Time Out It's Advent
Time Out… It’s Advent: Why the Season Matters
Every year around this time, the world seems to hit the fast-forward button. Schedules stack up, calendars fill, and Christmas decorations arrive before Thanksgiving leftovers even cool. We rush, shop, travel, stress, and scramble—anxious to “get everything ready.”
But in the middle of all that noise, the Church whispers a different word:
Advent.
Wait.
Prepare.
Pay attention.
Christ is coming.
For those of us in the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, Advent is not an optional “pre-Christmas warm-up” but a season that the Church needs—a season we need. It shapes our hearts, reorders our hopes, and reminds us that the story of salvation is not something we outgrow. Advent is the beginning of the Church Year because it calls us back to the beginning of our faith:
We live by the promises of God.
Why Advent Is Necessary
1. Advent slows us down in a hurried world.
The rhythm of the Church Year confronts the rhythm of the culture. While the world leaps straight into Christmas, Advent invites us to stop running long enough to remember what we’re running toward.
Our culture says, “Hurry up.”
Advent says, “Time out. Look up.”
The candles are lit one by one, not all at once. The hymns are patient. The prayers are longing. In Advent, waiting isn’t wasted time; it is God-given time to breathe, repent, hope, and listen.
2. Advent restores our focus on Christ’s coming—past, present, and future.
Advent is not only about Bethlehem. It is about the whole story of Jesus’ coming:
3. Advent calls us to repentance and readiness.
The early Advent readings are not gentle. They are urgent. Jesus speaks of signs in the heavens. John the Baptist cries out from the wilderness. Isaiah promises a holy Savior but exposes our unholy hearts.
This is not meant to frighten believers. It is meant to prepare us.
Advent repentance is not gloomy self-condemnation; it is God clearing out the clutter so that Christ can take His rightful place in our lives.
As Luther wrote, “The Christian life is a life of daily repentance.”
Advent simply gives us the space to practice it intentionally.
4. Advent teaches us how to hope.
Hope, in Scripture, is not wishful thinking. It is a confident expectation rooted in God’s character. The purple (or blue) paraments remind us that this hope is both royal and penitential.
We acknowledge that all is not right with the world—yet we dare to hope because Christ has promised to make all things new.
This is profoundly counter-cultural. The world’s “holiday hope” is fragile. Biblical hope is resilient.
5. Advent strengthens the Church’s witness.
When the Church keeps Advent faithfully, it sends a message to the world:
We are not driven by consumer cycles.
We are shaped by Christ.
In a season when many feel overwhelmed, lonely, or spiritually numb, Advent’s message—Christ is near; take heart—is deeply needed.
It also prepares us to speak clearly about why Christmas matters:
Because the God who promised has kept His promise.
Because the Light shines in the darkness.
Because the Savior has come for sinners, for us, for all.
So what should Advent look like for us?
Here are simple, faithful practices you can encourage:
A Season of Grace, Not Guilt
Advent is not about doing more. It is about receiving more:
More of Christ’s Word.
More of His promises.
More of His peace.
The world may sprint toward Christmas, but the Church walks—steadily, intentionally, with its eyes on Jesus.
Time out.
It’s Advent.
Let’s take the season seriously—not as a burden, but as a gift.
Every year around this time, the world seems to hit the fast-forward button. Schedules stack up, calendars fill, and Christmas decorations arrive before Thanksgiving leftovers even cool. We rush, shop, travel, stress, and scramble—anxious to “get everything ready.”
But in the middle of all that noise, the Church whispers a different word:
Advent.
Wait.
Prepare.
Pay attention.
Christ is coming.
For those of us in the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, Advent is not an optional “pre-Christmas warm-up” but a season that the Church needs—a season we need. It shapes our hearts, reorders our hopes, and reminds us that the story of salvation is not something we outgrow. Advent is the beginning of the Church Year because it calls us back to the beginning of our faith:
We live by the promises of God.
Why Advent Is Necessary
1. Advent slows us down in a hurried world.
The rhythm of the Church Year confronts the rhythm of the culture. While the world leaps straight into Christmas, Advent invites us to stop running long enough to remember what we’re running toward.
Our culture says, “Hurry up.”
Advent says, “Time out. Look up.”
The candles are lit one by one, not all at once. The hymns are patient. The prayers are longing. In Advent, waiting isn’t wasted time; it is God-given time to breathe, repent, hope, and listen.
2. Advent restores our focus on Christ’s coming—past, present, and future.
Advent is not only about Bethlehem. It is about the whole story of Jesus’ coming:
- He came in humility, born of Mary, to save.
- He comes now in Word and Sacrament, bringing forgiveness and life.
- He will come again in glory, to judge the living and the dead.
3. Advent calls us to repentance and readiness.
The early Advent readings are not gentle. They are urgent. Jesus speaks of signs in the heavens. John the Baptist cries out from the wilderness. Isaiah promises a holy Savior but exposes our unholy hearts.
This is not meant to frighten believers. It is meant to prepare us.
Advent repentance is not gloomy self-condemnation; it is God clearing out the clutter so that Christ can take His rightful place in our lives.
As Luther wrote, “The Christian life is a life of daily repentance.”
Advent simply gives us the space to practice it intentionally.
4. Advent teaches us how to hope.
Hope, in Scripture, is not wishful thinking. It is a confident expectation rooted in God’s character. The purple (or blue) paraments remind us that this hope is both royal and penitential.
We acknowledge that all is not right with the world—yet we dare to hope because Christ has promised to make all things new.
This is profoundly counter-cultural. The world’s “holiday hope” is fragile. Biblical hope is resilient.
5. Advent strengthens the Church’s witness.
When the Church keeps Advent faithfully, it sends a message to the world:
We are not driven by consumer cycles.
We are shaped by Christ.
In a season when many feel overwhelmed, lonely, or spiritually numb, Advent’s message—Christ is near; take heart—is deeply needed.
It also prepares us to speak clearly about why Christmas matters:
Because the God who promised has kept His promise.
Because the Light shines in the darkness.
Because the Savior has come for sinners, for us, for all.
So what should Advent look like for us?
Here are simple, faithful practices you can encourage:
- Attend Advent worship—its Scriptures, hymns, and prayers reshape us.
- Use an Advent wreath or devotion at home to mark the weeks intentionally.
- Practice repentance through prayer and reflection on God’s Word.
- Limit the rush so that the season doesn’t slip by unnoticed.
- Fix your eyes on Jesus, the Alpha and Omega, who meets us in every season.
A Season of Grace, Not Guilt
Advent is not about doing more. It is about receiving more:
More of Christ’s Word.
More of His promises.
More of His peace.
The world may sprint toward Christmas, but the Church walks—steadily, intentionally, with its eyes on Jesus.
Time out.
It’s Advent.
Let’s take the season seriously—not as a burden, but as a gift.
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