This Sunday is the beginning of the season of the Christian year known as Advent.

Advent (from the Latin Adventus, meaning coming or arrival) is part of the larger season in the Christian year (think of the incarnation, which is celebrated at Christmas, and the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is celebrated at Easter), an aspect of the church’s gathered worship leading up to the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas.

Although not a biblical mandate for the church, Advent has been and remains an important aspect for many churches for most of Christian history. In fact, according to the Christian year, Advent marks the beginning for the people of God in their annual calendar, not January 1. Our lives are not only lived between Christ’s first and second comings, they are also marked, formed and shaped by His two comings.

This year I offer two possible resources for your advent devotional reading, study and worship. It may be worthwhile to make both available so people have an option. I include the links below along with an explanation of each of the series. May the Lord use them in your preparation for and in your worship of the Lord Jesus Christ, as you celebrate his first coming as a baby, and as you await his second coming as a King.

O come let us adore him, Christ the Lord!

Christmas In the Storyline of the Bible: Peace In the Midst of Tribulation

The advent devotional theme for this series comes from Jesus’ words at the conclusion of his farewell discourse. Jesus says to his disciples, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33). If we are to understand these words of Jesus, it is important to understand who he is and what he has done. In the midst of sure and certain tribulation, Jesus promises peace and the peace comes from him. In this world we will have tribulation. That is certain. But for believers, it is also certain that we can take heart and be encouraged and hopeful, because we are in Christ in whom is peace, and he has overcome the world.

This is the truth of Christmas. In our devotional, we are going to go back to the beginning and follow the storyline of the Bible: creation, fall, redemption and consummation. What we celebrate at Christmas in the incarnation of Jesus Christ is the culmination of this story. But this is not the end of the story, as we await the return of Christ, which is the key truth we celebrate during Advent. As we remember the first coming of Jesus in the incarnation, we await and prepare for the second coming of Jesus.

1. Introduction: The Meaning and Significance of Advent
2. Theme: The Peace Christ Promises
3. Week One: From Very Good to Enmity, Pain, Cursed and Banishment: Creation and the Fall (Genesis 1-3)
4. Week Two: From Tribulation to Peace – The Prince of Peace: Redemption Promised (Isaiah 9)
5. Week Three: A Birth, Glory and Peace: Redemption Experienced (Luke 2)
6. Week Four: A Cradle, A Cross, and A Crown: Consummation (John 20; Revelation 21)

Songs of Christmas: Advent Readings From the Gospel of Luke

This Advent Devotional focuses on The Gospel of Luke and the Songs of Christmas. We will highlight four songs “sung” by four key people surrounding the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the God-man, the truth we celebrate at Christmas, yet experience every day throughout the year. Over the next weeks we will study, mediate and ponder these Lucan songs.

The first we will look at is Mary’s Song, otherwise known as the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). Next we will hear the song of Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father, also known as the Benedictus. As you will recall, Zechariah was stricken mute because he did not believe the angel Gabriel who said that he and his wife, Elizabeth, would have a son. After John’s birth, Zechariah’s tongue was loosed and he immediately praised God (Luke 1:68-79). Then we will celebrate with the angels as they sang to the shepherds, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14), the Gloria in Excelsis. After this we will worship with Simeon as he sings of salvation, the appearance of Christ (Luke 2:29-32), known as the Nunc Dimittis. We will conclude the series in the New Year when we sing “A New Song: The Song of Eternity” from Revelation 5 (cf. Psalms 96, 98).

1. Introduction: Luke and the Songs of Christmas
2. Week One: Mary’s Song, Part 1: The Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55)
3. Week Two: Mary’s Song, Part 2: The Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55)
4. Week Three: Zechariah’s Song: Benedictus (Luke 1:68-79)
5. Week Four: The Angels’ Song: Gloria in Excelsis (Luke 2:1-20, cf. v. 14)
6. Christmas Day: Simeon’s Song: Nunc Dimittis (Luke 2:29-32)
7. Conclusion: A New Song: The Song of Eternity (Revelation 5)