Good morning and a most blessed Thursday to you. As you know, we are in the Advent season, the season where we look forward to Christmas. We look forward to preparing for Christ. The first two weeks in Advent are really focused on the coming Christ, the second coming of Christ. And it's that time of preparing for Christ to make his appearance.

And we get so bogged down, thinking and wondering and making sure we're ready for Christmas.  But if we're being honest with ourselves, at least I know for myself when I think about, am I ready for Christmas? And I work through that, I'm not thinking about, am I ready for the second coming of Christ. I'm thinking, do I have all the gifts purchased that I need?

Do I have all the food that I need? And so as we talk today, I want to think about that. I want to think about these first couple of weeks of Advent and really preparing and being prepared for for the second appearing of Jesus. Because we know that he indeed will come again. And it is interesting.

All of Scripture ends in Revelation, chapter 22, with John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writing in verse 20, "The one who testifies to these things says, and so this is what Jesus says, surely I am coming soon. And John's response to that is, amen, Come, Lord Jesus." That is the second to the last verse in God's Holy Word for you and me. And how many of us this Advent season can say, "Come, Lord Jesus." We know that the second coming will come like a thief in the night.

We will not have warning. As far as you know, he's not going to call us. Christ is not going to call us and say, "Heads up, I will be there in 20 minutes." But we do know that he will be here at any time. And we know that the preparation that we make for the coming Christ is to draw closer to him through his Word, to draw closer to him through prayer, and to gather together to worship him and honor him and glorify him as he serves us through Word and Sacrament.

So the question, are you ready for Christmas? It's not about if you have your gifts purchased, if you have them wrapped, if you have the food that you need. But it's about the question, are you ready for Christ to come again? As a baptized believer, as a child of God, your answer should be a resounding yes. We should say with the Apostle John, amen.

Come, Lord Jesus. Because we have the promise through his resurrection that we are forgiven, that we are saved, and that it is out of his love for us that he has come and that he will come again. And so we have nothing to fear in the Second Coming. And the joy of Advent, the joy of preparing for him to come again, is the joy of knowing that we will be in his eternal presence and in his glory forever and ever. 

Heavenly Lord, we thank you so much that in this season of Advent we are preparing our hearts by your grace and through your Spirit to receive the wonderful gift of salvation and mercy through you. Lord, we thank you so much for the Christmas season, for entering into humanity and living the perfect life and dying the death of all deaths upon the cross for our sin and rising again to new life in the resurrection. Lord, we thank you that that is the promise that you bring to us, that we too will be resurrected, that we too will live with you in glory for all eternity, and that death will not be victorious over us. Lord, as we continue to to go toward Christmas, we ask that that praise and that promise and that joyous proclamation would be on our lips, that we too would say with John. Amen.

Come, Lord Jesus, knowing that when you come again, you are coming to gather us to yourself, that we may live in your perfection and with your perfection forever. Lord, we lift this to you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Have an amazing week in this Advent season, and I will look forward to worshiping our Lord and celebrating Advent Week two with you this Sunday. God bless.

Pastor Malinak