This past Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent, when when we start telling the story again, the story of how Jesus Christ fulfilled the story of Israel in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension, and how we now live with him by the Spirit and await his final return.

Every year we tell the story again, basically because we need to immerse ourselves in it, because it is the true story of the world. It is the report of what God is doing in the world to redeem and restore all things, the proclamation of how God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself.

We immerse ourselves in this story every year because our identities come from the stories we tell and the rituals we participate in. We immerse ourselves in this story because our culture loudly proclaims quite a few alternative stories that vie to tell us who we are, and thus claim our allegiance. Some of those stories (from McKnight’s The King Jesus Gospel):

• Individualism — the story that “I” am the center of the universe
• Consumerism — the story that I am what I own
• Nationalism — the story that my nation is God’s nation
• Moral relativism — the story that we can’t know what is universally good
• Scientific naturalism — the story that all that matters is matter
• New Age — the story that we are gods
• Postmodern tribalism — the story that all that matters is what my small group thinks
• Salvation by therapy — the story that I can come to my full human potential through inner exploration

We combat these competing ideologies by immersing ourselves in the True Story, which is another name for the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is why it matters what holidays we celebrate, and how we celebrate them. Our very identities are stake, because we live by the stories we tell ourselves. Thus it is actually a matter of life and death.

There’s nothing magical about celebrating the church year. There are plenty of lifeless churches that commemorate Advent “faithfully” (i.e. read the right Scriptures, fly the right colors, stick to the right themes). But the church year is essentially organizing time around the gospel story, which seems like a great idea to me, because the alternative to organizing time around the life of Christ is to organize it around something else, like when it’s time to shop, which is a disastrous way to live.

So may you immerse ourselves in the True Story once again, and have a blessed Advent! Come, Lord Jesus!

Dec 12: Thoughts from the Third Sunday of Advent: The Kingdom of Joy!

Dec 19: Sermon from the Fourth Sunday of Advent: The God Who Refuses to Abandon Us

According to the Christian calendar, the New Year begins on the First Sunday of Advent. That’s November 28 this year.

Advent is a time to prepare for the coming of Jesus in every way (from the Latin adventus, meaning “arrival”). It’s not just a time to shop for Christmas presents, contrary to what the retailers will tell you.

EXPECTATION AND LONGING
Advent is a time to live in the expectation that God will break through into our lives once again, whether that means breaking through to bring joy to our struggling, or breaking through to bring a fresh fire into our listlessness.

Advent is also a time to cultivate our desire for Christ, our deep longing for Him. We learn to desire the presence of Jesus above every other desire. We long to be filled with the Spirit of Christ again, and we long for his kingdom to come and his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

We also look for new ways that we can be joining God in his mission in the world as he seeks to renew the neighborhoods and networks of our communities.

REPENTANCE, PRAYER, FASTING
Advent is a fast in the context of the Christian year (seasons like Epiphany, and Easter are feasts), because we prepare for Christ coming to us by prayer, by fasting, by repentance. During Advent, we’ll have several opportunities to engage in these disciplines together and individually.

1. COMMUNITY GATHERINGS (Sundays Nov 28, Dec 5, 12, 19)
Sundays evenings we’ll be gathering at 5pm 300 E Wayne St for a variety of gatherings: community meals, worship gatherings, prayer activities. These will the anchor points of our time together. See the calendar for details.

2. DAILY SCRIPTURE & EXAMEN (Every day)
You are invited to join us in the Daily Office Scripture readings, and a daily prayer exercise of remembering and noticing to practice at the end of each day. Through four movements (presence, gratitude, review and response), you are invited to make note of God’s fingerprints on your life. Download the prayer guide (PDF).

3. Day OUT (Saturday Dec 11)
We’re doing a Help Portrait event, taking and printing family photos for the women and children at Charis House. Sign-up to help at a gathering or online (coming soon). We’re also collecting donations for Charis House every Sunday gathering. Check out the list of needs and bring something in!

4. FRIDAY MEALS (Fridays Dec 3, 10, 17)
Time t0 connect relationally with one another over simple meals in homes throughout Fort Wayne. See the calendar for details as they become available.

Here’s how we’ll be gathering during the Advent and Christmas seasons. Also see our online calendar:

EVERY DAY:
+ Scripture & Examen (download prayer guide)

FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT:
+ Sun Nov 28: Worship Gathering @ 5pm (300 E Wayne St)
+ Fri Dec 3: Advent Meal (7116 Tanbark Ln – RSVP)

SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT:
+ Sun Dec 5: Community Meal @ 5pm (300 E Wayne St)
+ Fri Dec 10: Advent Meals (1715 Alabama & 404 W Williams – RSVP)
+ Sat Dec 11: Day OUT: Help-Portrait at Charis House @ 10am

THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT:
+ Sun Dec 12: Simple Worship & Prayer @ 5pm (300 E Wayne St)
+ Fri Dec 17: Advent Meals (1018 Northwood & 1415 Pemberton – RSVP)

FOURTH WEEK OF ADVENT:
+ Sun Dec 19: Worship Gathering @ 5pm (300 E Wayne St)

CHRISTMAS:
+ Sun Dec 26: Simple Worship & Prayer @ 5pm (300 E Wayne St)
+ Sun Jan 2: Simple Worship & Prayer @ 5pm (300 E Wayne St)

Today’s text is Isaiah 9:2-7

Envision a time where Canada has crossed the United States border and overtaken Michigan along with other states north of Indiana. They are crouched at the door, so to speak, and preparing to march in and possess Indiana as well. You have heard of what they have done to those who resided in Michigan. Many were slaughtered with little or no mercy shown. Others were enslaved and deported back to Canada. They most likely will do the same with Indiana. This may be difficult to imagine for us. It certainly was for Judah who was once part of a powerful and united kingdom but now was essentially a doormat. Having been split into a divided nation years earlier, the northern part (known as Israel) was invaded and conquered by the powerful empire from the north, Assyria. Judah (the southern portion of the divided kingdom) feared the same outcome as their northern counterpart.

In the midst of chaos comes hope. Hope is a mystifying attribute and can cause great confliction in one’s soul. This is conflict is painted so well in the film Shawshank Redemption where Red attempts to set Andy straight about hope.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDGNsbLayJw

“Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane. He has no use for it…” One could venture that this is the reaction most of Judah had to the well educated, royal prophet who declared that a child would bring the peace and renewal that these Jews craved for. The audacity of Isaiah’s claims are that the present reality was completely contrary to the picture he was painting. How quickly Judah forgot the pattern of their ancestors. Time and time again, those who were shown a glimpse of what God would bring about were often not the ones who saw it come to fruition. This is where hope comes into play. We stand in that same line of those who place their hope in God and all that He is going to do even though the present reality does not match the future description. We have seen a great deal more of the picture but still long…hope… for its completion.

1. We have been called to participate in this already/not yet prophetic work that God promised to the remnant of Israel and ultimately to all humanity. What are we as a community doing to further this work? How are we helping the oppressed? How are we creating peace and allowing justice to blossom? If we are not about the Father’s business, He has a harsh response for us (just read other parts of Isaiah).
2. I think we often live with the present circumstances of this world trumping the future reality. That God is sort of impotent and does not really know how bad it is. It all is a little too out of control. Subconsciously we begin to think the “enemy” is going to win or that the “darkness and despair” (verse 1) will go on forever.  What are the hope killers in our lives/community? How does hope, or the lack of it, affect the journey of faith we find ourselves on?

Today is the Fourth Sunday of Advent, and our day to practice worship together. Christ Church gathers at 5pm on Sunday evenings, and tonight we’ll publicly read the Scriptures we’ve been meditating on all week. If you’re not part of Christ Church, get together with a group of friends and practice the following exercises:

• Eat together.
• Receive communion together (choose a reading from John 6:43-58, or 2 Cor 11:23-26, a liturgical book like the Book of Common Prayer).
• Read the Scriptures together and share your experiences from your exercises this week.
• Pray for anyone in need.