You may hear this question a lot over the next few days: “Are you ready for Christmas?” Being ready for Christmas may include making travel arrangements, decorating the house, preparing special food but what people most often mean by that question is, do you have your shopping done? Have you bought all the gifts you need to buy? We are people  that understand the societal norms surrounding the giving and receiving of gifts as though there is an unwritten book of how we are supposed to do this.

When it comes to understanding the Advent of Christ, our gift giving customs are very helpful in understanding the Gift of Christ. We may have a range of motivations for gifts we give depending on the nature of the relationship we have with the person we are giving the gift to. The closer the relationship the higher the value and the more personal the gift is. The fact that God gave to us such a personal gift in the Advent of His Son Jesus reveals the value God places on our lives. This Sunday we focus on the Love of God in The Promise of a Savior. Join us as we explore God’s amazing gift to us in the Advent of Christ.

When I was a young man living in Canada, where hockey is king, there was a man that started playing for the Edmonton Oilers named Wayne Gretzky, # 99. The Oilers were not my team but it was hard not to watch and follow his career. Wayne Gretzky played the game of Hockey like no other person before or since, setting many records in the NHL. He has a nickname in part because it phonetically works with his last name, but mostly because it describes the kind of player he was. He is known as “The Great Gretzky!” Great in his name refers to the fact that he is a hockey player who played in a way that was beyond the normal of his peers. 

In Luke 2 we read about the Angels announcing the birth of Jesus with this famous statement: “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”  The third Sunday of Advent focuses our attention on Joy, but Advent joy is no ordinary joy. This is Great Joy! Joy that is beyond the normal description of joy. In 1 Peter 1 this joy is described as “inexpressible and glorious joy!” In 1 Peter 1 we are going to see what is the foundation and reason for a joy of this kind. 

The devil wants us to settle for things that bring a shadow of joy and happiness through pleasure in the things of this world. But as with all things from this temporal world, that joy is temporary and even shallow. The joy we receive in the Advent of Jesus is Great Joy! Are you looking for Joy? Great Joy can be yours in Christ Jesus. Join me this Sunday as we discover the Great Joy of Advent.