Watch on YouTube

So the past couple of times we’ve been talking about what Advent is and what Advent means. But here’s some really practical brass tacks kind of things to make sure you’re having a good Advent. To make the most out of this special season in the church year.

So, the first thing you can do is make sure you’re attending church regularly. If it’s something where it hasn’t been every Sunday, make a commitment, right? This is the new church year. Perfect time for a New Year’s resolution. Most congregations will also have a midweek service, maybe on a Wednesday evening or something. You can talk to your pastor and learn about what’s going on in your congregation. To just prepare spiritually by going to church more and receiving God’s Word and his sacrament more frequently.

But this public worship also extends into your private life and into your homes. There’s plenty of good devotional resources out there for use as an individual or for use as a family, plenty of which will pick up on the themes and topics that we’ve been talking about in Advent. Again, there’s tons out there. Talk to your pastor. I’m sure he’ll have a good one that he’ll recommend for you. Again, it’s a good time to rededicate yourself to a more regular devotional practice. To focus on this preparation, to focus on the Means of Grace as we do this Advent.

It’s also a great time to pick up again on family devotions. And there’s some really unique, special things that you can do at home to bring the church over to home and, really to make it more interesting for your kids. Your church probably has an Advent wreath in the front where each Sunday you’ll light another candle and you can actually buy one of those and just put it on your kitchen table for your family devotional time. I know my kids really like just looking at the fire, so even if they’re really little and have problems sitting still for the devotion, they’ll just stare at that fire, right? But we can still explain what this means and why we’re doing it.

We have the Savior and Redeemer for all of our sins. Jesus shed his innocent blood for us as he suffered, and he died so that our sins might be forgiven his innocent blood for ours.

Advent is a great time to make more regular use out of the Means of Grace, to to prepare ourselves spiritually for the great festival of Christmas by focusing in again on God’s Word, by learning more and more about our Savior and why he has come and what he does for us.

Matthew 3:2-3

Watch on YouTube

How do you get ready for Christmas? Obviously, there’s a lot of different practical things that need to be done. You need to set up and decorate the Christmas tree. Probably pull it down from your attic or something. There’s lots of gifts to wrap. But more fundamentally, I think a lot of people get ready for Christmas by celebrating Christmas early. This year, at Sam’s Club, I saw these Christmas decorations up at the beginning of October. There were there was Christmas stuff right next to Halloween stuff, right? You got Christmas pushed so early. And then what does that do? By the time Christmas actually rolls around, you’re burned out of it. I know plenty of houses where the Christmas decorations come down the afternoon of December 25th, because you’ve been celebrating Christmas for over a month now. You’re getting tired and sick of it.

The church gives us a different way and honestly, a more healthy way to get ready for Christmas. But it’s also one that’s very countercultural and very counterintuitive.

Last time we talked about these different comings of Advent, and another figure that we’ll see on Sunday is John the Baptist, as he prepares the way for Christ to come into the world. And as we look at John the Baptist, we see what his message is. It’s a very odd one. He’s fulfilling this prophecy.

A voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” (Matthew 3:3)

How does he prepare? He says,

“Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near!” (Matthew 3:2)

He doesn’t say, prepare for Jesus coming by, rejoicing and being happy and starting the celebration early. We prepare through repentance, through looking at our sin, confessing our faults. Recognizing that we don’t measure up. This is the focus of Advent. It’s called a penitential season, one where we focus on our sins. That’s going to give a very different mood to the rest of your December.

But why do we do this? We have this season of repentance leading up preparing for Christmas so that when Christmas comes, it’s unlike any Christmas you’ve celebrated before. Because Christmas isn’t just about the cute little baby in the manger, it’s about what that baby would go on to do. That Jesus didn’t stay in the crib, but he would trade the wood of the manger for the wood of the cross. That in that child we have the Savior and Redeemer for all of our sins. When we prepare for Christ’s coming through repentance, we recognize why he’s coming, why he’s here, and we have a deeper joy, a stronger joy than we ever would have had in any other way. Because we know Jesus came to save and rescue us from our sins. And when we see how much we need that we have so much more joy in what he has come to do.

Amen.

Watch on YouTube

Happy New Year! I know what you’re thinking. I’m a little bit early on this, but this Sunday actually starts a new church year. We begin the season of Advent.

Advent comes from a Latin word that means coming. And throughout this next season of Advent, over the next four weeks, we’ll look at various aspects of this coming.

Now, the most straightforward and the most plain one is Christ’s coming at Christmas, right? It’s leading up to the celebration of Christmas, to God becoming man, to coming to this earth. But that’s not the only aspect of this here. It’s not just preparing to get ready to observe this historical event. There’s a few other dimensions that we can talk about with this coming.

During the season of Advent, we also focus on the ways in which Christ comes to us today through the Means of Grace. And so there’s this special emphasis on God’s Word and making regular use of it. On baptism, especially on the Lord’s Supper, as we consider how Christ is present with us physically today.

But also over the next several Sundays, you’ll see another aspect of this coming presented. And this is looking forward towards the end of the world, towards Christ’s coming in judgment and in glory on the last day.

So advent is all about these different comings, about Christ coming and Christmas in the flesh to save us from our sins and start the plan of salvation. How Christ comes to us today in the Means of Grace, to forgive our sins and bestow his precious body and blood upon us. And how Christ will come again in the future to save us from this fallen world, and bring us to be with him forever. Amen.