Go Forward – Don’t Look Back – December 6th
Advent Wreath Candle Lighting
Second Week of Advent, December 6, 2020
Reader One: Our lists are long, even in this strange mess where we live these days. And we want to do it right, we want to be safe, but we want to be able to enjoy the season. We’ve got work to do to put right what has gone wrong, to heal what is broken, to mend the relationships, and to prepare for the company that will come.
Reader Two: The prophet Isaiah reminded us that there is work to be done. “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” When God comes in, then healing is to be found, but we need to make the way; we need to open the door into our lives.
Reader One: So, we light these candles as a sign of our faith that the God we worship is not far from us and that we can clear the way for that God to come and dwell with us. We light these candles in faith that company is coming.
Reader Two: O Come, O Come Emmanuel.
It is fitting that New Years Day comes so soon after Christmas. At Christmas time 2020 years ago, Hope came to our world. The news of a Savior born to all for the forgiveness of sins. One of the values that should be at the forefront of a Christian life style is that of hope.
It is difficult to hope if we are constantly looking back. It does us no good, to look back and say, I should have done this, or I wish I had done that. The Apostle Paul says it best in his letter to the Phillipians 3:13-14 when he says, “Brothers, I do not consider to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind, and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.”
Most of us would really like to forget about 2020. It has not been the greatest of years as far as most of us are concerned. My advice to all is to go forward with the confidence that 2021 is going to be better. That is tough to do if we are fearful. The Bible tells us time and time again not to be afraid. So go forward, don’t look back, and make 2021 the best year ever.
John Scierra
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