The Christmas Advent

The new Spider Man: No Way Home is being proactive in preparing their fans to be ready in mind and heart for a crazy (possibly insane crossover of all time) movie.

How many of us have rewatched the trailer thirty times to see if there are any clues of Andrew Garfield or Tobey Maguire? Or have lined up to get the presale ticket to see the movie on opening night? Don’t worry, I’m guilty of watching the trailer a few times myself! The first trailer that came out three months ago has 78,917,275 views according to the time that this blog is published. Whether its fan speculations of what will happen in the movie or pre released trailers that Marvel released weeks before premiere–– we are preparing our selves mentally to watch a pretty big epic Marvel release since Endgame.

All the meanwhile… the release of Spider Man: No Way Home falls on the week before Christmas. One morning, I was thinking to myself about how waiting for this movie to come out is like advent season for Marvel fans. Advent is the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event. So waiting to go watch this movie at the theaters with our friends and family can easily be compared as advent for Spider Man. In other words, we are waiting for the epic arrival of Spider Man: No Way Home. During this Christmas season, we can get lost in fixing our eyes on this big movie release that it can distract our focus in preparing ourselves for the true reason for Christmas. By no means am I saying that we sell the tickets we already bought nor am I forbidding anyone including myself to enjoy the three hour movie… But I think we ought to be so much more enthusiastic and delighted for the week following after the movie premiere of Spider Man. Christmas is when we remember the birth of our Savior, and Spider Man: No Way Home pales in comparison and glory to this. So let’s get excited about worshipping together with our loved ones for Christmas!

Advent Season

For Christians, Advent holds a deeper and more meaningful purpose because of Jesus Christ. Dietrich Bonhoeffer beautifully describes Advent as this:

"The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come."

When we prepare for advent during the month of December, we are preparing ourselves for the arrival of the Savior. Though Jesus Christ is not coming to Earth to be reborn from a virgin again this Christmas, we celebrate in remembrance of His entrance in this world. We remember what God has done and He has done just this: God has fulfilled His promise of sending His one and only Son as Savior of this world to save us from sin. Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate, came to reconcile us back to the Heavenly Father once again. Christmas exists because of what God has done for us by sending us His son Jesus Christ who comes into this world to become one of us. Phillippians 2: 5-7 says, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” However Advent doesn’t just end with churches remembering and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ during this season. They also eagerly await and anticipate the second time Jesus comes back for us. For those who are interested in learning more about what Advent is, you can read this article here.

What we do has the capacity to form what we think. So let’s create practices with our families (and churches) that form and prepare our hearts and minds for Christmas.

Sometimes we only celebrate Christmas by remembering the birth of Jesus Christ while completely neglecting the events leading up to it and after. We will only be able to grasp the beauty of Christmas when we see the whole story of redemption. The birth of Jesus is a pivotal part of the redemptive story, but it didn’t begin nor end there. This month, I want to encourage churches and families to celebrate Advent by seeing Christmas as bigger picture of God’s redemptive story for broken and sinful human.

Family Advent Plan for Christmas

Every Sunday for the month of December, I highly encourage that you gather with your family to rediscover the big redemptive story by examining four key events: the fall, prophecies of the Messiah, the fulfilled prophecy through the birth of Jesus Christ, and our response to the Messiah.This Advent plan that I have created and suggested here is not limited to families. This would make for a great sermon series and worship service plan for local churches to adopt and develop. Each day will have a set schedule of what songs to sing and passage to read and reflect. With that being said, here is my advent plan for your family and church to prepare our hearts and minds for Christmas this season:

1. The First Sunday: The Need for a Savior

   1. The story of our redemption begins when Adam and Eve disobey God in Genesis 3. The fall is crucial in understanding what sin does to us. The world becomes alienated from God. Sin is birthed into the world. Everything that was peaceful and harmonious between creature and its Creator is now fractured and broken from sin. Though this is a sad and tragic beginning for us, this is the moment God’s redemptive plan begins. It all starts with the first promise in Scripture of a Savior who will defeat the Enemy (Gen. 3:14-15).

      1. Worship Songs to Sing Together

         1. Made to Worship by Chris Tomlin

         2. Come Thou Fount by Shane and Shane

      2. Bible Passage to Read and Reflect

         1. Genesis 3

      3. Prayer Prompt

         1. The focus for prayer today will be on confessing your sins and asking God for forgiveness. Individually pray to God that He would humble you and soften your heart so that you may not become self righteous and resilient to repent. Adam and Eve did not repent and take ownership of what they did when they had disobeyed God. As believers, we must always have a posture of humility before God and take ownership of our sin. Yet there is hope for us because we will be forgiven when we confess and repent of our sins.

      4. Response Song

         1. Reign in Us by Starfield

2. The Second Sunday: The Promise and Prophecies of the One Who Will Save Us

   1. In God’s goodness and grace, He prepares a way for us to be reconciled to Him again. In the Old Testament, God works through His people to bring about a Savior for the world. It all begins with the Israelites (God’s chosen people) who He begins to work in. In 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel, the Israelites begin to ask for a King to rule over them. King David is chosen by God to rule over the nation of Israel, and he is a man after God’s heart. This is where God promises that the Savior will come through David’s family line (2 Samuel 7). As centuries pass, prophets are given prophesies about who the Messiah is and what He will do. All of God’s people and the world awaits for the Savior to bridge the gap between God and Man once again.

      1. Worship Songs to Sing Together

         1. Ancient of Days by CityAlight

         2. Good to Me by Audrey Assad

      2. Passages to Read and Reflect

         1. Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5:2, Genesis 3:15, Isaiah 9:6-7

3. The Third Sunday: The Arrival of the Savior Jesus Christ

   1. All of the prophecies have been fulfilled. This is the moment that all of creation has been anticipating. A little baby is born in a manger in Bethlehem, and there is hope.

      1. Film to Watch: The Chosen Christmas Special

      2. Worship Songs to Sing Together

         1. Here with Us by Joy Williams

         2. Light of the World by We the Kingdom

      3. Passage to Read and Reflect

         1. Luke 2

      4. Prayer Prompt

         1. Pray to God and thank Him for Jesus Christ. This is a joyous moment for us to praise God for His love and grace!

      5. Response Song: God with Us by MercyMe

4. The Fourth Sunday: Our Response to Jesus

   1. In Matthew 16, Jesus is having an intimate conversation with Peter and begins to ask him who people say the Son of Man is. Peter answers and says that some believe it is John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or other prophets. And then Jesus probes Peter with a deeper thought provoking question afterwards. He asks Peter, “But who do you say that I am?” We all must wrestle with this question as well. Now that all of God’s truth has been revealed through His Son Jesus Christ (John 3:16), who is Jesus to us? Is He the Lord or not? Do we believe Jesus to be the Son of God?

      1. Worship Songs to Sing Together

         1. I Will Trust My Savior Jesus by CityAlight

         2. Jesus is Better by Worship Initiative

      2. Passage to Read and Reflect

         1. Matthew 16:13-16

      3. Prayer Prompt

         1. Go before God with any doubts or unbelief you may have. Ask for forgiveness and pray that Jesus would be the Lord of your life. Ask God to give you the confidence of the hope we have in Christ. Ask Jesus into your heart if you have not believed in Him nor received Him into your life yet. He gives us a new day to live for Him.

      4. Response Song: This I Believe by Hillsong Worship