Fairhaven Shorts 12-3-2023

Hope in Times of Weariness

Having to think consciously about your own personal safety 24/7 is wearying. And so we turn to God and we say, Lord, please forgive where we've gone wrong. Lord, you are the potter, we are the clay. Take us in your hands and work with us.

Work out our flaws. Work in strength. Work in wholeness. Come set our world to rights.

Lord, our weariness has shaken our hope. Let your face shine so that we can be saved.

The Significance of Advent

So here we are the first week of Advent already. It seems like just yesterday we were starting the new school year. The season of Advent is and always has been considered the new year of the church. And one of the authors I was reading this past week was kind of puzzled by the fact that the church would choose Advent to start the year.

He asked, why not Easter, the victory over death? Or why not Pentecost with this baptism of fire, the birthday of the church? With Advent, he said, our new year starts not in victory, but in the shadows of war, sorrow, and hate. And this is exactly where our God of grace arrives. Therefore, on our Advent wreath, we have candles of hope and peace and joy and love to light against the shadows of despair and war and sorrow and hate.