Advent
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Advent 2024: What are you Hoping for?
“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31 (NIV) Hello, dear Sumites, Ian from sunny Sydney. Here we are at the end of another year! And another Advent season.…
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Advent – A Season of Hope!
As some of you may recall I’ve been observing the season of Advent now for many years. Hi, it’s Ian from warming up Sydney. Photo courtesy of Lil Artsy and Pixels.com Advent means “arrival”. Interestingly, the arrival, Jesus as a babe, occurs on the last morning of Advent, ie, Christmas morning. And then of course,…
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Advent – A Season of Longing!
Photo courtesy of lil artsy from Pexels.com Hello, Ian here from sunny Sydney. It’s summertime here and we’ve had a lovely few weeks of great sunny weather. It’s incredible how quickly the year has passed as we’re now only 2.5 weeks away from Christmas. For many of us 2022 has been a tough year, perhaps…
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Be Present – some thoughts on Advent
Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net I’ve always loved December. Living in Australia, it’s summer, the end of the school year so we always had our long summer break over December/January. It’s also my birthday month and … it’s Christmas. I still recall those days approaching Christmas when the presents used to begin to pile up under…
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May We Cling Tenaciously to Jesus
Dear friends, Ann here. With only a couple of days until Christmas I wanted to wish you a special time with your loved ones. And I know I speak on behalf of the rest of the team — Lynn, Ian, and Tiffany — in saying a heartfelt 'Merry Christmas' from us! Here is a beautiful…
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Oh, the Sweetness of a Friend!
Hi everyone — Ann here, and a happy Advent season to you all! In the spirit of Christmas, I'd wanted to pick one of the stories from the Gospels to talk about today, but which one to choose? These stories are all so full of wonder. After some thought, I finally landed on a favorite…
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Waiting in the Dark – some thoughts on Advent
I’ve always loved December. Living in Australia, it’s summer, the end of the school year so we always had our long summer break over December/January. It’s also my birthday month and … it’s Christmas. I still recall those days approaching Christmas when the presents used to begin to pile up under the tree. Most of…
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Advent – An Invitation to Go Deeper
Photo courtesy of LiturgyTools.net The Christmas season comes around every year and for many of us it’s kind of the same-old-same-old. Yes, the specialness of the season are the traditions of it and doing the same things every year. We put up the same tree and decorations, listen to the same Christmas music, have the…
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The Difference Between Zechariah and Mary
We are nearing the time and the town of Bethlehem. Last week in the comments Cindy, brought forward an interesting observation. And today as I’m reading the story of Christmas from the first chapter of Luke, my eyes are drawn again and again to the angel Gabriel and his proclamation of the birth of the…
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Advent – A Season of Waiting …
Photo courtesy of 9comeback/FreeDigitalPhotos.nety/FreeDigitalPhotos.net I received a call that I wasn’t expecting. From my sister. It was Saturday night, two weeks ago. She was relaying some information she’d received about our brother, John. He had been admitted into hospital that afternoon, had an MRI that found he had a ‘mass’ in his head. Oh…
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Advent – Jesus Came to Bring us Life!
Image courtesy of samarttiw at FreeDigitalPhotos.net So here we all are. The week before Christmas with still lots to do. Work to finish off, shopping, cooking, cleaning, wrapping, travelling and hosting just to name a few things. It’s exhausting just reading that list. Besides all of this we may have the added stress of having…
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Advent – Sharing the Longing
Image courtesy of 9comeback at FreeDigitalPhotos.net One Bible story that I keep coming back to each Advent season is the one that features Zechariah and Elizabeth. I hadn’t spent a lot of time reflecting upon it until a few years ago when I began to observe Advent. Most of you will know their story is…
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Advent – a Season to Remember and to Anticipate
Image courtesy of Gualberto107 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net We got the call that our son and his wife had left for the hospital. Our excitement increased thinking the next time we hear from them they will share the wonderful news of becoming parents for the first time. And we’d be grandparents. Yay! We went to bed believing…
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Fourth Week of Advent: Peace (and Christmas!)
Merry Christmas, SUMites! I’m finishing up my Advent series today, because Lynn and I will be taking next week off to have more time with our families. We love you and bless you with all the joy and gladness this season holds, dear friends. Enjoy your family, enjoy your friends and most importantly, ENJOY JESUS!…
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Third Week of Advent: Love
Hello, SUMites! We’re less than two weeks away from Christmas. Can you believe that? I’m almost done with my Christmas shopping…I think. How about you? And what’s on the menu for Christmas Day? What do I need to make? Who’s coming over? Need more lights up outside. I hope my mother loves her gift… I…
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Second Week of Advent: JOY!
Hello, SUM Family! We’re moving closer and closer to Christmas, and like you, I want to be intentional in enjoying the details of Christmas. Yesterday morning I went into my prayer room to pray for my own family and our SUM family here. I continue to pray and declare Jeremiah 24:7 over our spouses and…
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The Hope in Waiting … reflections on Advent
Photo courtesy of 9comeback/FreeDigitalPhotos.nety/FreeDigitalPhotos.net There’s something both exciting and tremendously nerve-wracking when an author presses the send button on the email that whisks their latest manuscript off to a publisher. Exciting? The project we’ve been working on has now reached a point of completion. In my case that project had consumed a lot of my…
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Childlike in Anticipation – some reflections on Advent
I've always loved December. Living in Australia, it’s summer, the end of the school year so we always had our long summer break over December/January. It’s also my birthday month and … it’s Christmas. I still recall those days approaching Christmas when the presents used to begin to pile up under the tree. Most of…