If this year's Advent series looks strangely familiar, that's because it is!
This year I am republishing an Advent series I did a few years ago, since it seems to me that it speaks into our present situation. Life is busy and fraught. There is so much to worry about at the moment. This series, originally published in 2016, focussed, as the title suggests, on One Word, just one word, each day, which I hope will lead us to the One Word who is Jesus.
Advent daily meditations and colouring sheet... (Starting Dec 1)
Less is more, so they say, and that’s especially true in
Advent.
At a time of year when the world can feel very noisy and
demanding, we can easily feel overwhelmed. Yet, what God did at Christmas was
essentially very simple. One baby, born to one family, in one specific place,
at one specific time.
That’s why this year our daily meditations will focus on
just one word a day, one Advent word that will help us prepare to celebrate the
birth of the Word made flesh, Jesus. There will be a few questions each day to
prompt your thoughts or discussions. You can find the meditations here on the blog each day - there will be facebook and twitter links too, so follow us there and they will pop up in your feed.
You can ponder these Advent words on your own, or talk about
them with others. There will be an accompanying colouring sheet for you to fill if
you’d like to as well, perhaps writing the word in each day’s space, or representing
it in some other way, It’s up to you.
The series starts on December 1, though Advent really begins
on the Sunday before, and runs through to Christmas Eve. It doesn’t matter,
though, if you get behind. Take as long as you need over each word.
Advent
God,
we
journey with you,
to
Bethlehem’s stable
and
a new-born King,
ears
attuned
to
the song of angels,
eyes
alert
for
Bethlehem’s star.
Forgive
us
if
on our journey
if
we are distracted
by
the tempting offers
of
this world.
Keep
our hearts aflame
with
the hope
of
Christmas,
and
the promise
of
a Saviour. Amen
Today marks the beginning of Advent (not Dec 1, though that's when our Advent reflections (see below) will start) Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas, and is partly a time of preparation for it. Today's sermon explores how it might be more than that, though, encouraging us not just to look back to the coming of Christ (Advent is from the Latin "adventus" meaning "coming") in Bethlehem long ago, but to the ways he comes to us now, and the way he will come to us in the future. 
THANK YOU to all who helped to make and serve the community lunch last week. All those who came enjoyed the delicious soup and crumble, and had a great time together. The next lunch is on Dec 21. Everyone is welcome. 
