Join With All Nature - Advent Series
Sing for joy all the earth, a child has come to set you free.
Joy to the World, the Lord has come. Let Heaven and Nature sing.
There are a number of Christmas songs that we sing throughout the Advent season calling us to join with the world around us and praise the son becoming man.
But this year’s Advent theme, Join With All Nature, is actually from a song not typically tied to this season.
Summer and winter and springtime and harvest
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love
Advent is about more than simply 4 weeks of being jolly and joyful. It’s a time to reflect about the birth but also look forward to the time when Jesus will come again and complete the work of redeeming the world.
We live in a time when sin has been crushed and death has no sting, but also a time when we are still subject to the powers and temptations of this world.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
'Til he appeared and the soul felt its worth
It often feels like we are still in the “Long lay the world in sin and error pining” part and have not yet gotten to the part where our soul feels it’s worth.
Advent is a time to remember God is faithful throughout all the seasons of our lives. Whether we are in a dark period of winter or a joyful time of summer. We see God working and faithfully walking beside us. We can look to the world around us as a witness to his faithfulness. The sun continues to rise each morning. The winter always turns to spring. The clouds always pass and the rain stops.
This year for the advent decorations, we didn't do the typical evergreen trees, wreaths and garland and leave it at that, because we don’t live in an evergreen world. We have the literal seasons of Spring turning to Summer changing to fall and fading into Winter. But we also have seasons in our lives. We have seasons of darkness and depression, seasons of grief and sorrow, and times of great joy and love.
We shouldn’t need to leave that at the door and enter the Christmas season thinking only of the merry and bright. We enter this Advent in whatever season we are in, we bring it all to the cross, and we worship the king who was born for us. Born to bring a new hope. Born to die. And born to one day come back and redeem us and the world around us.
So come, join with all nature as we worship the king that was born and look forward and long for the day when he will return to make all things new.
Songs to Listen to:
Activity to do:
Grab a group of friends and go for a walk on a trail in Columbia. It may be a bit chilly but there is still beauty to be found during the winter months.