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Advent Week 1: The Way of Waiting, Day 1

Does Jesus' return fill you with dread, joy, or uncertainty? What is your state of readiness? How are you preparing?

by David Joynt on November 27, 2016


OUR BRIDEGROOM
MATTHEW 25:1

The bridegroom is coming! This is at the heart of all of Jesus' teaching about the final arrival of the Kingdom and the end of history. Jesus is coming to initiate a great celebration, even greater than the celebrations He hosted in the first century for those He healed and forgave and befriended and freed and called. First  century grooms went to the bride's home, at no set time, to bring her forth and celebrate the marriage feast (which could last a week, see Genesis 29:27; or even two weeks, as in the apocryphal Tobit 8:20). Brides and bridesmaids had to get ready, be prepared, and wait for the joyous arrival. Jesus is coming, and no one knows the exact time, but will the invited ones be ready!?

What is your state of readiness?

How are you preparing?

Does Jesus' return fill you with dread, joy, or uncertainty?

 

FAMILY TIME: Show pictures of your wedding day celebration or the wedding of someone your family knows. What makes a great celebration?

Tags: advent, waiting

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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