Rachamaid!

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 1 Peter 1. 13

A healthy habit is spreading - of Christians turning to devotional aids to guide us through the preparatory seasons of Lent and Advent. This Advent I am appealing to a brace of sources in particular: Eco-Congregation Scotland's daily podcast and Gifts of Grace by Jared Wilson.

Wilson begins on the theme many of us featured in our Advent Sunday services: hope. Hope is what sustained our spiritual forefathers through the long years encompassed by the Old Testament. The New Testament reveals how that hope was fulfilled in Jesus, whose birth we look forward to celebrating again at Christmas (though we live with its blessing every day of the year).

Our hope in the future is invigorated by the knowledge that God's promises are rock solid so that, when Jesus states that he will return in glory to complete his mission of universal reconciliation and renewal, even though we don't know when, we do know that will happen - without any shadow of doubt. So... look forward in hope and prepare the way!