During Advent, we remember to live by faith, waiting and hoping for Jesus, God with us, to arrive.
During Advent, we remember to live by faith, waiting and hoping for Jesus, God with us, to arrive.
Welcome to God With Us, our audio Advent devotional.
As we thought about the upcoming holiday season, we realized we wanted to encourage one another to pause, to wait, even if only for a few minutes each day, on the great story we tell at Christmas.
God loves us so much that he sent his one and only son, Jesus, to be born and to be God with us.
Our desire turned us toward the stories of God's people, and as we dwelt in those narratives, we noticed a pattern.
God's people waited on the Lord.
They remembered God's faithfulness to them.
They hoped in his promise of the Messiah, Emmanuel.
And they responded.
They joined God and his purposes in and for the world.
That same pattern underlies what we offer you, a daily podcast devoted to Advent, the season of waiting.
Each episode is roughly 10 minutes and follows the pattern of waiting, remembering, hoping, and responding.
We invite you to join us for as many episodes as you are able.
Each day stands alone, so don't worry if you miss one.
The point of the podcast is to meet you where you are, whether that's a long drive to work, or the beginning of a long run on a crisp Saturday morning.
Come, join us in the season of waiting.
We wait all the time.
Traffic lights, doctor's offices, birthday parties, especially if you refrain from the birthday month tradition, choosing to delight and wait for the big splashy celebration.
Waiting is nothing new.
It spills across the pages of the Bible.
God's people waited on God to fulfill his promises.
And God, more often than not, waited on his people to pay attention and turn back to him.
Waiting characterizes Christians who have gone before us.
Paul in prison, somehow rejoicing.
John on the island of Patmos.
More contemporary believers too, like C.S. Lewis and Eugene Peterson, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Elizabeth Elliot.
Christian traditions too, invite us to wait and to pay attention to God's work in the world.
Certain seasons, like Advent and Lent, are devoted to waiting, teaching us how to inhabit life today and preparing us for the life to come.
All this history, from the pages of Scripture, the lives of saints, our annual traditions, and our lives themselves, develops a godly capacity for waiting within us.
How?
Because seasons of waiting aren't empty time.
They are filled with actions that anchor us in time.
These actions root us in God's faithfulness in the past, and God's faithfulness in the future, so that we can live faithfully toward him in the present.
The pattern for living goes something like this.
We wait.
We remember.
We hope.
We respond.
These four actions shape our audio Advent devotion.
Each day we will listen to the Bible and enter different eras and sections of God's big redemptive story.
As we do, we will practice waiting on the Lord.
We will remember who God is and what God has done.
We will hope in Jesus, who was born, died, rose from the dead, ascended to heaven, and will return again.
And we will respond through reflection and action.
What are you most looking forward to this Advent and Christmas?
Take a moment on your own and tell God all about it.
Take a moment on your own and tell God to be in the present.
So let's enter Advent, the season of waiting.
And let's be ready, because God delights in and answers those who wait on him.