ON Sunday, December 3, the church entered Advent, which starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas.

This is a special time for the church and for the country as we prepare for Christmas, but this makes it a bit of a weird time, because of what Advent means. Advent, simply means, arrival. Specially Christ Jesus’s arrival.

Which is odd given that Jesus arrived over 2,000 years ago and we’ll celebrate His birth in a few weeks time on Christmas Day.

Why then do we celebrate a time of arriving before celebrating the birth of Jesus. It is because Jesus will come again.

He will come again, but we don’t know where or when it will be, only God knows when it will be.

Which means that advent is about preparing ourselves for Christ’s second coming as we remember His first. 

There are many ways in which we can prepare ourselves for this second coming.

The first is coming along to one or more of the many church services happening at this time of year, especially Carol services. Carol services tell the story of God’s people through carols and lessons which speak of the goodness of God.

Of how God promised to His people that He would (which He does) look after them. 

Another way that we can prepare ourselves for Christ’s second coming to remember His first and the life He lived.

This month, I am reading a chapter of St Luke’s Gospel a day, because it has 24 chapters and through the course of December, I will rediscover the reason why Jesus came, what He got up to in life, why that got Him killed, why death wasn’t the end of Jesus’s ministry, as He came back to life before ascending to Heaven, promising to return again. 

Through reading Luke’s story of Jesus, I hope that when Christmas comes, I will be able to celebrate fully and joyfully the reason of Christmas and why it brings Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace into their fullness. 

I hope you have a blessed advent preparing to mark Jesus’s second coming as we remember His first. 

Rev Lewis Eden

Assistant Curate in the Crediton Mission Hub