IMAGINE… this Christmas was different
Advent: Latin word “Adventus” which means arrival
Advent is meant to be to Christmas, what Lent is to Easter.
A time of reflection, repentance, fasting, preparation
Advent is about anticipating and preparing for Jesus’ second coming
Imagine the time before Christ arrived…
In the time of Herod the king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendent of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very old.
Luke 1:5-7 New International Version (NIV)
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth… And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
Luke 1:11-17 (NIV)
Then the angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and unable to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
Luke 1:19-20
After this, Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”
Luke 1:24-25
“Silence, Solitude, Waiting.” These are good words for Advent…
Elizabeth and Zechariah discovered that God had not answered their prayers in the way or the time they’d hoped, because God’s plans for them were a lot bigger than the plans they had for themselves.
By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Luke 1:78-79 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
Imagine all that we’re going to experience with God if we just wait on His promises— all that He’s going to do, in this life, and in the life to come.