As we kick off our Advent Season this year, we are going to be publishing a series of Advent Devotions written by several people from within the church. Getting perspectives and allowing God to speak through the readings of His Word is one of my favorite things to do. Quite honestly, it makes me want to do a deeper dive into His Word, and I pray that it is the same for you.
However, one of the biggest barriers to diving into His Word is often not just trying to glean understanding from the Biblical passages but trying to understand all the “churchy” words that seem to pop up either while in church or when listening to Christians speak. Prime example – Advent Devotion. What if I hear the words, but have never been churched? What if it is what I hear about for weeks, but I am too shy or embarrassed to ask what it means? Maybe I wasn’t raised in a church, or what if my church uses different language than the one I now attend? Good news, you are not alone, and knowing the meaning of “Advent” or “devotion” will not determine whether or not you get into heaven. However, I feel compelled to precede my Advent Devotion with a few definitions, and I want to start with Advent:
Advent Season: “A season of the liturgical year observed in most Christian denominations as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for both the celebration of the Nativity of Christ at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming. A little more clearly for just Advent, as it pertains to Christian conversation, the first season of the Christian church year, leading up to Christmas and including the four preceding Sundays.”
That definition made it perfectly clear, or…. maybe not. That gives me a whole NEW list of words to look up, so here we go:
Advent: (just the word and not the season): the coming or second coming of Christ.Liturgical: Relating to liturgy or public worship. Okay, we’re just going to go with the “public worship” situation because when I look up liturgy, it takes me down yet another trail.Nativity: The birth of Jesus Christ.
Basically, The Advent Season is the four weeks before Christmas that we celebrate the day of His birth and wait in anxious expectation for His return. It’s a time in which we center ourselves and focus on Christ rather than just gift giving or family gatherings; we keep Him as our central focus.
So now that we have a slightly clearer definition of Advent, let’s move to “devotion.” A devotion is often an inspired writing about a scriptural passage that inspires us to meditate or pray. And what better time to quiet our minds so that we can meditate and pray than during the Advent Season? And that is why we want to share these Advent Devotions with each of you.
Now…I can move on to my actual devotion. Advent begins tomorrow (Sunday, November 24, 2022), and continues through Christmas Eve (Saturday, December 24, 2022). We hope you enjoy these thoughts from our members as we celebrate Advent together.
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