• infiltration of busyness, dehumanization of life

• invasion of disasters, dampeners, disruptions

• carrying heavy burdens that rob us of joy

• in the first Advent, 95% of the world missed out

• a handful of shepherds, & later on some Magi

• ‘silent night’ remained silent for most of them

• we live in the in-between times

• many live as if He has not come

• many live as if He is not coming again

Isaiah 9:2, 6-7; Luke 21:25-28

• experience of a great breakthrough

• a child is born with great credentials

• He carried the weight of the world

• no longer in frailty, but in power & glory

• Jesus as rightful King & Judge

• help is on the way, our redemption is near

• chains are being broken

• injustice put right, righteousness will reign

• God’s government & peace extending endlessly

Luke 21:29-36

* Luke 21:29-31, 36

• as figs trees sprout leaves, we’re seeing d’ signs

• He is ‘God With Us’. He is coming again in glory

• be watchful, ready, … so we may stand!

* Luke 21:34 (living in a secularized society)

• not in dis-illusionment

• not in dis-couragement

• not in dis-heartenment

• prepare Him room

• living the reality of ‘Advent’

~ we have a King

• living a surrendered life

Christians spend the days of Advent not in passive inaction, but in activities strenuous and profitable:

they prepared themselves by scrubbing and cleaning their lives, by examining and repairing their souls –even as people generally prepare themselves body

and home to receive a visitor of ineffable importance.”

(Wangerin, Preparing for Jesus, Harper Collins, 1999, page 22)