Society of Saint Andrew – Advent 2013 – Tuesday, 10 December 2013 – “Hoping for a Miracle” Read: John 3

Society of Saint Andrew – Advent 2013 – Tuesday, 10 December 2013 – “Hoping for a Miracle” Read: John 3: 16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Someone coined the term “Santa Claustrophobia,” suggesting a fear of Santa Claus. There is reason to fear Santa Claus, along with other secular components of this season, because these things often obscure the real meaning of Advent and Christmas.

Advent inevitably brings the awareness of things to be done... gifts to be purchased, meals to be cooked, trees to be trimmed, lights to be installed (if you have enough bulbs that still work!), and activities to attend. Indeed, it’s a miracle if we can remember the true meaning of the season amid all these other pressures. We hope for such a miracle.

These pressures, however, are self-imposed, because the meaning of this blessed season is not in what we have to do, but in what God has already done. What has God done? “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” That’s the Advent and Christmas story in one sentence. Those who rejoice in God’s gift of love respond by celebrating—and by sharing.

Sharing God’s love is seen in things like a caring spirit toward others, providing food for the hungry, seeking to meet other human needs, and in the search for peace. Such things show God’s love in action year-round.

Prayer: “God above us, God beneath us, God around us, God within us. God before us, God behind us.” God-in-Christ has come among us. Emmanuel is his name, and that says it best - God with us. Amen.(H. Hasbrouck Hughes, Jr.-Williamsburg, VA)

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Society of Saint Andrew

3383 Sweet Hollow Rd.

Big Island, Virginia 24526 United States

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