Here we are in Advent already, can you believe it? It’s a short season that leads up to Christmas, but it wasn’t always that way. It used to be a little longer, and it looked toward Epiphany—and baptism.
Over the centuries, Christmas and Epiphany found their own spots on the calendar, and so did the observance of the baptism of the Lord. And as more and more people were baptized soon after their birth, that special season of preparing for the sacrament at Epiphany faded away. But the memory remained—and that became Advent.
We’re not getting ready for baptism—we’re already baptized. We’re getting ready for the coming of Christ, both as the baby in Bethlehem and as the Redeemer who makes all things new. How should we prepare?
This message was adapted from a December 2017 stewardship devotion by Audrey Riley.
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