The Great Gathering

There is a Great Gathering that happens at Thanksgiving. As our family and friends come together to share a meal, we are grateful for all God has done for us. However, The Great Gathering is not a finishing of the spiritual seasons or even an ending to a wonderful year. It is a prelude to Advent. God is gathering His people for something miraculous!

Advent is our four-week period leading up to the birth of Christ. As we prepare, we look toward the manger, the coming of our Lord and Savior. It is also a reminder Christ will come again.

This year, Advent begins on Sunday, December 3rd, and runs through December 24th. Not much time to prepare for a baby, if you ask me.

It is easy to get caught up in the rush of Christmas. Thanksgiving helps us slow down, get ready, and be grateful. God gave us the greatest gift when He came and dwelt among us. This is our time to prepare our hearts to receive Him. But, if you think about it, we should live in an eternal state of Advent, always preparing our hearts to receive Christ each and every day.

Last week, we glimpsed the miracles God gives during our wilderness season, which leads us to the Great Gathering. When we are hungry, He feeds us. Go back and reflect on the story from Exodus 16. As the Israelites gathered the “bread from heaven,” we ourselves begin to gather as we wait for the True Bread of Heaven in Christ.

Our Great Gathering is beginning, as we draw near the manger and peer in at that Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. God is our everything!

I would encourage you to decide today how you will make this time of Advent more meaningful, more intentional. List the things you will do to draw near to God.

Here’s my list;

1. Spend 30 minutes each morning reading and reflecting on specific scriptures
2. Spend time in prayer and ask God to reveal Himself to me in new ways
3. Listen to Christmas Carols, old hymns. They tell the story
4. Read Scripture aloud with my family
5. Go to a Christmas Eve Service or a Lessons in Carols service
6. Journal my thoughts on Christ being born to me each day

Here are some of my favorite scriptures to reflect on during this Advent Season;

1. Isaiah 9:6; “For to us a child is born,
       to us a son is given,
       and the government will be on his shoulders.
   And he will be called
       Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
       Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
2. Luke 2:13-15;  ^“Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

   ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
       and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

   ¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

3. John 1:1-5; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
4. 1 Corinthians 13:4-13;  “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.⁸ Love never fails… ¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
5. Psalm 98:4-6;  “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
       burst into jubilant song with music;
   ⁵ make music to the Lord with the harp,
       with the harp and the sound of singing,
   ⁶ with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
       shout for joy before the Lord, the King.”

This is our Great Gathering, our preparation, our drawing near to God. I’m not sure where we are going over the next four weeks, other than headlong into Christmas. But my desire is to plunge deep into Christ! Love came down at Christmas and I do not want to miss a thing.

Let us pray;

O come, O come Emmanuel. Come to us, be born in us so that we may know You more. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

P.S. Don’t miss the song below. If you can’t see it, open in your browser. Leave me a comment below and let me know how you intend to prepare for the coming of our Lord. Forward this message to a friend, family or foe. Post on Facebook and tag me in it. Until next time, let’s flood the world with Christ’s coming this Christmas. -M