Hope is on The Way

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Today is the first Sunday of Advent. 

Advent is the season when Christians anticipate and prepare for Christmas. It is a time for counting down, remembering the reason for the season, and getting ready for the celebrations that are to come. It's also a time to slow down, reflect, and prepare our hearts and minds for the spiritual meaning of Christmas, rather than focusing on the commercial focus the season has become. Advent is celebrated during the four Sundays prior to Christmas itself, each Sunday highlighting one of the themes of the Christmas story; the themes being

• HOPE of His coming
• JOY in the message of His coming
• PEACE that comes as a result of His coming
• LOVE expressed in the reason of His coming

The term "Advent" comes from the Latin word 'adventus' meaning "coming." 

The earliest references to a season of preparation similar to Advent date to the 4th and 5th centuries in Spain and Gaul. At this time, Advent was a 40-day penitential season of fasting, prayer, and reflection in preparation for the baptism of new Christians on the feast of Epiphany in January. It was a time of preparing for the second coming of Christ and was not initially connected to Christmas, which was celebrated on a different date. In the 6th century Roman Christians began to tie Advent to the coming of Christ at Christmas. The Roman Catholic Church fixed Advent as the four-week period leading up to Christmas in the 9th century. Historically, Advent originally had a dual focus: the first half of the season looked forward to Christ's second coming, and the second half focused on his birth. The practice of observing the four Sundays of Advent spread throughout the Christian church by the 6th century and has continued to the present day in a number of church denominations.

Today's Advent theme is HOPE. 

To the Old Testament people, HOPE expressed their anticipation of the coming Messiah. To us, HOPE expresses the anticipation of the return of our Lord and Savior. Our world today is not that different from the world into which Jesus was born. Jesus came in one of darkest hours of mankind, much like today. Yet, there is HOPE! Jesus is coming again! As we anticipate another celebration of Jesus' birth, we are reminded again that He came for us. He died for us. He is coming again for us. Knowing this, we can rest in the arms of our Good Shepherd, confident that He loves and cares for us. As we prepare ourselves for the celebration of Christmas let us consider again, the message of Advent - 

"For God so loved the word that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life."