Happy New Year! As strange as that greeting may seem, we are beginning a new year in the life of the Church. We are entering into the season of Advent. This is the season when we prepare for the coming of Christ.

Advent is the four weeks leading up to Christmas. It reminds us that we, as Christians, are living in a state of Already…Not Yet. Here is what I mean by that: Jesus has already been born, ministered, been crucified and resurrected, ascended to the Father, and sent the Holy Spirit. That is our “Already.” And yet, we await Jesus’s return to make all things right, to reign with justice and mercy, and to restore creation. That is our “Not Yet.” We are both Easter and Advent people: celebrating the Already while anticipating the Not Yet.

Because we are stuck in this place of Not Yet—this limbo, this holding pattern of faith, this seemingly endless waiting—it can be easy to forget what is coming. That is, in part, why we choose to focus this season on hope, peace, joy, and love. When we focus on these aspects, remembering the Already of our faith, it makes the Not Yet a little easier to live in.

We hold fast to hope, hope that Jesus is coming back and that he is going to make all things right despite what we see happening all around us. But that is the thing, Biblical “hope is not the anticipation of a positive outcome based on reason; rather, it is the anticipation of a positive outcome based on God’s trustworthiness” (Anna Sieges-Beal). Hope is about us trusting in God’s promises for the Not Yet.

We hold fast to peace. The Hebrew word for peace is Shalom and is best under-stood as wholeness. We have this peace, this Shalom, when we can look around us and imagine “what it would be like if the world around us were whole. If nations, communities, and homes were whole? That is peace in the Hebrew Bible” (Aaron Higashi). This is the peace God will bring to the Not Yet.

We hold fast to joy. In Scripture, “joy is…a profound spiritual state that transcends mere happiness, rooted in a deep relationship with God. Unlike fleeting emotions tied to external circumstances, Biblical joy arises from recognizing God’s presence and work in our lives” (Cynthia Shafer-Elliot). This kind of joy sustains us as we live in the in-between time.

Finally, we hold fast to love. Love is multi-faceted and can mean different things to each of us. But “anyone who’s interested in knowing the God imagined by biblical authors cannot do so without also imagining what love is, because, as 1 John 4:16-20 says, God is love, and we cannot love God without loving human beings” (Aaron Higashi). Even as the world around us seems to forget what it means to love one another, being filled with the love of God gives us the strength to love the people we encounter regardless of our differences.

So, as we enter this season of Already and Not Yet, I pray we will hold tightly to the hope, peace, joy, and love that God has promised us through Jesus, even as we wait for his return.

Grace & Peace y’all
Pastor Blake

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From the Pastor

It is finally fall! That should mean cooler weather, shorter days, and changing leaves (of course living in west Texas we know not to get our hopes up too soon for those things). It also means turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie (at least for me). It is a time to gather with our families and friends and celebrate what we are thankful for from the past year.

The act of giving thanks helps us to remember the blessings we have, both seen and unseen. It allows us to recognize the ways that God has looked out for us, has taken care of us, and has shown us grace. It helps to know that even when we are facing difficulty, God has been there with us through it all. That is part of the power of gratitude.

The Apostle Paul went through a great deal of hardships in his life. He was shipwrecked, arrested, imprisoned, beaten, stoned, and faced other threats of violence. He was ultimately arrested, taken to Rome to present his case to the emperor, and eventually put to death. Paul’s life as a missionary, pastor, and church planter was not an easy life. But through all of it Paul gave thanks, even in the face of death.

For Paul, it was all worth it to be serving the Risen Christ. In Philippians 4 he addresses the church, thanking them for the help and support they have given him. He writes of his gratitude for their concern and the help they have given him. He wants them to know that he “was never in need, for he had learned how to be content with whatever he had. He knew how to live on almost nothing or with everything. He had learned the secret of living in almost every situation, whether it was with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For he can do all things through Christ, who gives him strength” (Philippians 4:11-13 NLT with a slight paraphrase).

So, as we move toward the Thanksgiving season and Advent, may we be encouraged in our giving thanks for all that God has done, for the people who have impacted our lives, and for all that God is still planning to do in us and through us as we follow Jesus. “And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body, you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful” (Colossians 3:15 NLT).

Grace & Peace,
Pastor Blake

Image by Petra Boekhoff from Pixabay.

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