Begin Your Advent-ure!

Hello, dear friends! Linda and I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving! We celebrated our Thanksgiving in Estes Park, Colorado, a quaint town nestled high in the Rocky Mountains. While there, we were delighted to see in our hotel a “Festival of Trees” silent auction fundraiser “all decked out” for Christmas. Forty-five decorated tabletop Christmas trees glistened with colored lights and ornaments. Linda took the time to look at each tree but was so saddened when she realized no one tree represented Christ in any way. Talk about taking Christ out of Christmas!

As we begin the Advent season, we want to encourage you to begin your own “Advent-ure.” Find ways to make Advent meaningful…a real adventure. Taking the time to focus on Jesus, God-in-the-flesh, choosing to come to us that we might know the God of the Universe personally! True Christmas joy flows from seeking this adventure with Him! And what a tremendous outreach opportunity it presents.

You don’t normally hear sermons in December about John the Baptist, but he is a splendid example of living an Advent-urous life. In John 1:23 he proclaims, “I am the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said” (Amplified). While John proclaimed the physical coming of Jesus, we can use Advent to open doors for spiritual conversations. Simply replying “Merry Christmas” to the salesperson trained to say “Happy Holidays” is an engaging conversation starter.

It is a splendid time to pray for God to open doors with those you know and to invite them to attend a Christmas or Christmas Eve service with you. Carol Pipes, editor of Facts & Trends, shared, “In a recent poll of 1,000 Americans, LifeWay Research found six out of ten Americans typically attend church at Christmastime. But among those who don’t attend church at Christmastime, a majority (57 percent) say they would likely attend if someone they knew invited them.”

Advent is a perfect connecting time to involve those you know in your Christmas traditions. Consider taking a tin of cookies to your neighbors or inviting them to dinner. Think of the many things you and your family do at this time of year that you can use to share the Gift of Christ with those you influence. And like John the Baptist… maybe you can lay the path for others to come to know the Messiah.

We’d love to know how you make this Advent season one that is a sacred celebration as well as an outreach to those God has placed around you. If you need ideas for doing this, contact Linda at lindamwaterman@gmail.com or Reen at reen.waterman@navigators.org.