Thoughtful words from John Stonestreet:
"...feeling like Charlie Brown screaming at Linus, 'Can't anyone tell me what Christmas is all about?'
"....Well, one important thing is to remember what Eric Metaxas reminded us, that it's not really Christmas season -- it's Advent season, a time set aside by the church to help believers prepare to receive the fullness of Jesus' coming."
The real Once and Future King...
"And it's not just in remembrance of His incarnation, coming to Bethlehem as a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, but also in anticipation of His return as the 'Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory,' who will 'send His angels to gather His elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the ends of the heavens' (Mark 13:26-27).
"Over the past few years, walking through this season of Advent in prayer, in scripture and devotional readings, has been a huge blessing to my family, my church, and to me personally.
"Another thing that has really helped me is studying just how big this Christmas story is.
"Behind all the gifts, the carols, nativity scenes, and dinner parties is a narrative that spans from the creation of the heavens and earth to the re-creation of the heavens and earth.
"Here's what I mean: All those characters we remember in the Christmas story -- Mary, the Wise Men, Shepherds, Angels, Joseph, Zachariah, Elizabeth, Simeon -- they all have something in common. They identified what was happening to them as being firmly rooted in the promises of God -- promises to His people detailed in the Old Testament.
Thinking like they did -- that behind all of the noise and chaos of this time of year is a story still being unfolded -- has changed almost everything about how I approach Advent and Christmas...
"And this Advent, let's look beyond all the glitzy schmaltziness of our culture's celebration of the holidays and see the grand story behind Christmas, and prepare ourselves to celebrate the bedrock truth of our faith, and the reason for our hope:
Christ has come and He shall come again."
--From Breakpoint, November 25, 2013
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