Devotional Theme: The Advent Hope

Presented by Rev’d Dr. Joan Delsol Meade
Video can be viewed on YouTube. 
  1. Scripture Reading: I Revelation 22: 12
    See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work.
  2. Reflection
    The Season of Advent prepares us for the celebration of Nativity. It’s expected then that we think of Advent as looking back to Jesus’ birth. But it’s more than that. It is also about looking forward to Christ’s return. “Behold, I am coming soon,” he says. The hope of Advent is not just nostalgia — it’s anticipation stamped with God’s guarantee. One day, every tear will be wiped away, every injustice made right, and every longing fulfilled. Until then, we live with holy urgency, preparing our hearts for the King who will come again. Advent is not just about remembering. It’s also about preparing.The hope that keeps us living out this holy urgency which characterises the celebration of Advent is fuelled by the knowledge of what God has done in the past. Such is the memory that keeps us in faith today as we look forward to the undiluted reign of God among us. So, Advent is, in the same go, about looking back, living in the now and anticipating the future. The season is about divine assurance from the past, God’s enabling power in the present and confident hope in God’s future.How are you preparing for God’s future, for Christ’s return? What adjustments are you making in your personal life to be ready to share in the pure life of righteousness, justice and peace, which will be the only one to exist when Christ’s reign is fulfilled?We don’t want when that eternal reign arrives, to be like square pegs having to fit into round holes. It is in the here and now that we must get ready.And getting ready is what, Wesleyan’s know as growing in grace.
    And growing in grace is the spiritual progress that we cannot achieve on our own; but which we teach, that God’s Holy Spirit effects in us.Yes, Advent preparation, getting ready for the big day, is precisely what Methodists emphasise when we talk about sanctification, becoming more Christ-like, growing in grace, Christian perfection. It fits us more for our relationship with God, with ourselves, and with others, while we journey through this life.In the here and now, as we grow in grace, we become more loving towards our own selves, loving enough that we want to let God fix us up some more, and prepare us for heaven. That is certainly good for us because as we become more godly, we love and respect our individual selves more. The same goes for others. They too are blessed by the changes that the Spirit works in us, making us kinder, more lovely and more lovable. And of course, the change makes us better in our relationship with God. So, in summary, we get closer to loving God and loving our neighbour as we love ourselves. The Spirit shapes us into what true Methodists profess to be.But the beauty of growth in grace is not only for the here and now. It lasts beyond time, into eternity, even as we wait expectantly, knowing that for sure, that the Lord will return again to take us home.Remember hm saying, ‘I go to prepare a place for you so that where I am there you may be also?’Let us spare no effort then, in surrendering ourselves as we let God help us be purpose fit to fulfil God’s intention for us.
  3. Prayer:
    Coming King, we look forward to the day you return in glory. Until then, help us live with purpose and hope. O Holy Spirit, help us to prepare our hearts, even now, to receive Christ’s reign in all its fulness. Let Your kingdom come in us and through us. Amen.
    A Prayer of Advent Hope
    Gracious God, In this season of waiting, we turn our hearts toward you. You are the Light that breaks through our darkness, the Promise that anchors our souls, and the King who is coming again.As we reflect on the hope of Advent, teach us to wait with joy, to trust with courage, and to live with holy expectation. May your Word stir our hearts, Your Spirit renew our strength, and your love guide our steps.Let the flicker of hope grow into a flame that warms our homes, our church, and our world. Come, Lord Jesus — not only into the manger, but into our hearts, our lives, and our longing.We pray this in the name of the One who was, who is, and who is to come. Amen.