Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord
And so begins the Advent season! Just like that we move from Thanksgiving into Advent, the season of preparation for the coming of Christ. During this time, we remember the story of Israel longing for a Messiah to liberate her from sin, exile, and oppression. We sing and remember how Christ came to this earth a first time as a human infant to carry out this mission. Even as we focus on his first coming, Advent helps us remember that, like Israel, we too await the full and final liberation from sin and death that Jesus will accomplish when he returns for the second and final time.
Perhaps no chapter is more suited to Advent than Isaiah 40. This chapter, that begins the second part of Isaiah’s prophetic work, focuses squarely on the promise of deliverance for an exiled people. It is these words that G.F. Handel famously begins his Messiah with, leading with several minutes of glorious strains carrying the promise of this prophecy that points to the coming of the Jesus, the promised Messiah. It is this chapter that will hold our attention for the next month as we begin with God speaking tenderly to his people and climax with the promise that those who wait on the Lord will mount on wings like eagles, they shall run, even in exile, and not grow weary! (Isaiah 40:31).
I look forward to scaling these heights with you. Once again we will be uniting congregationally online, in the parking lot, or in person at one of our 3 morning services (note we have halted our evening service for the foreseeable future). Also we will once again be continuing our deeper reflection on these verses throughout the week with our prepared devotionals or sign up here to have them delivered to your email Monday through Friday.
Friends, these may be days of hard service, but every valley shall be exalted and every high place shall be brought low, and a highway shall appear in the desert, and we shall see HIM!