Advent is the time of the year for believers to get their hearts ready for Christmas.  It is similar to the time of Lent that leads up to Easter.  You only find these terms used in the Christian calendar that many mainline denominations use to guide worship.  Baptists usually do not officially commemorate this time of the year but more congregations are talking about it.  We do not use many of the tools of Advent here.  I do try to use suggested texts for preaching even though they repeat ever three years.  Most of my usage is personal to be totally honest.  Christmas is a serious though joyful time that deserves our full attention.  Taking advantage of all the planning tools available is a good way to do just that.  Being able to think about the themes of Advent is an enormous help to my spiritual life. 

Another thing we do is with our young members.  They come to lead us in an Advent reflection each week.  Scripture is read along with a devotion dealing with the topic of the week.  This week will be completely different.  My youngest and I are reading the reflection together on Sunday.  Part of my day today was used to type it up for us to practice.  I do not know how much he will understand.  Autism is a mystery as to what he will comprehend as we read.  He does know the concept of joy which is our subject.  Joy will be the emotion that overtakes me as we do this together.

He is not the only person who struggles to grasp the real nature of joy.  You only begin to get it by knowing who Jesus is.  That doesn't mean we get distracted by all of the imagery of the season.  Being sure of who Jesus is means letting Him be who He is in scripture.  We tend to bring our personal expectations to His story.  We make Him almost a different person than is portrayed in the gospels.  What happens is we miss out on the simple yet glorious reality of Christ.  Our lives remain mired in the status quo.  Prayer is just another ritual we can skip should it not fit our schedule.  God becomes someone who just blesses our best rather than being our best.  Jesus is going to be who He is.  We are the ones who miss out by not learning that.  We become the ones who exist without joy. 

Bro. Trey