Advent IS Coming!

Advent is coming!

That is what Advent means: coming. So in the season of the church year called Advent, we prepare for the coming of the Lord, our Savior -- Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God.

By His Coming we too are sons of the living God -- by His coming in earthy flesh:

• as the promised Seed of the mother of all living – Eve;


• as the firstborn Son of the mother of God – Mary;


• as the ascended Lord of the mother of all believers – Church.

This will be the focus of our preparation for Christmas in our midweek worship services this Advent here at Trinity, Layton. During the Wednesdays of Advent (December 6, 13 & 20) we will have both an 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. service so that as many of you as possible will be able to attend to your personal, spiritual preparation for the coming of our Lord and the celebration of Christmas.

To be prepared for His coming means to confess our sin – for me to repent of my own personal sin as the most heinous before God and the only evil that separates me from Him.

Easily, the most frequently asked question of me is, "Pastor why do you have to call us sinners all the time – every sermon, every service?" And truth be told, unlike "Jeopardy," it is not always phrased in the form of a question – "Pastor, my parents/children/friends don’t like to come here because of all that talk about sin in our service and your sermons. You need to be more upbeat and the service should be more uplifting if we want our church to grow."

But what is more uplifting than to be rescued from the depths of our sin and into the very presence of God in His holy Kingdom? Sadly, much of Christianity would have you believe that, once you have heard the good news and accepted Jesus as your personal Savior who lives in your heart, sin is no longer an issue for you. Therefore, if you believe and have the Holy Spirit, all that is left is to be happy and to tell God and the world how much you love them. So church becomes a matter of entertainment and partying with the Lord.

Dear people of God, church is all about delivering the forgiveness of sins, or it is nothing at all. It is why Jesus came, it is why he comes, it is why He is coming again –to take away the sin of the world, and to take us away from the sin of the world. That is what a Savior does. That is what our Savior does. That is what The Savior does.

If you have no sin, you need no Savior -- and Christmas is a hapless holiday, a moldy manger, a feastless festival.

So repent! The kingdom of God is at hand. Advent IS coming, Jesus coming to earth for the salvation of all who believe – from Garden, to Manger, to Font.

Let it be so among us now and until the very end of our days.

Have a most blessed Advent season and a very merry Christmas as Jesus comes to you in His church – the kingdom of God come to earth!