In the midst of horror and despair, Christ arrives with love enough, with peace enough, with hope enough to make things very, very, very different.
In the midst of horror and despair, Christ arrives with love enough, with peace enough, with hope enough to make things very, very, very different.
The Advent season is a gift that illumines our present with light from our promised goal, to shape us as a people of patient and vigilant faithfulness.
The hope that empowers us to maintain our counter-cultural obedience to Christ, is that the One who will eventually rule over all is the One who offers himself as a suffering servant of all.
Hope is a courageous and active stance towards life which is nourished in those who attend to the voice of God in Scripture.
God sees us, the baptised, as having the appearance of Christ, which gives us reason to believe in ourselves and live up to it.
Christ’s story – the crucifixion of the truly good and its resurrection and coming victory – is the whole story of God’s work in the world and the whole story of the Bible.
Locating our struggles within the bigger picture of God’s purposes can give hope and purpose, but it also places us in a challenging place of priestly mission.
Celebrating God is not to be a denial of reality, but a faith-filled reaching out for a new reality.
Although the coming Christ is brings our deepest hopes to fulfillment, the transition will be traumatic and we still fear his coming because of our unhealthy investments in the present.
Because of who Jesus is, we are both naked and vulnerable before him, and confident to approach God. Our only fear is of ourselves!
We are called to proclaim and celebrate the advent of God’s justice, and doing so is ultimately more radical than simply fighting injustice.
Although the coming Christ is brings our deepest hopes to fulfillment, we still fear his coming because of our unhealthy investments in the present.
Will we live out allegiance to the state, the economy, the mass media, consumerism, status-driven values and wealth, or to God, to the new community, to upside-down kingdom values and to a radical alternative which is the source of hope and transformation?
Preparing the way of the Lord is not just a temporary clean-up for the visitor, but an embracing of the new possibilities that are opening to us.
We are called to live the lifestyle of the era that has not quite dawned – values found in Jesus Christ that will bring life to the world.
With the coming of the Christ, our deepest longings and yearnings will be fulfilled.
God does not wish our suffering and struggle to continue, but is ready to gather us in his arms, and calls us to prepare for his arrival.
If we live as though Christ was reigning now, we will always be ready for what he is about to do.
God’s blessing is upon those who fully enter the pain of life and who hope beyond it.
God’s love unconditionally seeks all people.