Advent

In a column written for InterVarsity's Online Pulpit website, pastor Craig Loscalzo talks about the value of preaching on Advent themes. You can read the entire column at http://www.gospelcom.net/ivpress/churchlink/onlinepulpit/1996-11.php. He observes:

"Advent comes from a Latin word meaning 'coming' or 'arrival,' and marks the four Sundays preceding Christmas as a time to prepare for celebrating Christ's birth. Advent is a season for Christians intentionally to remember their need for God to come again in their lives. It is a time for us to express a desire for what God alone can give. Advent is also a time for Christians to anticipate Christ's second coming. We look forward to that day and wait expectantly for Christ to come again. In a culture that so commercializes and trivializes Christian holidays, we need all the help we can get in preparing ourselves, our families, and our congregations to celebrate Christmas authentically."