advent 1

Advent says hope is real. It drives us to look for it. To find it in the everyday. To find it the unexpected.

Advent is a season of expectation—of arrival. In the Church calendar, the four-week Advent season is the time in which we anticipate the coming of Christ into the world. It is a time in which we look to find hope, peace, joy, and love.

Yet, “the world must be experienced as it really is and not in some pretended way.”*

Advent confronts the cynicism of the heart with the insistence that God has not and will not abandon the world, hope is real, and something is coming.

And so each December we enter into a season of waiting, expecting, and longing.  We open up and turn our hearts  in the direction of that day. That day when the baby cries His first cry and we, surrounded by shepherds and angels and everyone in between, celebrate “Love come down.”

We really get into creative liturgy around this season at Sanctuary. We have some orginal readings based on the next four weeks, some interactive art pieces, a new film, and lot’s of music.

Sanctuary will start quietly and reflectively at 6:30. We will spend the first 20min or so around the theme of Advent before engaging in our ongoing teaching series through Matthew. Excited to be with you during this season.

hope and peace to you.

- graphic by jeffrey bondorew / * Quote: W. Brueggemann in The Message of the Psalms /  Mars Hill thoughts