November 25, 2022
Thanksgiving and Advent Greetings:
We begin a New Year Sunday with the Season of Advent. Advent is a season of hope and anticipation; as well as preparation for the celebration of the birth of the savior. In hope, we anticipate the fulfillment of the promise of the establishment of God’s reign; and that of God’s reign, it would have no end. Also in Advent, we prepare to celebrate the one who is born to save humanity from their sins. Advent carries the tension between these two themes: hope and anticipation, as well as preparation for celebration. Living in this tension is the beauty of Advent.
I continue to stress the celebration of the Seasons of the Christian Year because I purposefully want to turn us away from the secular calendar (and the commercialism it highlights), towards forming your life around the life of Christ. The Christian calendar centers us around the significant events in the life of Christ, and challenges us to reflect upon them, and to form ourselves in the model that Christ sets for us. In this way, we can set our minds, not on things on earth, but on things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God (Col. 3:1-2).
As we prepare for Advent this year, I want us to reflect and pray, and ask God to show us areas in our lives where we might grow this year. I said last week that growth should be our goal every year; so, as we begin this year, let us ask God to show us areas in our lives wherein we might grow. However, in order to grow, what must we give up; what must we sacrifice; what things must we let go of so that growth might take place in our lives? Are these the weights and sins that besets or clings to us and keeps us from running the race with perseverance (Heb. 12:1)?
These are the things that we need to set aside and seek God’s help in removing them from our lives. In so doing, not only will we grow in our relationship; freed from these things, we look towards Jesus, who is the perfecter of our faith.
Because we are worshipping “in-person” again, I will again take the sacrificial Advent Offering this year. By sacrificial, we ask that you would give beyond (and in addition to) your regular tithe/offering; to trust God not only to provide for you, but to grow in these new areas of relationship with God. As we pray during Advent, asking God to show us areas of growth in our lives; let us also give by faith, believing not just for God’s providence, but also for the growth in relationship that living by faith brings.
Sincerely,
Rev. Dr. Reginald Broadnax