It is officially "count-down" time. The moment the red cranberry sauce is wiped off our chins and cleaned off the tablecloth, Black Friday starts. And on Black Friday comes the count-down of the diminishing days until Christmas. That tick-tock of the passing time is supposed to induce us into a buying panic and jump-start our frenzied consumerism. It pretty much works.

But the church has its own "countdown to Christmas." It is called "The Season of Advent." Instead of being a time of consumer manic panic, Advent is a time of preparation for the gift of a miraculous presence. This "preparation" is not about decking the halls or trimming the tree. This "preparation" is not about baking cookies or wrapping packages. This "preparation" is about a truth which comes into the world, not abstract pure and antiseptic clean, but cradled in dirt and mangered in mystery.

Advent is an alarm clock, a moment of truth to rouse out of the "get-by and keep-going" stupor of this world and WAKE UP!

Wake up to the impending gift of a new beginning.

Wake up to the first baby steps of the Kingdom entering this world through a stable of animals and a cradle of straw.

Wake up from our dogmatic slumbers into the new light of life.

Wake up to the epiphany of Jesus in the world, and in us.

The Season of Advent is different. Advent is all about aligning ourselves with the astonishing approach of God that occurs on Christmas Day. Advent is the time the church urges Jesus' followers to get in "sync" with the amazing story of redemption God prepared and presented to this world.

Jesus is our common mission, Jesus is our common communication. Advent is our time to Wake up, Get up, and Listen up,for the presence of Jesus.

May we all experience of the presence of Jesus in our lives as we Wake Up to His love for us.

Merry Christmas and may God bless you in all that you do.

Pastor Roseann