Advent: Waiting For The Coming Of Christ

Advent (from the Latin adventus meaning “coming”) is a liturgical season observed in many Christian churches as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus Christ at Christmas.  Advent marks the beginning of the Western liturgical year and begins on Advent Sunday, the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day, Dec. 25.  For Christians, the season of Advent serves as a reminder both of the original waiting by Israelites for the birth of the Messiah, and the waiting by Christians for the return of Christ.  The most famous hymn of Advent is “O Come Emmanuel.” Its lyrics, based on the Prophet Isaiah, articulate the hopeful anticipation of the Advent season:

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

Advent is a special time of year for me as the emphasis of the season of Advent is one of expectation and anticipation for the coming Messiah.  It is this time of year that we take time to wait, listen and discover once again what Christmas really mean.  It is time where the songs we sing and scriptures we read often express a longing for God.  Whether it is singing “Oh Come, Oh Come Emanuel” or hearing the words of Isaiah saying to “prepare the way” we are invited to join in that longing.

Humans define God, tie God down, and limit God to a few ways of showing up on our lives.  Still, after millennia of recorded thought, God remains elusive.  The authors of our Scriptures speak beautifully about our human desire as we search for a God we can really know.   This is what Advent is about—Emanuel, God with us.  Still, there are those who believe God is elusive, but from time to time I have experienced moments when God seems to break through that elusiveness. It is a fleeting moment but it is a powerful experience.  Sometimes it’s in those quiet contemplative moments.  In other times it’s in the singing of a song that I feel as if God is within reach.  It is then that I feel that I am a part of something much bigger than myself.  It is both a comforting and daunting experience. In those moments I feel as if I’m wrapped in the love of God, but I also feel the great responsibility it means to be connected to the entire universe through God.  For that moment I feel I am truly present to the possibilities the world has to offer.

So at Advent time I feel connected with Isaiah’s hope proclaiming comfort to the Israelite exiles. I experience hope as John the Baptist as he points forward to something new that’s coming, even as he doesn’t know exactly what that will be.  I take comfort in the courage of Mary and Joseph in their willingness to listen to their visions and dreams, in hopes that by doing so the world might be a better place.  I long to hear the angels say “Do not be afraid,” proclaiming that hope has once again entered the world.

The Peace Of Christ Be With You!
~ Pastor Stephan

A New Beginning

The Lord has wonderfully blessed Monica and me by bringing us here to serve with you at Redemption Fellowship.  For us, this truly is a new beginning.  But I realized something—it’s a new beginning for you as well.  As we have been studying the first chapter of the Book of Joshua, we have discovered that God is a God of new beginnings.

Oh, what a blessing it is to start fresh!  It’s challenging! It’s exciting!  However, it is demanding!  New beginnings force us to dig deep and get involved in the process.  It causes us to focus on what’s important and to make right choices.  Ultimately, it brings us to a greater dependency upon God.

God is up to something new in our midst.  I sense His voice saying to us from Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  When I hear these words from Scripture I realize that God Himself spoke them, but that He spoke them to me and to you.  What an awesome promise.

Nonetheless, the success of our journey depends upon all of us.  We know that it is the Lord who makes us successful, yet we do have a part to play.  With that said, I challenge each of us to make a serious commitment to God, each other, and to our church.  Why?  Well, unless you have invested something significant, this journey will not be meaningful to you.

In other words, if you want to accomplish something worthwhile for the Lord then you need to have some skin in the game.  That is, something of high value to you that motivates you.  It has to be something so valuable that it will claim your attention and time, because winning and loosing matters.  Something so valuable that it will cause you to work harder, because you have something at stake.  Something so valuable that it will cause you to fight to the bitter end; it will not allow you to easily walk away.

The Lord has blessed us with ‘A New Beginning,” and we all can be assured of this one truth: Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus!”  Let’s honor the Lord with this fresh start that He has graciously bestowed upon us.

The Peace Of Christ Be With You!

~ Pastor Stephan Cobbert,
Senior Pastor, Redemption Fellowship Church

By Former Asst. Pastor Horace Cutter

As I think to write this note, I have to prepare you with a disclaimer. Many of you may know that I have Pentecostal upbringings and some who may not know me very well may not believe it because I am not very Pentecostal in my character. I will say that my thoughts today are from that same background. As we are in the Christmas season and look into the approach of the end of the year, my work reminds me that this time of the year is a very sad time due to the experiences of people.

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By Former Asst. Pastor Horace Cutter

You might have been present on last Sunday in our worship service where our sanctuary was turned into a great prayer room. I have been contacted by members and others who were in attendance on last week, who said that they needed that time in prayer with other believers.

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By Former Asst. Pastor Horace Cutter

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…” Colossians 3:23

If you have been anywhere near the news lately you have heard the scandal concerning the teachers in the Atlanta Public School System. It is very disheartening to know that the teachers, that we are entrusting children to at a very important time of their lives, are cheating on the tests scores in order to keep their jobs as teachers.

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By Former Asst. Pastor Horace Cutter

Years ago when I was a kid in Rahway, New Jersey, there was a river behind our house. It was the Rahway River. Us kids used to like to go to the banks and throw rocks into the river. The city had put all of these wonderful rocks along the banks for a build up against floods, so we just took it that they wanted us to have more fun… just throwing the rocks. Whatever way we threw the rock it left a ripple there. After the rock had sunk out of sight there was still the ripple going out to the ends of the river. That is how life is. One life that is lived leaves such an effect upon the world around it that we cannot ignore what has taken place. So that we ask what impact does one life have upon another?

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By Former Asst. Pastor Horace Cutter

As I got out and about this morning, I continued to hear the reports of the killing of Osama Bin Laden by American Military Forces. I felt happy and proud to be an American. After facing the terror in Sept 11, 2001 that we all remember and can look back to cringe over, we are so grateful of the military blood and effort that brought about this great feat. I also remembered the relief and resultant effect of Adolf Hitler’s death in Germany many years ago. I was not thought of at the time (my boys would disagree with me) but having an appetite for history for so many years and reading up on the wars we have fought I have found that evil men seem to crop up at their own special time in history. The only good thing I have to say about evil men coming on the scene is that they give a definite lesson that good and evil do exists.

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By Former Asst. Pastor Horace Cutter

We are all praying for the people in Japan. They have experienced a double disaster. May the glorious God of mercy and security, rescue the lives, hearts and minds of those who were affected by the earthquake and tsunami of 3-10-11. Our Father in Heaven has the peace and providence to help each person to come to the knowledge of His gracious presence at this terrible time.

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