Advent is Near – There’s A New World Coming

Advent begins on Sunday. We are setting up our Advent wreath, and preparing our hearts for the coming of Christ. Many are already prepared for this journey but some of us are not and I thought that this was a good time to make you aware of another great resource that I would recommend for this season.

There's A New World Coming - John Van De Laar

John Van De Laar’s There’s A New World Coming, follows the daily readings from the revised common lectionary. It gives preachers and liturgists everything they need to ensure that the Advent journey is meaningful and transforming – in one complete package. It includes:

• Commentaries on the Gospel & Old Testament readings for each week;
• Liturgies for each Sunday, including the Hanging of the Greens, Advent Wreath Candle Lighting prayers & a special Advent Service of the Table;
• Small Group Guidelines, including ice-breaker, worship suggestion and discussion questions;
• Daily devotional guides including readings, reflections and prayers;
• Graphics for PowerPoint (or other projection software) including title slides, sermon slides, & music slides.

And to whet your appetite here is a beautiful quote about the meaning of Advent

Advent reminds us that there is a new world coming – always coming. It also teaches us that this new world does not remove the realities of the old world, at least not yet. Rather, the new world exists in the midst of the old one. The signs of suffering and trauma that we see every day are not an indication that God’s reign has failed, or that God is not coming, or even that we still need to wait for some future fulfilment when all will be set right. Rather, the suffering we experience in this world is an opportunity for us to encounter God and to help others to do the same. The struggles of this life are a call to embody now the grace and restoration of God, so that we become the manifestation of God’s motivation and the channel of God’s presence and activity for those around us.

Our challenge, as we begin the Advent journey again this year, is to hold fast to faith and to live, as best we can, in the midst of the struggling world, the hope-filled life of Christ. Despair is not an option for us. Rather, as we celebrate God’s coming, hope becomes the fountain from which our joy, our love and our life of Christlikeness can flow.