Advent Sunday
Waiting
Splat the rat
Be patient
Be eager
Be ready!
Who here just can’t wait for Christmas?
Exciting - difficult to wait
In december before Christmas day it is the christian season of advent
It’s all about waiting
But not just waiting for Christmas day
Advent is all about waiting for God to come
because you always have to wait for God. always
When God promised that he would send Jesus, his son as the saviour of the world. We had to wait. Thousands of years. But Go’d promise came true.
Now that God has promised that Jesus will come again in the future to make all things well and to give us life forever with him. We have to wait.
And when God promises in the here and now that he will answer our prayers, that he will come to us by his spirit ti help us and heal us - we have to wait.
The Bible says that a Christian is someone who has turned away from other gods, to serve the living God and to WAIT for his son from heaven.
So what are you like at waiting?
Children When you don’t get what you want straight away.. What are you like at waiting? When you’re bored, or that special day seems such a long way away. What are you like at waiting>
Or adults when the queue is long or the traffic bad or your computer is buffering and you’re late!
What are you like at waiting?
Are you patient or impatient? Do you stay eager or get angry and frustrated? Do you remain ready or just give up?
The Bible says that there are 3 things we need to be when we wait
BE PATIENT
You always have to wait for God, always
Maybe there are 2 reasons why we get impatient.
One is that we take life into our own hands. Our plans are most important.
Rather than remembering that God is in control
we’ve lost patience with God and have taken things into our own hands. Which is a big mistake because God is in control. Be patient
The second reason is maybe that we think that if we don’t receive what we are waiting for now or soon we might never receive it. We’re insecure - we need it now. But what God promises he ALWAYS delivers. He promised Abraham a son in his old age and the promise came true. He promised that Jesus would come and the promise came true. He’s promised he will come to us in our prayers and he does. He’s promised that Jesus will return and he will.
God’s sure and certain promises mean that we don’t need to fret or take things into our own hands. We can wait patiently. Abraham waitied patiently, Simeon waited patiently, JESUS waits patiently!
Maybe a way to practice this is to notice when you’re impatient or you’re asking for something now and remember that you have to learn to wait. Waiting is good. With God you have to wait.
Maybe we could try slowing down, join the longest queue at the checkout or the traffic lights to remind yourself that God is in charge not me, he will provide everything we need.
Be patient
Be eager
The bible says that we should wait patiently but we should also wait longingly for God. Long for him to come and speak to us personally when we meet, when we pray…. longing that Jesus would return.
This is not the same as impatience which tends to be angry and frustrated
This is deeper a longing for Jesus. Which leads us to pray.
The Bible says that the whole of Creation groans as it waits to be liberated, healed when Jesus comes. And we groan while we wait longingly for Jesus to set us free.
We wait patiently, trusting but longingly looking and praying. Because waiting is painful and we do want an end to it. So be eager. When you want something - when you feel that wanting growing in you - for a toy or a break in the traffic, or an answer to prayer. instead of letting that need turn into impatience, frustration - let it turn into a longing for Jesus - who is that answer to all our needs
Be patient, BE eager
last thing
Be ready
When we played spat the rat. and you’re waiting for the rat. you don’t sit down and flick through a magazine like you would in the doctors waiting room. it’s not that kind of waiting. you stand with you bat ready to splat the rat. it’s a waiting that’s like waiting at an amber light on a race track, or for a delivery in cricket. You’re active, you’re doing something
The Bible says that the last thing you want when God shows up is for you to be asleep. Or when Jesus turns up for you to be doing something that doesn’t really reflect who you are as a Christian. Be active. You’re on Jesus’ team. When Jesus comes he will mend this world in an instant! So we spend out time while we wait mending the world with love in tiny little ways and places in anticipation for the coming of the King
Be patient
Be eager - longing
Be ready and active