Gather for AdventSample

Gather at the Manger to Experience Hope - An Advent Reading

Reader 1: Home is where the heart is

Reader 2: Or so the saying goes.

R1: Home is a place of safety and rest.

R2: Home is a place for peace.

R1: A space where we can be our truest selves.

R2: We renovate old homes to make them new.

R1: We build dream homes so we can live in comfort and at ease.

R2: We search cities and neighborhoods to find a place to rent or buy,

R1: We search cities and neighborhoods for a safe place to live with the people that we love.

R2: Home is where the heart is,

R1: And today, on the first day of Advent, we remember that God came to dwell among us.

R2: To make a home with us.

R1: And this gives us great reason to hope.

R2: Home is where God’s heart is

R1: And God’s heart is always with us.

R2: The story of this hope is thousands of years old.

R1: We live in a day where that hope is reality.

R2: However, the home is not a place of hope, safety or peace for so many.

R1: Ever since God walked with Adam and Eve in garden in the cool of the day to fellowship

R2: The dream home that God designed for us has been attacked.

R1: And it was our sin and disobedience that seemed to dash all the hopes of home forever.

R2: Sin brought enmity, strife and discord

R1: Between spouses and siblings

R2: Families and neighbours

R1: Ever since man’s first disobedience.

R2: We wrecked the home that God gave

R1: But God sent his son Jesus into the world to salvage our hope and to make a home again for all who believe.

R2: As Jesus lived his life on earth

R1: As he revealed the Father

R2: And as he went to the cross to defeat sin and death

R1: He restored the hope of humanity.

R2: Jesus promised us that “If anyone loves me, he will obey my word,

R1: And my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him.”

R2: And so, on the first night of his life on earth, among the cattle and the sheep

R1: Among the bales of hay and the barnyard smells

R2: At the manger, Mary and Joseph had a home

R1: For Christ, the savior of the world, was present with them.

R2: Wherever Jesus is, the Father is with him and he establishes a home.

R1: Today, as we light the Candle of Hope, we remember that our true home is not in a building

R2: We remember that our true home is not a space with a roof and four walls

R1: Our home is with Christ, in God.

R2: As we prepare our hearts for Christmas, we remember our true home.

R1: Today we come to the manger to experience true hope.

Action:

As you light the candle of Advent, take a moment to thank God that, in a world where so many long for a safe and peaceful home life, your true home and hope are in Him.