Jesus Christ has come, Jesus Christ will come again.

Since the earliest days of the church, Christians have celebrated the coming of Jesus Christ at Christmas, and longed for his return when He will make all things right again. The season of Advent— the four weeks before Christmas— is a time for Christians to look to “advent” (appearing) of Jesus. We look back to his incarnation, and we look forward to the time when He comes again.

Advent is a time for us to grapple, seriously, with the darkness we find in the world. Just as the nights grow longer in December, we recognize that there is sin and darkness in the world and in our own hearts. We need someone to deliver us. We need real hope, we need a king who will bring us peace, and we need joy and love that come from outside of us.

In this Advent season, we will look at the traditional Advent themes of hope, peace, joy, and love, as we ask God to calibrate our hearts to love his appearing.