Ad-on for the coming Advent

A supplement to! November 24th

Since next Sunday is the first of the month and it is the Sunday that you need to start your advent Sunday on I thought I would send you this;

This is an Advent book from  "Desiring God" a ministry of John Piper.

PREFACE

Advent is for adoring Jesus. At least that’s our angle on it at Desiring God.

Advent is an annual season of patient waiting, hopeful expectation, soul-searching, and calendar-watching marked by many churches, Christian families, and individual followers of Jesus. There’s no biblical mandate to observe Advent. It’s an optional thing—a tradition that developed over the course of the church’s history as a time of preparation for Christmas Day. Many of us find observing Advent to be personally enjoyable and spiritually profitable.

The English word “Advent” is from the Latin adventus, which means “coming.” The advent primarily in view each December is the first coming of Jesus two millennia ago. But Jesus’s second coming gets drawn in as well, as the

popular Christmas carol “Joy to the World” makes plain;

No more let sins and sorrows grow,

Nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make His blessings flow

Far as the curse is found.

Advent begins the fourth Sunday before Christmas and ends Christmas Eve. This means the earliest it begins, depending on where that Sunday falls, is November 27, and the latest it starts is December 3. Whereas Lent (the season of preparation for Easter) is 40 days, Advent ranges in length from 22 to 29 days. Christians throughout the world have their different ways of celebrating Advent. Some light candles. Some sing songs. Some eat candies. Some give gifts. Some hang wreaths. Many of us do all of the above. Christians have developed many good ways of extending the celebration of Jesus’s coming beyond merely the short 24 hours of

December 25. The incarnation of the Son of God, “for us and for our salvation,” as the old creed says it, is too big a thing to appreciate in just one day. Indeed, it’s something the Christian will celebrate for all eternity. Our prayer is that this little devotional might help you keep Jesus as the center and greatest treasure of your

Advent season. The candles and candies have their place, but we want to make sure that in all the December rush and hubbub we adore Jesus above all.

So, “O Come, Let Us Adore Him” is perhaps the theme song of these Advent readings. These meditations are all about adoring Christ, the Lord. In spots, you’ll hear strands of “O Come, O Come, Immanuel,” and in others, “Hark! The Heralds Angels Sing.” And, of course, we’ll have a cameo from the magi. But the figure at the center is Jesus—the baby born in Bethlehem, the God-man in swaddling clothes, laid in a manger, destined for Calvary, sent by his Father to die and rise again for his people. The readings are drawn from the ministry of John Piper,

and as always, we encourage you to access more than 30 years of Pastor John’s writing and preaching at desiring God.org. Thanks to Tony Reinke and Jonathan Parnell who helped pull the excerpts. Also worth noting is that these devotionals correspond with the daily readings from Pastor John in the application called “Solid Joys,” which is available for free down load in the iTunes store. If you find short daily reflections like these to be helpful, we’d send you to Solid Joys once

Advent is done.

The Introduction is designed to be read before the readings begin on December 1. The Conclusion can be read as an additional selection on Christmas Day (or any time before, especially if you’re curious about Pastor John’s favorite Christmas text). The Appendix on Old Testament shadows and the coming of Christ coordinates with the meditation for December 12 (and you’ll find a note in

italics there). May God be pleased to deepen and sweeten your adoring of Jesus this Advent.

David Mathis

Executive Editor

Desiring God