May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust Him, so that you may overflow with Hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
It’s hard to believe that the first Sunday in Advent has come. Advent is the season where we prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of Christ during the four weeks before Christmas. The word Advent means “to come”, and the season focuses on celebrating Christ’s first coming at Christmas and anticipating Christ’s second coming.
The lighting of the Advent wreath is a fairly new tradition in church history. The wreath of today was modified from the first wreath which was made of a wagon wheel into the wreath of four candles for each Sunday and one in the middle which is lighted on Christmas Eve or Day which we use
The first candle lit on the wreath is the candle of hope. Hope is defined as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. The incredible blessing of Christmas is that we don’t have to wait until next year or a change in our circumstances to have hope – it is available to us all year long!
We all need hope all the time, but especially at Christmas. For many in our world today, the flame of hope has burned down to the wick. There are those who wonder how they will carry on because the darkness of failures, health, and situations has come crashing in.
So, why should we hold onto hope during this special season? First, we should hold onto hope because Jesus was born, lived, died, and rose again. The Old Testament book of Isaiah foretells of a Savior that would take away our sins, and that baby born in the manger was the beginning of hope for us.
Next, we can have hope because God keeps His promises. God promised us a Savior who would forgive our sins, and to fulfill that promise, Jesus came! The verse from Psalm 43:5 reminds us to Put your hope in God. There is never a time when we can’t hope in God no matter the need or how great the difficulty might be. Even when our situation appears to be impossible, our hope will not be in vain.
Finally, we have hope because through Jesus, we can know God. “Behold the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call him Immanuel” which translated means, “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23. “God with us” means access to God with no waiting or separation; we can enter into HIs presence at any time. We are never forsaken.
Our family celebrates three December birthdays at Thanksgiving every year because we are all together, and the time seems appropriate. Usually, the calendar cooperates, and the first Sunday of Advent is the next weekend. As the three guys blow out the birthday candles, it has come to be a joyous way to start the season of Advent and to remember the hope that comes with the first lit candle of the Advent wreath.
There is hope for all of us but especially for those who find the sorrows of this world hard to bear. We can all rest in the assurance that one day all sorrows will be swept away all because God sent his Son Jesus.
The Christmas season is a wonderful time for so many reasons, but one of the most important reasons is the hope that Christ brings to this struggling world. Hope begins with the Babe born in Bethlehem. He brought hope where there wasn’t any, and He continues to do that today.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. Fall on your knees! O hear the angels voices! O night when Christ was born; O night divine, O night, O night divine! O Holy Night by Placide Cappeau
