Office Hours for Pastor Thickpenny will be Tuesday, Wedensday, Thursday from 9:00-4:00. He will usually be in the office in the morning. Afternoons may be used for visits and/or office time. To assure he is available please call the church. If you would like to meet with him at a different time please call for an appointment.

It is the season of Advent. It is not the season of Christmas. Christmas declares the birth of the Savior of the world. Advent is a time we anticipate the Messiah’s coming; we make room in our lives to welcome him. There is a difference both in what is happening in the church and meant to take place in our lives.

I have always been partial to the Old Testament readings in the four weeks of Advent. They often express the longing in life becoming different because of the stirrings of God to send help to his people. They can be so very tender and compassionate as with the words, “Comfort, O comfort, my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem.” There is power and rescue in the first reading for the first Sunday’s reading in Advent. It is a plea, yet a radical rescue as the prophet Isaiah writes, “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence…”

The hymns of Advent are often written in a minor key and reflect many of those Old Testament themes. Sometimes they are a little more challenging to sing, but struggle and decision are meant to be a part of this season. It becomes a stark contrast to the songs bleating away in the stores and on the radio. The music of Advent is meant to find it’s way deep within our hearts to stir us to know of God’s coming. He will come to open our lives to God’s rescue and way of life. We are to recognize that when he comes, the world cannot be the same. He comes to save, but also reveal the sin and brokenness of what we often accept as normal.

And, there is that “voice crying in the wilderness” of John the Baptist. It can’t really be Christmas without John and his sometimes cutting words. He gets to the real issues of life and of following the One to come. We may not always like his message, but neither can we ignore it. When we truly prepare our lives first, then we can truly welcome Christ in a new and wondrous light.

It’s more than just missing worship or educational classes in this season. We need be there. We must. There is no greater message for any age than to be included in these next few weeks. It would be like sleeping or hiding in a corner because we are not willing to allow to make room in our lives for Jesus to make his home with us. So much has crept and crowded into our anticipation and preparations through the years. We are scheduled out of Christmas.

Don’t miss being with the people of God. Keep focused on the promise of God to send us the Christ. Gather with others in to wait and watch.
Yours in Christ, Pastor Richard Thickpenny

Pastor Richard Thickpenny

608-455-1800

Page updated by Connie
E-mail: orfordvillelutheran@yahoo.com
Updated Sep. 16, 2008
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