-Rev Melissa Fain- “Happy are people who make peace, because they will be called God’s children.” Matthew 5:9 CEB Advent is… what? This is Lent? I shouldn’t talk about Advent during Lent? Phooey! Everything is connected. Life is one big tapestry, and a thread used in one part of the image comes back again in strange ways. Getting back to my point, Advent is the four Sundays before Christmas. It is made up of four Sundays in a very specific order: Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. This isn’t an order that just works during this pre-Christmas time of year. It’s an order that is true for the whole year. Hope is like picking a destination. We set sail towards something. As Christians I hope your hope is set on Christ. Peace is packing your bags and starting the journey. The thing about finding peace is that it takes work. Peace is order when the world is drawn to chaos. Peace is sometimes blood sweat and tears. Hope always comes before peace because you have to set a destination in order to travel towards it. You have to set your hope before you can travel towards peace. It is when we know where we’re headed, and we are actually headed there, joy bubbles up. So, yes, happy are people who make peace. Happiness is the natural result of peace. These three attributes often connected to Advent leads naturally into love. When one finds love, that’s where we find God. That’s something to truly be joyous about! - - - Holy Father, We praise and adore you! Thank you for the gifts you bestow upon us! Amen. Rev Melissa Fain is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ.) She currently serves as the Senior Minister at Fig Tree Christian. Her passion is new church planting and revitalization. Fig Tree is the second big church plant she has been part of. Melissa enjoys all forms of the arts, having a degree in vocal music from Kennesaw State University. She also graduated from Candler School of Theology in the Fall of 2010, and has worked in Christian settings since 1999. Melissa is a mother of two wonderful children, and the wife to a very talented illustrator. |
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