This coming Sunday begins the season of Advent in many of our Christian churches throughout the world. Many of you know it by those little Advent calendars on which you count down the days till Christmas. The word Advent literally means “getting ready for a coming” or “preparing for an entering into existence”. While we could use those phrases, Advent sounds so much better, cleaner, and neater.

In essence though, Advent is a kind of microcosm of all of life, isn’t it? I mean, aren’t we always getting ready for the return of Christ? Aren’t we always preparing for him to come? Maybe we are, but then again maybe not.

Are you ready for Christ to come? I don’t mean as a baby in a manger at Christmas. I mean as the eternal ruler and judge over all the world, as either the Savior or judge of your soul. Are you ready for him and for that? Why or why not? What makes you ready?

Simply put, it is faith that makes you ready. It is faith in Christ Jesus that saves, nothing more and nothing less. What I am trying to say is that if you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for you, then you are ready. You are ready for when the bridegroom returns to enter the banquet feast. You are ready when the trumpet sounds. You are ready to make that entrance into life eternal.

As a pastor I so often have to be there and help people when they are in their worst distress. One comment I often get is, “I am not sure if I am going to heaven. I don’t know if I am good enough.” The answer I always give often seems a little bit to simple. At the same time it is the only answer I know. I first ask them, “Did Jesus die on the cross?” If they answer yes, then I ask a second question, “Did he die for you?” If they answer yes to this second question then I simply say, “Then you are saved and you are going to heaven.”

If you spend your whole life wondering whether you are saved or not, what good is that for you? If you spend your whole life trying to be good enough and never succeeding what will your life be like? It will be full of distress, anger, resentment, and despair.

If you live your life as Christ want you to, as his forgiven, redeemed, and saved child you will have peace in your heart even when there is no peace in the world. You will have peace because you know that Jesus’ death on the cross was for you.

As you begin this season of Advent on Sunday, please know that your sins are forgiven so that this time before Christmas can be a joyful time for you. When you get to Christmas and you have your loved ones all around you, thank God that he sent His one and only Son to be born in that barn for you and for them! The peace of Christ that comes from the knowledge of your salvation go with you all your days!

It seems as though our world is full of worry today. We worry about the price of oil and how gas prices may soon be $4 a gallon. We worry about our greenhouse gas emissions and how we are ruining the atmosphere for future generations, how in essence our actions are destroying the world. We worry about our economy. As I listen to the news I hear that the dollar is getting weaker and weaker. While I don’t quite understand what that means, I know it is not good. We worry about our kid’s future whether they are going to be alright. We worry about our own future whether we are ever going to be able to retire. We worry about the bills that seem to keep piling up. There is no end to our worry. After one thing is settled in our minds another pops up. After God takes care of one problem another one is right there to replace it.

What is it that makes us worry? Why, after God has promised us that he will care for us and give us what we need, do we continue to worry day and night? Why, when we know that our lives are safe in God’s hands, do we seem to forget that very fact?

Let me tell you why. We all have a sinful nature. Because Adam and Eve lost the image of God, and we are children by birth of Adam and Eve, we too have lost that image. We have the curse of sin upon us through our conception and birth not to mention our actions, thoughts, words, and deeds.

Therefore, because we are sinful and do not have the complete image of God in our human nature, we are unable to live perfect and, as some of my Christian friends from another denomination would put it, “obedient” lives. If we were able to live obedient lives, if we were able to “obey the Gospel”, then we wouldn’t have need of a Savior. We would be able to get ourselves to heaven because we would be considered perfect.

Yet, since we are not perfect, we continue to fret about things over which we have no control. We continue to think that we are actually in control of our own lives when we should know full well that we are not. Sure we can make the money. Sure we may have certain talents. But what if God would take that all away? Would we still be okay? Would we still have peace, or would we lose it?

As human beings created by God we need to be able to say every day, in good times and bad, as David said: “From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth.” We need to be able to say as Paul says, “Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” We need to be able to trust in what Christ says: “I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me”, or when he says, “Behold, I am with you always to the very end of the world.”

What happens when you put your trust and your confidence in the things of this world or in your own abilities? Your confidence is lost. Your trust is broken. Your hope is gone.

On the other hand, what happens when you put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ? Your confidence is strengthened. Your strength is renewed. Your hope is restored. Your faith is sure! You have that peace that no one can understand!

Thanksgiving is only a week away. Although it is a national holiday it is also a day, as every day is, to count your blessings. Wherever you might be and whatever you might be doing, count those blessings, especially the one that is your Savior Jesus Christ, the biggest blessing of all. As you count them, watch your cares and worries melt away and a peace overtake you that comes from the knowledge that everything is going to be alright because of what Christ has done for you on the cross and where he will take you at life’s end! Give thanks in peace! Amen!