Practical Ways to Celebrate Advent
by Heather Perrin
Can you feel it? Time seems to be moving quicker by the day. The countdown is on, and the season of holiday busyness is upon us.
As Amanda wrote a few weeks ago, this time of year is overwhelmingly full. From school programs to work parties to family gatherings and more, we don’t even try to plan things in late November and December because, well, you just don’t have time.
And we fill up our plates with even more because we want to savor the holiday and make as many memories as we can. So we make-cookies-watch-movies-drink-hot-chocolate-see-the-lights-decorate-the-tree and on and on until we’re worn out. I’m not a scrooge, I’m not here to tell you not to do those things - I LOVE all things Christmas and I hope to make some really special memories with my kids. But amidst all that good, fun stuff, we can still miss the point.
So I’m here today with a friendly reminder that your heart and your home don’t have to match the frenzied pace of our culture’s typical holiday season. While you may still have full days and weeks coming up, the culture and attitude of your Advent season can be different. And it starts with you.
Lifeway produced a Family Advent Guide that New City families are welcome to pick up at the Kids’ Check-In desk and enjoy together this season, and it gives some great ideas to help your family focus on the real story of Christmas. I want to build on that for those who do have kids at home and those that don’t - to help us all dwell on the peace, joy, hope, and love that the first advent of our King Jesus brought and that his second advent will bring in full.
Advent begins this Sunday! Consider these ideas as you think about how you’ll spend the next four weeks before Christmas.
First, a Heart Prepared
Before we talk about the practices or activities we can implement to celebrate Christ this advent season, it’s important that we remember the gospel. No amount of handmade advent calendars, no quantity of verses read or hymns sung will earn you any additional favor with God.
If you have put your faith in Jesus, you are His already and forever. The Father is pleased with you because you are united to the eternal Son of God. Not a single one of these practices will make Him love you any more, because He already loves you with a never-stopping, never-giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love (thank you, Sally Lloyd-Jones).
These practices are for you. They are tools to “tune [your] heart to sing [His] grace.” They are disciplines to teach our wayward and distracted hearts that the good news of the gospel is overwhelmingly and abundantly true, and that in the incarnation God really did become a baby in order to save us.
Regular Practices
Listen to really good Christmas music
I don’t mean Mariah Carey, Jingle Bells, or 16 different versions of Silent Night. If that’s all you think Christmas music is, you are missing out. Make sure you follow New City’s Christmas playlist on Spotify and enjoy gospel-rich, beautiful music that points you to the goodness of Christ. My favorites are “How Low Was Our Redeemer Brought,” “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” and “Who Would Have Dreamed.”
Light a candle
Isaiah 9:2 says, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.” And in John 8:12, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” It’s an image we use often to describe Jesus and the Christmas season, but let the physical act of lighting a candle (at dinner time, as you read your Bible, or as you clean the house) be a reminder that we were once in darkness, and the light has come. If you have an advent wreath with candles already, light once candle for each Sunday and read the week’s passage alongside (below). But you can also just light regular candles any time and use it as a reminder to your heart and your home that the Light has come.
Follow an advent calendar
If you have kids, this is probably already a go-to for you. Candy every day for 25 days? Yeah! But those of you that don’t hear, me out. Even if it is just physically marking off days on your planner or making a homemade paperchain countdown, the practice of watching, waiting, and anticipating the Messiah’s arrival is good for our instant-gratificiation-loving hearts. As you mark off each day, remind yourself that we are still waiting. Just as we are eagerly anticipating the celebration of Christmas day by watching the calendar tick down, we are expectant and watchful for His return. Come, Lord Jesus.
Observe weekly advent rhythms
Historically, the church has celebrated Advent over the course of the four Sundays before Christmas, and each has a different theme or emphasis. The Family Advent Guide follows this pattern and has great ideas for talking with your kids about these concepts, but you can follow this rhythm too, even if you don’t use the guide or have kids in your home. Here are some simple ideas to meditate on these advent themes each week:
Week 1 - Peace
Read Luke 1:26-56. Actually read it. If it’s familiar to you, read it slowly, or consider reading it in a different translation. Read it multiple days this week and look for God’s character and His work in the passage.
Consider Mary’s peace in the face of the angel’s announcement. What do you see about God’s character in this passage that explains why she may have felt peace?
How does the life, death, and resurrection of Christ give us an even greater cause for peace? When you don’t feel peace, how does the truth of the gospel offer peace in the face of trials?
In Christ, we have been reconciled to God and have peace with our holy and just Creator. Is there anyone in your life with whom you need to make peace?
Week 2 - Joy
Read Luke 2:1-20.
Why do they rejoice? Consider Israel’s long history of waiting for the Messiah - the Chosen One who would rescue them. How does that waiting deepen their joy at his arrival?
We often don’t feel joyful, and that’s because we live in a world broken and marred by sin, and we have hearts distorted by sin as well. How does the Incarnation of Christ give us a reason for joy in the midst of pain and sorrow? Write down what you think of. Meditate on the joy available to us in Christ.
The Christmas season is often full of joy mixed with sadness. What are some ways you can reach hurting people with the deep joy of the gospel? Friends, family, coworkers, neighbors?
Week 3 - Hope
Read Matthew 2:1-12.
The wise men were looking for something and traveled to Bethlehem with hope. Did they find what they were hoping for? Was it what they expected?
Why does the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus give us hope? Is it hope only for life after death, or does it have anything to do with what we hope for today?
Week 4 - Love
Read John 3. This isn’t a typical advent passage, but what does Jesus tell us about love in this conversation? How do we know we are loved?
Do you believe that God loves you enough to send His Son? What might change in our lives, hearts, and homes, if we lived like we are loved this much?
These are simple practices, but I hope they give you some ideas to celebrate Jesus this advent season. I pray we are able to take the time to slow down, remember the goodness of God in the gospel, and remind ourselves and one another of the miracle of Christmas.