Great Expectation: Advent Worship Theme

How many of you started counting the days until Christmas the day after Thanskgiving?  I can remember doing that and felt like Christmas would never arrive.

That expectant waiting for Christmas was great practice for Advent.  Those four weeks before Christmas are a time of waiting for the arrival of Jesus.  The very meaning of that word, advent is the arrival of something or someone important.  Advent is about expectation.  One of the central characters in the birth story of Jesus is Mary, a woman who is pregnant with the Christ child.  You can’t have a better image of expectation than having someone who is expecting.

We are waiting the the arrival of a Savior, but have you ever wondered how absurd that birth of Jesus truly is?  He’s born to a young woman, who had to deal with questions concerning the pregnancy.  Even before that, she learns of the arrival of Jesus by an angel. Jesus grows up living in the backwater of a mighty empire, a way from all the centers of power.  And yet, a king is so worried that this baby will take his thrown that he decides to commit mass infanticide.  The young woman sings a song about how her baby will change the world.

There is a lot about the birth of Jesus that doesn’t make sense.  And yet, this absurd birth brings salvation to all of creation.

Starting November 27, we will start our Advent theme which is Great Expectations: The Wonderous Absurdity of the Incarnation.  Each week we will look at the text and join in the waiting for the savior that confounds and astounds us.

During Advent, we will have two Bible Studies focused on prayer and based on our theme lead by Amy Bertschausen.  We hope you can join us December 7 and 14 at 7:00 PM.

Join us in this advent journey of Great Expectations!