Dear First Pres,

   It’s Advent! It’s a season set aside to focus on the coming of Jesus - both His coming 2000 years ago through His Bethlehem birth and His coming again to judge the living and the dead. So Advent is both a season of celebration and of longing. We celebrate that Christ has come bringing salvation to all who put their faith in Him. And we long for His wonderful return to put all things right and complete His great work of redemption and restoration. 

   On Sunday we sang the great Advent hymn, “O Come O Come Emmanuel.” To me, it is a perfect representation of this season. The verses long and pray for God to come and bring relief to His people in need. “O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear.” Another verse prays, “Disperse the gloomy clouds of night and death’s dark shadows put to flight.” There’s a certain and real pain or longing in these verses that I believe is very relevant to our lives today. But then comes the refrain: “Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.” What good news that is - newsworthy of rejoicing. Not only has Emmanuel come and initiated His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, but He is coming again to bring heaven and earth together forever.

   I don’t know about you, but as this pandemic persists and my fatigue of it increases, I need to remind myself of this incredible good news: as surely as Jesus has come, He is coming again. Thus, even now, we, His people, rejoice. 

   That’s one of the reasons why we put so much effort into creating the FPC Advent Calendar and daily Advent emails. Even if we’re not all physically together during this season, we can share in these Advent activities to encourage one another and witness to the world our great hope in Christ. 

   Yesterday’s activity was to create our own nativity scene. Below you'll find the picture of the Vaccaro effort. My contribution was the “sweet” baby Jesus (get it? Dad jokes? I think you mean RAD jokes).  

   Have you done any of these activities yet? Do you have your own set of advent candles? Are you using the daily emails to guide your prayer time? I encourage you to dive in with your congregation. Post a picture of your activity on social media and tag it #FPCAdvent. Not only will it be an encouragement to your FPC family, it can be a witness of your Christian hope and joy to others. Let’s conspire together to make this Advent a season of hope, generosity, comfort, and joy.
 

In Christ,
Pastor Jeremy

P.S. For those of you worshipping online this weekend, don’t forget to prepare for Communion. Have something to eat and drink as we share this holy meal.