And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:
“Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,
which means ‘God is with us.’” (Matthew 1:21-23, NLT)
December is a full month for most of us. There are school plays and parties, work parties and events, oh and family get-togethers. Then we have our Christmas planning, shopping, and wrapping, not to mention any baking we may (or may not) want to do. It’s easy for this month to become a big list of “to-do’s” on top of all of the everyday work and chores.
Let’s just take a deep breath (right now)… And another one…
Okay, now I want to share why, even with all of the other busyness going on, Advent is so important. If you’re not sure what Advent is, it refers to the four full weeks leading up to Christmas. This year it starts on December 1st. It’s an intentional time, for Christians, of anticipation and looking forward to welcoming the coming of Jesus as a human baby. It’s a way of pausing, right in the midst of all of the busyness, to reflect on the wonder of the King of Kings and Prince of Peace entering our world and becoming like us so that we can be with him. He is Immanuel, God with us.
Let’s just take a deep breath (right now)… And another one…
As I reflect on this I realize that Jesus didn’t wait until everyone was ready to welcome him. He didn’t wait until there was peace on earth. He didn’t even wait until Joseph and Mary – the parents who would be raising him – fully grasped all that was going on. He came right in the midst of a census taking place, families that were in disarray (imagine how Mary and Joseph’s families took the news of a baby on the way!), his people being occupied by Rome, a murderous king on the throne, and the religious leaders on the lookout for a different kind of Messiah.
Jesus doesn’t wait for us to be in a calm place, where everything is in order, and we have our lives under control. He comes to us right here, right now, just as we are and says, “I’m here to bring you peace, joy, hope, and love – will you receive me?” He is Immanuel, God with us.
The wonderful news of Christmas is that God came into our world including the mess, pain, hopelessness, hurt, and distractedness of our lives – not to point out all the ways we should be doing life better but to be with us and call us into a deeper relationship with him. He wants to bring good gifts into our lives. This was his plan all along: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners” (Romans 5:6, NLT).
Advent is creating intentional space in our lives and our families to make room to ponder the wonder of Immanuel, God with us. There are a number of things we can use to make this a meaningful time that everyone wants to take part in.
These are just a few ideas. It doesn’t need to be something that costs much or takes a lot of time. Celebrating Advent becomes a new way of looking at the season and preparing our hearts. In the midst of all of the busyness I want to encourage you to be intentional about pausing together as a family to ponder and wonder at the wonderful story of Christmas. To remember that Jesus is Immanuel, God will us.
Sarah has been Pastor of Children & Families at The Journey Church for eight years. Her passion is to see families growing in their faith with Jesus together and living it out in their homes, neighborhoods, and schools; as well as being deeply connected with their church family. To find out more about The Journey Church ministries go to onthejourney.ca. To contact Sarah you can email her at sarah@onthejourney.ca.