Toward Sunday

 

We begin a new worship series this Sunday called WAITing WITHin.  We will spend the next four weeks exploring the themes of Advent as we prepare for the mystery of Christmas.  

 A note on Advent from A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God by Norman Shawchuck & Rueben P Job:  Advent marks the beginning of the church year and lays before us the pathway of faith for the year ahead.  Advent initiates once again remembering, retelling, and celebrating the whole drama of God’s revelation.

Four weeks is the limit to this season that declares the truth about a God whose love and resourcefulness have no limits.  “Advent” has its roots in the Latin word adventus, or coming. This season proclaims the coming of Christ in the birth of Jesus, in the Word and Spirit, and in the final victory when God’s kingdom shall be complete.

Our privilege as Christians is to receive the gracious gifts of God’s presence in Christ. Our task is to prepare for his coming so that we will not miss life’s greatest gift.

 Outline for WAITing WITHin

Week 1: Jeremiah 33.14-16
Week 2: Malachi 3.1-4
Week 3: Isaiah 12.2-6
Week 4: Micah 5.2-5a

 We make a stark transition from hearing Jesus in worship last Sunday calling his followers to stay awake to God’s activity in the present to a four-week season of waiting for God to be born once more. Worship this Sunday will be rooted inJeremiah 33.14-16.  From this witness of Scripture we are reminded that the people of God have long since been waiting.  God’s promised future is always already not yet.  We, as the people of God in this day, are called to take our place in this season of waiting within.  

We invite you to wait within Scripture, prayer, presence, and community each week leading up to the mystery of Christmas.  

The people of God in the time of prophet Jeremiah were waiting for Judah to be saved and Jerusalem to live in safety.  

What would it look like for you to cultivate an expectant spirit and an untamed holy imagination capable of receiving good news when you least expect it or believe it is possible?

  (from Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent by Enuma Okoro)

Take a moment to think of one goal that might guide your capacity to wait in this Advent season.