27 Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with power and great glory. 28So when all these things begin to happen, stand and look up, for your salvation is near!” Christmas comes and goes every year. November triggers dreaming about plans, gifts, road trips, snow in the forecast, clothing stretched in layers. We jaunt a little faster from our car to the store as the cold air nips at us. Life feels cozy with thoughts of Christmas. We experience the anticipation

9 Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory. 2 The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. 3 You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoi

12 Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will look for Me and find Me, when you look for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,’ says the Lord. ‘And I will bring you back and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have made you go,’ says the Lord. ‘I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you away.’ Sometimes the warmth and joy of the Christmas season hide behind a thick fog. The rhythm

Advent: Week One Waiting Reading— Jeremiah 31: 2, 8-9 2 This is what the Lord says: “The people who survive the sword will find favor in the wilderness; I will come to give rest to Israel.” See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor; a great throng will return. 9 They will come with weeping; they will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them be