adventus

'The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.'  -- LUKE 19: 10

"...So Advent is a season for thinking about the mission of God to seek and to save lost people from the wrath to come . God raised him from the dead, “Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thess. 1: 10). It’s a season for cherishing and worshiping this characteristic of God— that he is a searching and saving God, that he is a God on a mission, that he is not aloof or passive or indecisive. He is never in the maintenance mode, coasting or drifting. He is sending, pursuing, searching, saving. That’s the meaning of Advent."
--Piper, John (2014-08-31). The Dawning of Indestructible Joy: Daily Readings for Advent (pp. 15-16). Crossway.

I'm reading from The Dawning of Indestructible Joy, and Good News of Great Joy this year, (both of which are available free on PDF). Washing my heart with those glorious truths, remembering the joy of this season. But it's not a wispy, floaty joy either. It's like a rock, and like an earthquake; it's like a deep toning bell resonating through the earth. This joy is salvation and rescue. Messiah, long awaited God, come to live with us. This is Christ in Us, the hope of Glory.

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." John 1:5

Here's another article I read this morning: Be an Advent Gift of Encouragement.
Jon Bloom says, "what we may need at Christmas is not less turmoil, but more trust", and goes on to talk about the Beautiful Busy-ness of Love. He encourages us, as we look for ways to give and bless this season, to focus on that grace-gift Encouragement. Spreading Hope in a fearful world. Spreading truth and hope and joy; giving of ourselves, and giving generously--that is the answer to the tumult. The Christ-story is filled with turmoil, and in this world we will have it, even, and sometimes especially, at Advent. Trust the Prince of Peace. He is enough for you.