The Gifts of Advent: 2 Corinthians 5:17-19

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

You’ve experienced it before yourself. If you have children, you now have the joy of seeing it through their eyes. I’m talking about the delight of Christmas morning. The glad anticipation of what waits under the tree builds and builds until everyone finally rushes in there for the great moment of discovery. Yet what is it that most thrills us in that moment? It is the gift of something new. We delight in new things. The season of Advent is a celebration of something new coming into our lives. Let’s talk this morning about the gift of new and just how it transforms us.

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Digging in Deeper: John 3:3

“Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.'”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

One of my favorite ideas about God (and one I think is entirely true) comes from G.K. Chesterton in his book, Orthodoxy.  Here it is:

Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged.  They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead.  For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony.  But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony.  It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon.  It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daises alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them.  It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.

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