This year’s Advent theme is going to be “The Best Day Ever”. It would be hard to argue with the concept…the day Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, up to that point that was the best day ever! Maybe we could say the resurrection was the best day ever…but certainly before the resurrection, the birth of God’s Son would be considered “The Best Day Ever”.
A reminder about why we celebrate Advent. The word “advent” comes from the Latin word meaning “coming”. Advent refers to the four Sundays before Christmas. It is the period of preparation for the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It also refers to His second coming. We decided a while back to celebrate advent as a part of our church calendar for a few reasons. One, we wanted to provide help to those looking to break free of the incredible pull toward a secular and commercialization of Christmas. It was a Christian Holiday/Holy day long before it was a secular or commercial holiday. Second, we wanted to build a worship theme around “The Best Day Ever”, the birth of our Savior, Jesus. The theme of Advent changes from year to year. The purpose stated in the song says it well: Oh Come Let Us Adore Him. So we seek to Honor God, exalt our Lord Jesus and to lead our Church family to never forget the true meaning of Christmas.
Third, we have married Advent to Missions. Let’s remember those who are underserved or in need. We have 4 mission partners that we join hands to support. We love our friends at Lowcountry Orphan Relief. True religion, as James says includes loving the orphans. They are in desperate need of size 5t and 5 children’s clothes. Any type: shirts, pants, pajama’s, etc. We also love our partners at Lowcountry Pregnancy Center. We help provide new moms who chose life with diapers and wipes. All you have to do is look at the price of diapers and you will know what blessing that will be! We also use the Advent season as a time to show some love to James Island Outreach. We are the “jelly” church. We were asked years ago to make sure they always have jelly. You do such a great job; they have asked if we could add pancake syrup to the list! Of course we can. Last, but not least, we support our International Mission partners at the International Mission Board. We will receive offerings for the next six weeks to help support over 3,500 full time missionaries serving around the world. This is usually my first gift I give during the Advent season. I am honored to be able to give.
So, why Advent? How about worship, focus on the meaning of Christmas, building generosity, and a full all out effort to support our mission partners. Thank you for being so generous. The stage will begin to be transformed with gifts of love starting this Sunday!
Pastor Tom
