the advent of hope

I've been thinking about Advent, literally the "coming" of the Christ, and so, here are a few thoughts from my most recent sermon:

One of the central themes of Advent is expectation—specifically, the expectation of hope. What is the basis of our hope? What (or who) is it that we’re hoping in? Do we even dare to hope? Do we have great expectations?

We all have gifts to serve and to learn more about God. Last Sunday marked the beginning of the church year. So in the coming year, how can we use both our strengths and our weaknesses to build this church community for the world?

Are we each willing to contribute to building hope? I think what’s more important than an emerging church is an emerging Christ. If we have that Advent expectation, that rock solid hope of and in Christ, then we’ll find our way to the center with Christ. To be sure, we’ll continue to stumble around, but we’ll abound in hope by the power of the Spirit.