Isaiah 40:3-5 A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. " (NIV)

"Fast before the feast!" my mother would say, as she put Christmas Eve supper on the table: codfish cakes, or her heavenly homemade baked beans. Both dishes I secretly preferred to turkey!

"Fast before the feast!" Prepare the way! Not just penitence. A call to lay low, rest up for the party! Nothing you could enjoy now could ever be as good as what's coming, so don't dull your senses. Don't take the edge off your appetite!

We need to learn again how to fast before the feast. To enjoy simple things, like fishcakes and baked beans. Like life itself. Then the celebration-times are even sweeter. Savoured as gifts, piled on top of what is already good and celebrated.

The coming of God that we remember, declare, and anticipate is not a coming to nothingness. We already live by the grace of God. God's gifts are with us. God has always been faithful.

The prophets and the baptizer didn't announce the coming of a God who had been absent. They declared a new revelation, a keeping of promises, a fullness of what had always been there for the open-eyed to see.

Prepare! Celebrate life now, and look forward to even more!

Prayer: Open my eyes to see all your gifts in the everyday of my life. Then help me wait to celebrate the overflow of your grace. Amen.

Isaiah 9:6-7 – For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David

We made it this far! 15 Years! Praise God! Was there ever any doubt we'd make it? Well…

Today is our anniversary! 15 years ago we were crazy students, rolling from exams and essays right into a wedding.

"What a silly time to get married," one church member blurted out one anniversary. She recovered enough to joke about only getting one set of presents. I can't think of a better time to get married than in Advent, near Christmas. It's the season of promise. We reach back for some old words and stories, and renew them for a new day.

The best Advent promise I've ever heard was the one she gave me on that day. The best Christmas gift I ever received was a loving life-partner. God's grace and faithfulness overflow for us every year. The celebration begins on the 19th.

Words from Galatians 2:20 were printed in our wedding service bulletins. One of our minister-guests worked them into his sermon the next day! 15 years later, they explain how two mismatched people have built a marriage. They also tell how Advent promises were fulfilled, and what Christmas is all about.

Look around you, at the people who are connected to you in friendship, family, marriage. Give thanks for the gift and the promise that each one is to you!

Prayer: As I look at my relationships, O God, I thank you for each one. I praise you for bringing us, together, this far. I look forward to living together by faith for all the years to come. Amen.

Can you feel it? The air is electric with promise as Jesus begins his ministry. "The kingdom of God is at hand!" Literally, so close you can reach out and (almost) touch it!

Every Advent we read these words. Do they electrify us? God's reign is near to us. Every moment, every turning of our path can be an opening to it. We just need to look for the signs that God is present and active.

Thy kingdom come— on bended knee
The passing ages pray;
And faithful souls have longed to see
On earth that kingdom's day.

Yes! We long to see clear signs, a bright light on the horizon. But listen:

But the slow watches of the night
Not less to God belong,
And for the everlasting right
The silent stars are strong.

Darkness and silence can't shut it out. God's reign is nearer than we know.

And lo! already on the hills
The flags of dawn appear…

The signs really are there!

Gird up your loins, ye prophet souls,
Proclaim the day is near.

Get ready to run, and tell the gospel. Today, share some electrifying words of promise with someone near you.

Prayer: Make me a prophet soul, O God. Give me courage to announce the nearness of your reign. Amen.

My 11 year old daughter has her Christmas list sorted by category, and colour-coded for degree of desire or need.

The farmers in my congregations are wishing for a few nights of good, hard frost to set the clay in their fields. They would like to finish their corn harvest before Christmas. It has been a tough year for many of them.

A little girl, almost three, is desperately ill after chemotherapy. Her parents are wishing for a recovery just long enough to take her and her sisters on a trip after Christmas. The trip is being arranged by the "Children's Wish Foundation". It's doubtful there will be more treatment after Christmas. She may not see her third birthday.

My daughter knows she won't get everything, but she can count on two or three of her wishes coming true. Her mother and I will see to that. I wish I could make these other wishes come true.

The farmers already know that they can't count on their wish coming true, but they still hope. Farmers do a lot of hoping!

What about the little girl? Her parents have such strength! They live in hope for Christmas, while taking things one day at a time. They know what now seems inevitable.

What's on your Christmas list? What's your wish?

Prayer: Loving God, I offer you all my Christmas wishes. Sort them out. Do with them as you will. Help me be thankful for the gift of Christmas itself. Amen.

John 1:6-7 – There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.

Hark! a thrilling voice is sounding,
"Christ is nigh!" it seems to say.

The words of that hymn could be about John the Baptist, or about Isaiah, as we read his words in Advent light. What do the words mean to us?

Are they good news? Do they announce joy to come?

Are they a warning, a threat? Do they announce judgment?

Or do they fall flat? Another Advent, another Christmas. More of the same.

The prophet's songs, and the Baptizer's words, are both gospel and judgment. Comfort for the afflicted, and affliction for the comfortable. The word judges and saves.

One thing is certain: these words do not proclaim more of the same. They ring with news of the new!

This Advent, take a long, hard look at your life. Ask what God's word is bringing to light this year that you need to repent of. Where do you need to be comforted? From what do you need to be rescued?

Don't be afraid of the questions. Be awake to the truth God will show you when you ask them! The hymn goes on:

Wakened by the solemn warning,
Let the earthbound soul arise;
Christ, her sun, all ill dispelling,
Shines upon the morning skies.

Prayer: Help me to hear your good news this Advent and Christmas. Make your good news new to me, O God. And when I hear the news, make me new, by your Word's power! Amen.

2 Peter 3:8 – But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
Psalm 126:1 – When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, it seemed like a dream.

What is your dream, this December, this Advent season? What Christmas miracle would you like to see?

It would be like a dream if we could wake up on Christmas morning to news that all the fighting had ended, all the homeless had been sheltered, all the hungry fed, all the sick cured.

It would be like a dream if we could say, today, that all that Christ's coming to the world means will be fulfilled this year.

Sometimes Advent and Christmas carry more disappointment and doubt than joy and faith. Are we dreaming of too much? We dream of all that we dream of coming true all at once. Today's verse from 2 Peter reminds us that one day and a one millennium are all the same to God.

In God's time, in God's way, with our cooperation, and our Spirit-empowered effort, God's saving will is accomplished. The stories, the promises, and even the sermons of Advent remind us of that truth.

Underneath the lights and the tinsel there is a grimy world that seems to deny us our dreams. But Christ has come; Christ comes to us every day; and Christ will come to us again, and again, and again. Isn't that like a dream?

Prayer: Keep me dreaming, dear God, and help me to see the dreams you have made real, the dreams you make come true today, and the dreams you will make real, in your time, in your way. Amen.