If you're not versed in all the weird words we use around the church, "advent" sounds like some kind of air circulation system you would find in an attic.  But advent is more grounded than a vent in the roof; it is four weeks of preparation for Christmas, but even more, it is about our waiting and expectation of the promise of God to be fulfilled in the birth of a Savior.  And I say "grounded," because God's faithfulness WAS realized that first Christmas night; grounded, because God IS faithful in coming to us in Word, water, wine, and bread; grounded, because God WILL BE faithful in bringing a new heaven and earth to us, even if our waiting and longing seems futile.  Advent is in that way something like finals week; the studying seems endless, the degree of concentration like no other time. But Advent is so different in this way - for all the studying we might do, there is no guarantee of the grade for which you may hope.  Advent's final result, on the other hand, doesn't depend on our great effort.  It is God's effort, and God comes through.  God comes through the boundaries between heaven and earth, through the gulf between the holy and profane, through the barriers of time and space, and through our trials and troubles and impatience and longing and sin and madness to be with us.  God comes through for you, to be with you, to know you and for you to know God.  That's the point of Advent. 

   Now, if I could just guarantee you a decent grade in every class... 

                                                                                  Pastor Jaime