Vintage Advent Wreath
I found this vintage angel food cake pan at a thrift store and decided it would be perfect for this year's Advent wreath.
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Next Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent. So what is Advent?
It is not likely to be found at Walmart or Macy's, nor is it confined to Cyber Monday. The word 'advent' means the arrival of a special person or event. Advent, as it refers to the Christian calendar, means the four weeks before Christmas when we set aside a time to focus on the promise, given so long ago, of a Redeemer (a special person!) who would come to rescue His people (a special event!)
December 2 - The First Candle: The Candle of Promise
December 9 - The Second Candle: God's Unspeakable Love
December 16 - The Third Candle: Awe and Wonder at God Incarnate
December 23 - The Fourth Candle: The JOY that is ours in Jesus Christ
December 24 - The Middle Candle: The candle we light on Christmas Eve - The Candle of Faith
From DesiringGod.org. John Piper:
"Isaiah 11:10: “And again Isaiah says, ‘The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.’” Jesse was King David’s father. And David was the greatest king of Israel, so that the Messiah that Israel hoped for was often called “the son of David”—he would be one like David, only greater than David.
You recall how Jesus used this mystery to point toward his own divinity. In Matthew 22:42-45 he asked the Pharisees, “‘What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?’ They said to him, ‘The son of David’ [in other words, the root of Jesse]. He said to them, ‘How is it then that David, in the Spirit [that is, inspired by the Spirit in writing Psalm 110:1], calls him Lord, saying, “The Lord [God the Father] said to my Lord [the Messiah], Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet’? If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?’” And no one answered him a word.
The point was: Jesus is the Messiah, the son of David, the root of Jesse, but oh, so much more than the mere Son of David! Do you recall how the book of Romans begins? “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son [that is, the Son of God], who was descended from David according to the flesh.”
So there it is again. Jesus is God’s Son and he is also David’s son. And that’s what Paul means when he refers to Jesus as the “root of Jesse.”
“In him”—in this Son of God and Son of David, verse 12 says—“will the Gentiles hope.” So our first answer to the question, “Hope in what?” is
hope in Jesus Christ. The emphasis falls on Christ as the ground of all our hope.
Bank your hope on him. Not yourself, not your intelligence, not your health, not your money, not your job, not your reputation. None of these can sustain your hope. They can collapse in a moment. God means for our hope to be firm and unshakable and so he put underneath it his own Son. In him will the Gentiles hope..."
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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 greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
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Luke 1:26-35:
"In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, 'Greetings, you who are highly favored!
The Lord is with you.'
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.'
'How will this be,' Mary asked the angel, 'since I am a virgin?'
The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.'
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O Come, O Come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
