The church’s liturgical year begins in December. The beginning of the new year is called “Advent (from Latin adventus, “coming”), in the Christian church calendar, the period of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas and also of preparation for the Second Coming of Christ.” ref: https://www.britannica.com/.
In the book, Advent: The Season of Hope, Tish Harrison Warren says, “We Christians believe, however, not just in one coming of Christ but in three: the coming Christ in the incarnation (theologians have sometimes called this the adventus redemptionis, the coming of redemption), the coming of Christ in what Scripture terms “the last days” (the adventus glorificamus, the coming in glory), and the coming of Christ in our present moment, through the Holy Spirit’s work and through Word and sacrament (adventus sanctificationis, the coming of holy things or holiness). Advent celebrates and holds together all three “comings” of Christ.”
Tish Harrison Warren says, “We begin our Christian year in waiting. We do not begin with our own frenetic effort or energy. We do not begin with the merriment of Christmas or the triumph of Easter. We do not begin with the work of the church or the mandate of the Great Commission. Instead, we begin in a place of yearning. We wait for our king to come.”
Last year, during Advent, I read Fleming Rutledge’s, Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ. It was a book of 427 pages. I loved it and it was detailed. But, this book by Tish Harrison Warren is much more accessible and is only 120 pages. It summarizes the focus of Advent.
This is a book for Advent, not Christmas. The next book in the Fullness of Time Series is about the season of Christmas which starts on Christmas Day.
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