Psalm 30:5b Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning.

1. Advent is a time of ____________ and ____________.

2. Advent is a time when our ____________ ____________ longing for something ____________.

3. Advent is a time to ____________ Jesus' ____________.


Scripture Readings
Isaiah 35:1-10
James 5:7-11
Matthew 11:2-15

Take It With You!

As we learn how to live as disciples of Jesus Christ, here helpful tools will be offered to aid in your study.

We hear most frequently that Advent is about waiting. And it is. It's about living in the tension between the present reality and the hoped-for future where God dwells with us in fullness. But we cannot truly open our hearts to wait on God to act until we acknowledge just how bad our current predicament is. Until we enter into the pain of being human and realize nothing we can do will protect us from this pain...

As Jesus says, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Matt. 5:4). In other words, when we allow ourselves to be disturbed out of complacency, we make room in our hearts and lives for the kingdom of God to emerge and amaze us. Advent, then, is about letting ourselves be disturbed, shaken out of numbness, so we can long for something more, something beyond our human capacity...

During Advent, we wait and hope patiently in the darkness for the emergence of Christ's light. We allow our hearts to break as we face the tragic reality of our world, so that through the cracks God's newness can emerge. As a new mother, I take heart in knowing that God is with me as I bring a tiny baby into a cold, dark world. He is with me not just as a presence from afar; he is with me intimately as a parent who has gone through the same thing. In this knowledge, and in the life, death, and resurrection of his Son, I have hope. Come, Lord Jesus.

Liuan Huska, Let Advent Break Your Heart. http://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2013/december/let-advent-break-your-heart.html