This week, we celebrate that Jesus Comes to Forgive Sins.
With a fire crackling in the chiminea, chairs drawn up close, and hot chocolate in hands, we’ll talk more personally about our sin, confessing our sins to one another and praying for each other, so that we may be healed. We will rejoice that the One whose mere breath placed the stars above our heads, sees into the depths of our hearts and loves us. How wonderful it will be to reflect, as a family, on the beauty of Christ’s obedient life-unto-death… so that we may walk in forgiveness.
I can only imagine how powerfully these Words will sink into our hearts as we look up into the heavens, which were an afterthought compared to us:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love; having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In who we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins…” Savor the entire reading in Ephesians 1: 3-14
Come, Lord Jesus, Come!
We’d be delighted for you to join us throughout Advent. Please check back here each Saturday to read about our plans and thoughts for the following day’s celebration.
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Comments
3 responses to “The Second Sunday of Advent”
Laura,
We did this during our supper this evening. We’ve been lighting our one and only advent candle each evening before our meal starts. It has provided some great conversation–and softening of hearts.
Tonight we confessed our sins to each other; how I yell too much, how the kids fight, pick fights, argue, whine, yell, and scream, how I fail to respect Todd on many occasions, and how Todd yells too much, too. Todd also talked so tenderly to the children about how I have had to carry the load of the family (financially, house work, laundry, their education, etc), and he apologized for it. He also encouraged us all—by reminding us that he graduates in just 8 days, that the family will be a FAMILY in the evenings and how we’ll finally be able to spend time together. I kid you not, Todd cried—and all of the children including myself, cried along with him.
Doing this provided us all a time of transparency, putting out sins out on the table, saying sorry, and asking for forgiveness. What I loved most was watching the children ask each other for help so that they don’t sin against each other or us as their parents anymore.
Thank you for sharing this post. I didn’t know how it would work for our family. I do know that lighting the candle each night and talking about Advent and being so thankful for Jesus, our Savior, led our hearts soft enough to do this at our dinner table this evening.
And then we prayed! And then there were more tears from Austin. He is so dear! He said, “I want our family to be the best and strongest family in the world!” It was music to my ears!
Love you–and can’t thank you enough!
Jenny
Jenny,
This is beautiful! I’m so glad that your family had such a time together. What a gift.
Thank you, Laura. 🙂