The Advent Journey

Central,

The Advent journey is coming to an end.  Sunday, December 18 is the 4th Sunday of Advent. At Central's morning worship services we will gather for the SERVICE OF LESSONS AND CAROLS!  The timeless and true stories from Scripture are read, candles are lighted, hymns and carols are sung, anthems are shared and prayers are offered. It is a great worship experience to join Mary in 'pondering' and 'wondering' about God's mercy and grace as we treasure these things in our heart!

BUT before we gather for the SERVICE OF LESSONS AND CAROLS I invite you to take a few moments and remember the road we have traveled since BLACK FRIDAY.  In the midst of all the hustle and bustle of shopping over the Thanksgiving weekend we gathered to begin our Advent journey.  Do you remember where we have been in the journey?

ADVENT 1 - On November 27 we heard the word from our final Sunday in Ephesians.  The Word declared, "FINALLY, BE STRONG IN THE LORD AND IN HIS MIGHTY POWER." (Ephesians 6:10)  What does it mean for you to be strong in the Lord?

ADVENT 2 - On December 4 we spent time with John the Baptist. John's Advent prayer for you and me is, "HE (JESUS) MUST BECOME GREATER; I MUST BECOME LESS. (John 3:30)

ADVENT 3 - On December 11 we spent time with Mary. Many of us prayed, "I AM THE LORD'S SERVANT, MAY IT BE TO ME AS YOU HAVE SAID." (Luke 1:38)

Before we make a mad dash to Christmas I want to us to hear once more from John the Baptist.  His preaching focus can be our prayer as we begin the 4th week of Advent - and for the rest of our lives: REPENT! John would have hollered "Repent!" in Aramaic, and the verb he would have used means to make a 180 degree change, a U-turn. John doesn't say "be 7% better," or "be 8% nicer," or even "increase your giving by 3%," or even "feel guilty and bad."  Instead, he says "Repent." He says this to religious people - not the deviants, addicts, criminals of his day.  He says this, across the centuries, to us. Repent!

In the Greek language repentance is 'metanoia,' which means a 'change of mind.' Think differently! View the world differently! See what God sees; have Christ's mind, let the Spirit be the lens through which you filter everything. The world may counsel us that Saturday is SUPER SATURDAY because everything is going to be on sale. The world may advise us to live it up during December, and if you overdo things, go on a diet in January. But John the Baptist exhorts us to turn to God today, to get still, repent, recalibrate, and construct a radically different life, one of feeling what God feels and acting on what God wants.

So my prayer for Central is that we will repent and turn from and sense of self and join Mary in praying "I am the Lord's servant."

Paul

P.S. This Sunday the DAILY TEXTS will be available for purchase. The cost is $5.00 per devotional book. If you want to refresh your memory from the first three Sundays in Advent you can visit www.clcelkriver.org and listen to the messages. And last but not least if you have not yet returned your financial promise for 2012 please place it in the offering globes at worship.   Blessings and prayers!