytreeide. This series is best suited for elementary aged kids but it does an excellent job bringing the reader into the world Jesus entered. It demonstrated the longing the people had for the messiah and helps us to see that our Christian walk ought to be characterized by this longing for his return.
Read A Good Devotional: There are many to choose from. Pastor Kevin will be releasing a devotional for families called Getting Ready To Get Ready (will be available on November 18). Other titles include Good News Of Great Joy by John Piper and Counting The Days, Lighting The Candles by Elyse Fitzpatrick.
Do Obvious Stuff: Sing Christmas hymns that are rich in theology. Find a good Christmas movie to watch. Set up a nativity set and move Mary and Joseph closer a little closer every day leading up to it or act out the scene. Make ornaments that effectively act as Ebenezer stones (1 Samuel 7).
Use Christmas As An Outreach: Perhaps you can use the season of cheer to reach out into your neighborhood to invite people into your home. Ladies, get a group together for tea and invite a neighbor to it. Bake cookies and bring them to neighbors or shut ins.
Any questions? Let me know. Any suggestions? Send them my way. I trust God will help you to make this Advent season special for your joy and God's glory.
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