Advent 2021: Overview

[Carson]

Who will prepare your heart for Christmas?

The most persistent advertiser? Your family? Your wish list?

Our time is not neutral. It is always being ‘spent’ on some priority.

Advent says that this time should be spent preparing our hearts for Christmas.

I invite you to walk along the road of Advent with us.

You can find twenty free devotionals, arranged to line up with the four weeks of Advent, at the links below.

Advent 2021: Week 1

Hi UP Members! Is Christmas meaningful to you? It is for me. Yet… I feel there is a lot of pressure to make Christmas sentimental, commercial, or just another seasonal routine. This year I’d like to refresh and deepen my appreciation for Christmas — with you. In fact, this is the purpose of Advent. It is a season of preparation for Christmas. And it raises our expectation of Christ’s second return. The word Advent simply means “arrival” or “coming.” Would you like to prepare your heart for…

Advent: Week 2 (Peace)

Hi UP Members! This week we reflected on the Advent theme of hope. The second week of Advent is often associated with peace. But what is peace? And how do we get it? Next week we will read and discuss the following Scriptures: Monday, December 6: Genesis 11:30-12:4 Tuesday, December 7: Psalm 27:0-14 Wednesday, December 8: Isaiah 9:1-7 Thursday, December 9: Luke 1:67-80 Friday, December 10: Ephesians 2:11-22 I encourage you to start meditating on them now. I look forward to our discussi…

Advent Week 3: Joy

[adventroad] C.S. Lewis once wrote, Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. We are far too easily pleased. And Advent is an opportunity to reconsider where we find joy. The third wee…

Advent Week 4: Love

[adventroad] Reflections The third week of Advent is often associated with love. So next week we will read and discuss the following Scriptures: Monday, December 20: Isaiah 54:1-10 Tuesday, December 21: Zephaniah 3:9-20 Wednesday, December 22: Luke 23:32-43 Thursday, December 23: Romans 5:6-11 Friday, December 24: 1 John 3:11-24 If your schedule allows, consider studying and prayerfully meditating on these verses over the weekend. Love Came Down at Christmas - Jars of Clay: […