While the Christmas season has begun to creep into Halloween out in our culture, we are given a different season in the church. A season which comes first.
Advent is marked as a season of anticipation and waiting. Like Jesus’s parable of the bridesmaids in Matthew, this waiting has both a sense of hope and unease. And every year, we prepare for the coming of the Incarnate God.
Only, we do so in the midst of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, college Bowl games, constant Christmas music, and the persistent, pervasive feeling that we have all these presents and dinners and parties to prepare for.
I’ve always wanted to mark Advent as different, but it always feels like an uphill battle.
There is another way to look at it, however. We don’t have to shut down the Christmas carols and the good cheer. We can, instead, subvert it. Bringing the true spirit of Advent and Christmas into this time obsessed with buying stuff.
We can join the Advent Conspiracy.
With the Advent Conspiracy, we can “conspire to change the way we celebrate Christmas”.
We can take this time with greater intention for what it can be. We can honor our families and our children by showing them the beauty of the season. We can make this season different, by choosing to
- Spend Less
- Give More
- Love All
- Worship Fully
We will discuss each of these concepts this season. And our families are encouraged to take the family guide home with them (or download it here), marking each day on the family’s Advent calendar.
Advent Soup and Studies
Come join us each Sunday evening in Advent (11/27, 12/4, 12/11, 12/18) at 5 pm for a simple meal and conversation. Our study will be on how the birth stories are told in the gospels. All ages and experience are welcome!