Advent is all about eagerly awaiting the coming of the Christ. We can think of this eager waiting in two senses. We get these two senses from the bookends of Advent.
The first bookend is the last Sunday of the church calendar (the Sunday before Advent) which focuses on second coming of Christ. Christ Jesus promised to return to earth at the end of the age. This great Day of the Lord will be a day of joy and singing for those who are counted amongst the righteous by grace through faith. So the first sense which we eagerly await the coming of the Christ is in his second coming, which is yet to come.
The second bookend is Christmas. Advent ends with the evening prayers of Christmas Eve. Christmas tells the story of Jesus as the promised savior and king who has come to save the world which happened with the birth of Jesus Christ. So the second sense in which we eagerly await the coming of Christ is found in this, that God put on flesh and became man in order to save the world.
Advent is, therefore, a season of reflection. We reflect on God’s promises of the past which have been fulfilled and we reflect on God’s promises of the future and we can have assurance that they too are fulfilled because God has been shown to be ever faithful.
As we reflect on God’s promises this season in our public worship, I would encourage you to set aside some time each day to reflect upon the promises of God in Scripture. There are a number of excellent Advent devotional resources. Which you can take advantage of.
Available just outside the sanctuary, is a devotion called, The Coming King that is available for free from The Lutheran Hour Ministries. You can also download an app on your phone to follow this devotion series that Pastor Schultz and his family will be using this Advent. You can find that app on the Lutheran Hour Ministries website.
Our friends at Abiding Savior Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, SD have assembled a few summaries of resources that may interest you. You can find them on their website.
Another great resource throughout the year is a devotional called The Treasury of Daily Prayer. It is available from Concordia Publishing House and is marked down as of right now. You can also access this terrific devotion through your smartphones app store by searching for “PrayNow”
The last resource I will recommend is To Live with Christ, by Bo Giertz which is also an excellent year round devotion. It is also available from Concordia Publishing House.
May the Lord, Jesus Christ, bless you with His presence this Advent!