Monday, November 30, 2009
Psalm 121:1-2a 1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills--From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord . . .
ADVENT WELCOME
Welcome to the season of Advent. This pre-Christmas season of the liturgical Church year gives God's children the opportunity to reflect upon our Savior's coming. As the Psalmist declares "My help comes from the Lord." The coming of help in the form of God's grace and mercy is what the whole of Scripture and our Christian faith is all about. The word advent simply means "coming" and so these four weeks of Advent are spent rejoicing in the various ways in which our Savior comes. The Church has historically spent the Advent season considering our Savior's coming in at least three ways:
1) In Old Testament times our Savior came by way of the promises that the holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. These prophecies and promises reminded those who listened that one day the *Savior Would Come* as God would keep the promise made in the Garden of Eden to send the Seed of the woman to crush the head of Satan.
2) Trusting that our Father is faithful and keeps His promises, we Christians spend a bit of extra time during the Advent season reflecting on a lowly manger in Bethlehem as we consider those shepherds who were the first to be told that *The Savior Has Come!*
3) Although our Savior has ascended into Heaven where He now sits in authority at the right hand of God, we are encouraged as we live in the world but not of the world waiting for our Savior's return that *The Savior Now Comes* to rule in our hearts through the Gospel in Word and Sacrament.
These three aspects of our Savior's "advent" form the themes of the pre-Christmas season and also provide an edifying outline for many Christmas Eve children's services. During this first week of the Advent season we will spend time rejoicing in the hope, comfort, and joy of these three themes as we patiently wait for the celebration of our Savior’s birth. The devotions for this first week of the Advent season will be portions of various children's Christmas services. Just as Christmas Eve points to Jesus, so also the entire Advent season is meant to keep our eyes and hearts fixed on Jesus.
