Advent is far more than a countdown to Christmas. It is the church’s annual reminder that God steps into the world as it really is—a world marked by hunger, injustice, longing, and hope. Advent teaches us to watch for God’s presence in the very places we tend to overlook and invites us to participate in the work God is already doing.

Advent: When God Enters the Real Story

The story of Advent is rooted in the ordinary and the overlooked: an occupied people, a mother seeking shelter, a family turned away, a child born in the margins. Advent announces that God does not wait for perfect conditions before arriving. God comes right into the thick of human struggle.

This is the heartbeat of the Kingdom of God:
God meets us in the everyday—where people long for safety, dignity, and enough to live.

Advent Opens Our Eyes

Advent is a discipline of attention. It trains us to look closely at the world and ask:

Where is the Kingdom breaking in?
And how can I help it grow?

The Kingdom shows up in small, concrete acts of justice and compassion: food shared, shelter provided, a burden lifted, a neighbor welcomed. Advent invites us to notice these moments and treat them as holy.

Advent as a Call to Freedom-for-Others

John the Baptist’s message during Advent is strikingly practical:

• Share what you have.
• Act with fairness.
• Refuse to exploit.
• Protect the vulnerable.

Preparing for the Lord does not begin with religious performance—it begins with justice. Advent reminds us that true freedom is never self-centered. It is always freedom-for-others.

Advent Is God’s Protest Against Injustice

Mary’s Magnificat stands at the center of Advent:

• the powerful scattered,
• the lowly lifted,
• the hungry filled,
• the oppressed remembered.

This is not sentimental spirituality. It is God’s announcement that the world will not remain as it is. Advent is a protest—a holy declaration that injustice will not have the final word.

Advent Creates a Community of Hope

Advent is not private devotion. It is a shared posture of expectation. Together we hold space for hope, especially for those whose lives have been shaped by scarcity or exclusion.

The Kingdom of God is never about personal salvation alone. It is a communal reality where all have enough, where no one is abandoned, and where hope becomes a shared fire we tend together.

Advent Makes Us Participants, Not Spectators

Advent asks us to move from passive waiting to active participation. It invites each of us to consider:

• What injustice must I name?
• What privilege must I yield?
• What abundance can I share?
• Who needs freedom, dignity, or companionship today?

Advent is our wake-up call to live the Kingdom in real time.

In Short

Advent is the season when we announce, practice, and prepare for the inbreaking Kingdom of God—a Kingdom of justice, compassion, shared abundance, and holy disruption.

Come, Lord Jesus.
Come through us.

Advent Blessings from Pastor Mick Finch