Advent Love Devotional: Preparing for His Coming The fourth week of Advent often focuses on love. Read previous Advent devotionals: Advent Hope , Advent Peace , Advent Joy .   Advent Love Love is one of those things, like Biblical hope , peace , and joy , that does not depend on what is going on around us. The love demonstrated through the Nativity is a love that showed up because we were broken, sinful, and in need of a Saviour. John 3:16-17 says it this way: "For God so lov

Advent Joy Devotional: Preparing for His Coming Read Advent Hope Read Advent Peace   Advent Joy Joy to the world, the Lord is come; Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare him room, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing. Perhaps you have already sung or hummed this popular hymn this Christmas. Isaac Watts wrote these lyrics in 1719. Over 300 years later, it is still a favourite Christmas carol. Maybe becaus

Advent Peace Devotional: Preparing for His Coming Read Advent Hope   Advent Peace God's peace keeps us steady no matter what is going on around us. During this season, it's so easy to get caught up in the practical and material preparation for Christmas, from events to gifts, from clothes to decorations. Instead of feeling peaceful, we can feel fraught, hurried, and pressured. This is exactly why we need to stay aware of Jesus and focus on preparing spiritually for Christmas.

Advent Hope Devotional: Preparing for His Coming In some Christian traditions, tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent. I did not grow up in a Christian background that overtly observes Advent or follows a liturgical calendar. However, I believe it benefits us to ensure we don't let the message of Jesus get lost to our hearts during the Christmas season.   Advent means ‘coming’. It’s a season of preparing our hearts for Christ’s arrival. Whether you’ve marked Advent for years

The sparkle of the season is hard to miss once the Christmas TV adverts start and shop and street decorations are up. In reality, even though the Nativity features a star and angels, Christmas has never been simply a time of sparkle and cheer...

What comes to mind when you think about getting ready for Christmas? For many, preparations will involve decorating the home, shopping for presents, gifts, and the perfect outfit or Christmas jumper, posting Christmas cards on time, and making sure various work, social, or school Christmas events are in the diary. It may also involve organising travel or other logistics involved in spending Christmas with loved ones. Many of these are modern considerations. When Advent was fi