Difference between revisions of "Sermon for December 7th, 2025"

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Luke 1:39-45 (NT p. 57)

1 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be[e] a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

Luke 2:1-7 (NT p. 58)

1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place in the guest room.

Advent(ure), Part I

Today we’re talking about adventures and journeys, so I’m reminded of a famous saying: The journey of a thousand miles begins with… (go ahead, finish the saying for me!)

Really…is that how the saying goes? I thought it was more like this…

Or this…

Or even this…

If you’re a fashionista, I suppose it would go like this…

Or if you’re a history buff, you might like this one…

Or an animal lover…

Personally, as a parent of three children, this is my favorite:

In the children’s message last week, I talked to the kids about the words advent and adventure, which both come from the same Latin root. If you know Spanish or French, you’ve already got a head start here: The Latin verb *venire* is the same as the Spanish and French verb *venir* which means “to come.” Adding the preposition *ad* in the front of the word (advenir) gives us “to come to” or “to come near.”

Putting that verb in noun form gives us *adventus* (and in English, advent) meaning “the coming,” or “the arrival.” Putting the same verb in the future tense gives us *adventurus* (and in English, adventure) meaning “about to come” or “about to happen.”

So an adventure was, originally, something that was about to happen, while Advent (at least in Christianity) refers to the season where we celebrate the coming—or the imminent arrival—of Christmas. But they are, essentially, the same word, the same thing.

So for the next two weeks of the Advent season, we’re going to take a quick look at some adventures surrounding the birth of Jesus, and how those adventures, those journeys, shape our own faith journeys. And I hope that if you don’t already, you’ll come to see your own spiritual journey through this world as exactly that: An adventure shaped and inspired by the arrival of a savior.