Advent 2008: The Plan

This year’s theme is….

Re-Advent: All Things New

The book of Isaiah is the Advent book of the Bible. (This is according to me, so don’t don’t go publishing that as fact.) It encompasses so much of what Advent means: hope for the sinner, past and future redemption, peace in God’s power and plan, the temporal and eternal, new things, Immanuel…holy-schmoly, I’m telling you, it is all there.

And a weirdly disproportionate number of words begin with ‘re’. So this year I’m doing Re-Advent: All Things New. The big picture here is redemption: how God rescued us, restored us with value, gave us rest and favor…for which we cannot help but rejoice. There is such breadth of tense in ‘all things new’ — past, present, and future — where we can look back in gratefulness for how we have been made new and anticipate with joy the new things God promises for us.

Part of the inspiration for this theme comes from the passage Jesus read in Nazareth as he began his ministry (see Luke 4). Since this passage was what he selected to introduce himself and his ministry, it seems to be an appropriate guide to celebrate his coming and explore more fully what his coming really means for us.

1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
   because the LORD has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
   he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
   and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor,
    and the day of vengeance of our God;
   to comfort all who mourn;
3to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
   the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
   the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.

Isaiah 61.1-3

The plan is to post something simple each day, whatever I’m learning or thinking about, based on these words, be they inspired from the Bible, the kids, life or other resources.

I am quivering with excitement. Either that, or the house is cold today…

Week 1 – Rescue - November 30
Week 2 – Redeem - December 7
Week 3 – Rest - December 14
Week 4 – Rejoice - December 21

I’ve got some…’interesting’ might be a good word….gifts planned for the kids that are going to further illustrate the redemption concept. And even though my kids can’t read this and my husband won’t be reading this, I still can’t bring myself to tell you what they are. It’s going to be fun. You’ll find out soon enough…

And on the activities, we’ve got a couple movie nights and a party for Jesus in the works, and some other fun stuff involving food. Honestly, I’m still thinking up some activities here — little ones that follow the weekly themes (maybe naps during Rest week? running around in superhero costumes during Rescue week?) and “normal” ones that add a little fun and festivity to the season. Ideas are welcome.