ADVENT The beginning of the Christian year. Christian year traces entire

1. ADVENT • The beginning of the • Christian year. • Christian year traces entire • “Christ Event” – we order our lives around Christ.

2. ADVENT • Focus on longing and preparation for Jesus’ secondcoming with confidence rooted in his firstcoming. • Traditional colors are royal • (blue and purple).

3. ADVENT • Historic Advent lectionary readings move from second to first coming of Jesus. • Our Sunday teaching will follow the lectionary readings that trace the Christ Event.

4. 1st SUNDAY OF ADVENT (Year B) • Isaiah 64:1-9 • Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 • 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 • Mark 13:24-37 • He will come! Be ready!

5. Isaiah 64 • 1 Oh, that you would burst from the heavens and come down!      How the mountains would quake in your presence!2 As fire causes wood to burn      and water to boil,   your coming would make the nations tremble.      Then your enemies would learn the reason for your fame!

6. Isaiah 64 • 3 When you came down long ago,      you did awesome deeds beyond our highest expectations.      And oh, how the mountains quaked!4 For since the world began,      no ear has heard,   and no eye has seen a God like you,who works for those who wait for him!

7. Isaiah 64 • 5 But you have been very angry with us,      for we are not godly.   We are constant sinners;      how can people like us be saved?6 We are all infected and impure with sin.      When we display our righteous deeds,      they are nothing but filthy rags . . .7 Therefore, you have turned away from us and turned us over to our sins.

8. Isaiah 64 • 8 And yet, O Lord, you are our Father.      We are the clay, and you are the potter.      We all are formed by your hand.9 Don’t be so angry with us, Lord.      Please don’t remember our sins forever.   Look at us, we pray,      and see that we are all your people.

9. From exile Israel cries out to God to come again and save, with a deep recognition that their exile is a result of their consistent turning away from the LORD. • Israel’s sin must be dealt with.

10. Psalm 80 • 1 Please listen, O Shepherd of Israel,      you who lead Joseph’s descendants like a flock . . . 2 Show us your mighty power.      Come to rescue us! • (repeated refrain – vv. 3, 7, 19) •  3 Turn us again to yourself, O God.      Make your face shine down upon us.Only then will we be saved.

11. Psalm 80 •  16 Turn us again to yourself, O God.      Make your face shine down upon us.      Only then will we be saved. • 17 Strengthen the man you love,      the son of your choice.18 Then we will never abandon you again.      Revive us so we can call on your name once more.

12. David (1000 BC) is the anointed one of God (messiah). • David’s royal sons (931-586 BC) are anointed ones of God (messiahs). • In exile (from 586 BC) Israel longs for God to fulfill his promise and send a son of David to set things right (the Messiah; in Greek = the Christ).

13. 1 Corinthians 1 •  4 I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus . . . • 6 This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true.  • 7 Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.   

14. 1 Corinthians 1 • 8 He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns.  • 9 God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  

15. The Messiah/Christ has come! • You are in Christ, and he will keep you strong until he returns to set all things right, once and for all. • Be ready! Live in Christ! • Here’s how . . .

16. Mark 13 • 24 “At that time, after the anguish of those days, •    the sun will be darkened,      the moon will give no light,25 the stars will fall from the sky,      and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.”

17. Mark 13 • 26 “Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send out his angels to gather his chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.”

18. Mark 13 • 32 “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.  • 33 And since you don’t know when that time will come, be on guard! Stay alert!”

19. Mark 13 • 34 “The coming of the Son of Man can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. When he left home, he gave each of his slaves instructions about the work they were to do, and he told the gatekeeper to watch for his return.35You, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know when the master of the household will return—in the evening, at midnight, before dawn, or at daybreak.”

20. Mark 13 • 36 “Don’t let him find you sleeping when he arrives without warning. 37 I say to you what I say to everyone: Watch for him!”

21. Advent is a time of sadness over our ongoing struggle with sin. • It is also a time of hopeful expectation that God will supply our present needs in Christ and that Christ will return to set all things right.

22. Are we presently living in Christ? • Or are our thoughts and deeds those of darkness, not light? • How can we live in light of Christ’s coming?

23. 1 Thessalonians 5 • 4 But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. 5 For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night. 

24. 6 So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. • 7Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk. 8 But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.