HOPE | First Sunday of AdventToday is the first Sunday of Advent. In whatever small moment of stillness you can make as December begins today, I want to invite you to make space for HOPE… through cultivating hope through giving yourself to the simple act of waiting.Isaiah 40:31 reminds us that those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. The season of Advent reminds us that hope and waiting are intertwined. Advent reminds us that hope has to be tended and stirred up by the presence of the spirit of God. Because of Him, our hope persists when the news is dark, when the situation feels impossible and… in times of waiting. Most of us don’t like to wait. The virtues of self-control, and of patience, are difficult for us to practice. Our ability to wait for the Lord very often rests on our trust in His character, and in His presence, and in His timing. Is there something that you find yourself waiting for, today? Perhaps it’s a small thing, that seems inconsequential. Or maybe you are waiting for something that feels terribly meaningful, deeply important. Advent, in a way that is not naïve nor patronizing invites us to consent to times of waiting… by putting our trust and hope in the promises of God’s goodness, and His provision… even though His ways are not always clear to us.Todays’ reading is from the Old Testament Prophet Jeremiah, chapter 33: 14 “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah. 15 “‘In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it[a] will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’ Consider this phrase: the days are coming when I will fulfill the good promises…. The Lord is looking forward to the fulfillment found in Jesus of Nazareth. In God, putting on flesh, and moving into our world. Humbling himself. Identifying with all the waiting found in our human condition. It is because of Him that we can wait in hope. Consider your own life: for what are you waiting? Are you waiting with hope? (moment of pause) As we consider our first Advent candle… the candle that after all this season of Advent will have burned the longest… place any areas of long waiting into the care of Christ. Speak out loud to the Lord what you are waiting for, hoping for...For those listening now who might not feel hope, or who are struggling to experience the hope found in Christ… my prayer is that you would know that your sisters and brothers are carrying you right now as we pray together these words from Psalm 130: We wait for the Lord, our souls waits. And in His word we do hope. Our souls wait for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning. Yes, more than those who watch for the morning…. We wait for the Lord… Amen

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