Advent 1 (2015.11.29 Sermon Audio)

John Chandler leads us into the new year and the first week of Advent with a look at Jeremiah 33:14-16.

Quotes and links:

Jerusalem: The Biography, by Simon Sebag Montefiore
Some expected a serene and spiritual Messiah who would accomplish his mission in miraculous fashion. But many more expected a fierce and invincible warrior Messiah who would destroy the pagan nations. The apocryphal Psalms of Solomon prays that God will send the Messiah “to purge Jerusalem from gentiles… to smash the arrogance of sinners like a potter’s jar… to destroy the unlawful nations with the word of his mouth.” — Rodney Stark
The congregation that observes Advent will mark time differently from those people who live December as a countdown to Christmas and the end of the year. The Sundays of Advent count forward to a time that begins with the birth of Christ. The First Sunday of Advent is for Christians the first Sunday of the year, a new year in sacred time, opening to the mystery and certainty of God’s presence. — Deborah Block
And it is in the season of Advent that we engage in the strenuous and crucial Christian task of imagination. Together with the prophet, we are called not only to name suffering and injustice, but to lean into God’s promised alternative future. — Jennifer Ryan Ayres