I love advent.
For 4 weeks we dwell on Hope, Joy, Peace, and Love. These are the 4 things that make our
relationship with God and our lives complete. Christmas comes and goes and our reflection is over and we
move on to New Years. Happy New
Year! During New Years, we reflect
more on making resolutions and how we are going to improve this next year. Lose Weight. Exercise more. Get out of Debt. Spend more time with family. Drink less
Pepsi.
As we all make this transition from remembering Jesus to how
we are going to live in 2014,
I was thinking of a passage that encourages us to get back
to what is important, back to advent.
After reminding the Christ followers of Jesus’ great sacrifice
for us, we are reminded in Heb 10:22-25 to get back to the things that will
help us live this God-Life. I have
preached on this before, but as I looked at it this time, I noticed an obvious
connection to advent.
Hope, Joy, Peace, Love.
Heb 10:22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart
and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to
cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure
water.
This is our Joy.
We can draw near to God!
Jesus takes away our guilt!
Our bodies are cleansed!
Our faith should bring us Joy!
When you think of how God has restored our relationship with Him through
Jesus, it should bring joy to your heart and life. It should bring a smile to your face!
Heb 10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we
profess, for he who promised is faithful.
This is our Hope.
Hope is not just a wish. “I
hope you have a good day.” “I hope
my car keeps running.” Hope
actually means anticipation or expecting good. If we say we believe God will save us, that God will forgive
us, that God will use us, we should also expect God to be faithful. Our hope is more than a wish. We have
to believe with everything we have.
That is hope.
Heb 10:24 And let us consider how we may spur one
another on toward love and good deeds,
This is our Love.
The great command is to love God and then love others. The best way to love God is to love
others and the best way to love others is to show them God. We need to be creative and inventive in
looking for ways to help each other be better, helping each other grow, helping
each other see God working in our lives.
Heb 10:25 not giving up meeting together, as some are
in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see
the Day approaching.
Here is our Peace.
There is safety in numbers.
When we are together in Jesus name, He is with us. Too often, this verse is used to somehow
guilt us into coming to church more.
I believe when we get together for any reason, we can have church! Sure, we are encouraged when we worship
and study together. We need to
look to ways to encourage each other when we work together, when we play
together, when we struggle together, when we eat together, and on and on.
How will you apply advent to 2014?
How will you write this into your New Years’ resolutions?
May we draw near to God so much that it brings Joy.
May we believe God’s Word and promises that it brings us Hope.
May we love each other and our neighbors that we experience
real Love.
May we live together each day to bring about real Peace in our lives and in our world.
May God use you greatly in 2014!
