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<DIV><FONT size=4>The purpose of these sayings of Jesus is not so much to prompt
a reading of signs, but rather a renewing of faith. There are a number of
motivators for the Christian life, and the return of Christ is one of the more
powerful.<BR> The danger we face in our Christian walk is
that of secularization. Both the believer and the church can get caught up in
the "anxieties of life." This is particularly so today for the church, faced as
we are with declining attendees and constricting budgets. It's very easy to rely
on pragmatics rather than theology, easy to rely on marketing and management
programs rather than faith in God's sovereign grace.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.lectionarystudies.com/studyg/advent1cg.html">http://www.lectionarystudies.com/studyg/advent1cg.html</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Bryan Findlayson</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><STRONG>-Praying that you may have the strength to escape all
these things that will take place, </STRONG>We Christians are people of prayer,
praying for the strength to be alert and not weighed down by the anxieties of
life. We also pray for strength and patient endurance to handle the nastiness of
life. </DIV>
<DIV>
<P><STRONG>-And to stand before the Son of Man.’ </STRONG>Someday, we will also
face the final judgment. The Son of Man is coming to judge the living and the
dead. This is the issue. This is the last statement of Jesus in Luke’s little
apocalypse. We are all going to stand in judgment before the Son of Man. In
Jesus’ previous teachings during his lifetime, we repeatedly heard that the Son
of Man was coming at the End of history to judge. After the Second Coming, we
will finally stand in front of the judge, the Son of Man.</P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_b_eschataological_discourse.htm">http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_b_eschataological_discourse.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Edward F. Markquart</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Hands up, who spent today expecting, anticipating, being alert
for the coming of the Son of Man? Being alert for the fulfillment of God's
promises? For the coming of God's will being done on earth as it is in
heaven?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Hmm. I wonder what it means when many, perhaps most, of us no
longer live in anticipation of the fulfillment of God's promises in our
lifetime? But this is precisely the God-sized anticipation that the Season of
Advent calls us to re-new and rehearse.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.holytextures.com/2009/11/luke-21-25-36-year-c-advent-1-sermon.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+typepad/davidewart/textures+(Holy+Textures">http://www.holytextures.com/2009/11/luke-21-25-36-year-c-advent-1-sermon.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+typepad/davidewart/textures+(Holy+Textures</A>)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>David Ewart, 2009</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - - </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>“Be alert at all times.” Be alert.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT size=4>But to what?</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>The reading seems to focus on the big stuff, the signs of the
end time – and we don’t suffer from a shortage of signs in
2009.</FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>In fact, two of our global issues are far larger than what
Hardy terms “the familiar vicissitudes of history”. I’m thinking of the
growing environmental crisis, and continued nuclear proliferation. Either
has the potential to end life as we know it on this planet; and both are wholly
of human making.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://gospelforgays.com/?p=607&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+GospelForGays+(Gospel+For+Gays"><FONT
size=4>http://gospelforgays.com/?p=607&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+GospelForGays+(Gospel+For+Gays</FONT></A><FONT
size=4>)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Jeremiah Bartram, 2009</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=4>...“be alert”; these are not merely bits
of</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=4>moral advice from a great teacher. They are God’s
word to all to whom the promises have been</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=4>given, to encourage us to hope, prayer, endurance,
testimony, and faithful obedience in the</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=4>knowledge that our lives have a place in the cosmic
purposes of God as those have been</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=4>decisively worked out in Jesus Christ. The birth of
Christ in itself never saved anyone, but in the</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=4>whole career of Jesus—his birth, teachings, deeds,
crucifixion, and resurrection—the God of</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=4>heaven and earth has drawn near to redeem us, and
this work is being carried to completion even</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>now.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.luthersem.edu/word&world/Archives/11-4_Confirmation/11-4_Kolden.pdf">http://www.luthersem.edu/word&world/Archives/11-4_Confirmation/11-4_Kolden.pdf</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Marc Kolden, 1991, Page 417</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV><FONT size=4>
<DIV align=left>Kolden: Bonhoeffer writes that Advent is like sitting in a
prison cell waiting for someone</DIV>
<DIV>to open the door, waiting for the word which will release you from
prison.</DIV></FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.luthersem.edu/word&world/Archives/8-4_Feminism/8-4_Grindal.pdf">http://www.luthersem.edu/word&world/Archives/8-4_Feminism/8-4_Grindal.pdf</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Gracia Grindal, 1988</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
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