The Advent Of Our Lord

Waiting. Watching. Hoping. Rejoicing. That's the Advent season. "Fear not," the angel Gabriel announced to the young virgin, Mary. "You have found favor with God. Behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus." So, the waiting began for Mary.

But God's people had been waiting for much longer than that - for deliverance and a word of comfort. As God once delivered His people, Israel, from bondage in Egypt and from exile in Babylon so, now, they longed for freedom from Roman oppression. But starting with that angelic announcement God was working a Deliverance even far greater than any mind had conceived: He was delivering us from all evil! The Great Hope of all the nations was coming in the form of a humble, holy infant.
"O come, thou Dayspring, come & cheer
our spirits by thine advent here;
disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
and death's dark shadows put to flight"
Yes, the Lord was coming to make His blessings flow "far as the curse is found." He was coming, He comes to us still, and He is coming again in glory to create the new heavens and new earth at the end of the ages.
PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD - Malachi 3:1
Anytime a baby comes there are many preparations to make, much more so when that child is a king - and greater yet, The King of Kings! There shall be no twiddling of thumbs during this waiting period. "Make straight the way for the Lord," cries the Prophet John the Baptist who came in the spirit and power of Elijah. Repentance of our sins is how we prepare room in our hearts today for the coming of our Lord. In this sense, Advent season is also a season of repentance, as well as anticipation.
ADVENT: A Season of Hope (click cph video above)