Beginning of Advent

The time has come to light my advent candle and put up my mini tree - for CHF 6 it's one of the best bargains I've found in Switzerland!

In the run up to Christmas I am going to be reading through John Piper's recently published Advent Devotionals "The Dawning of Indestructible Joy" which are available to download for free here. I've also decided to set myself the challenge of taking a photo linked to the theme of the reading and share something I learned. Living in a Swiss city with two Christmas markets and more window displays and lights than I can count this might be very easy, or very difficult!

Day 1: The word advent can be defined as "coming". At this time of year Christians aren't just counting down to 25th December for family celebrations and gifts, but also the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ as a baby. Why did he come? Luke 19:10 says he came "to seek and save the lost". Jesus came to redeem us, to make it possible for us to come back to God and know Him, whether it be for the first time or the hundredth time after we have wandered away. This was and is a rescue mission for all people for all eternity.