The word "Advent" means "coming". When we expect that someone special or something special is coming, we're usually pretty excited for us as Christians, we're excited about the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. His coming brings hope, renewal, and forgiveness. The Advent season brings us the Good News of our Savior's first coming, His coming to "dwell among us" on Christmas Day. The Advent season is also a time when we think of the second coming of our Savior at the end of the world. And so, either one of His comings brings about peace on earth. Either one of His comings give us so much joy.

The theme for our midweek Advent services is, "Stirring Up Advent-Recipes for Relationships". These services are based on a book entitled, "The Family: A Christian Perspective on the Contemporary Home." This book talks about four stages or elements of God's relationship with us and our relationship with one another. These four stages are: covenants, grace, empowerment, and intimacy. These stages are most clearly seen in the coming of Christ at Christmas. Christ's coming fulfilled God's covenant with us - a covenant which promised us a Savior. Of course, no such covenant could have ever happened without the pure, unadulterated grace of our God. Christ's coming brought new life and new hope to all of us. He made our new relationship with God and our new relationship with one another possible. Christ's coming not only made these relationships possible, but His coming also opens up for us new possibilities as well. Through the means of grace, that is God's Word and Sacraments, Christ empowers us to live a new life. Finally through His coming, Christ breaks into history itself to be personally connected to us and to reveal God to us as we have never known God before. Intimacy occurs between God and us so that we know God and we are known by God on a much deeper and more meaningful way. Christ reveals to us a God who loves us beyond anything we can comprehend. A much more close intimate communication develops between the God who loves us and us, the children of God who love Him.

And so, during this Advent season, may our relationship with God and with one another grow as we celebrate our Savior's coming. May we grow in our appreciation for God's covenant with us, His grace for us, His empowerment of us, and His intimacy with us as shown to us through our Savior Jesus Christ. As we journey through this Advent season together, may we be committed to this time to our God and may we give Him all the glory.