As you know, we’ve been on a journey together over the past four weeks through Advent. We’ve learned together that Advent is a season of expectant waiting as we focus and reflect on Christ’s coming—His coming to earth on that first Christmas long ago and His eventual triumphant return to earth to complete God’s ultimate work of redemption. Each week of Advent we have focused on a different aspect of God’s character embodied in, brought into our world, and lived out in Jesus: hope, peace, joy, and love. 

The Christmas story is a powerful story, filled with wonder and miracles and very real life. It is the story of Jesus come to earth as the most wonderful gift of all eternity. As we have walked through various parts of the Christmas story these past four weeks, we have explored the intersection of Jesus in the lives of real people who played a role in His arrival. And we have seen that as He brought hope, love, joy, and peace into their lives in very real ways, He will do the same for us today.