This Advent, Nan Thomas will share four Sunday reflections with us on these themes: hope, prepare, watch, and rejoice. Nan is deeply thoughtful about spiritual formation, a topic she pursues as an InterVarsity Graduate and Faculty Ministries staff member and as Associate Director of Faculty Development at Union University. In addition, Nan was part of the founding team that imagined the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN) and made it a reality. We’re grateful for her ongoing advice and encouragement, and for this Advent series. [Read more…] about Hope: First Week of Advent (Scholar’s Compass)
Advent
It May Be At the Midnight: Fourth Sunday of Advent
During the Sundays of Advent this year, the Emerging Scholars Network is posting works by Christina Rossetti. As a thoughtful poet who engaged deeply with faith, Rossetti wrote a number of poems about the church calendar. In the Advent poems we share here, she engages with the traditional idea of Advent as both remembering Christ’s first coming and waiting for His second. Her imagery is rich and thoughtful, and we hope this poetry helps you to reflect on what it means to wait for Christ. For material from our archives on Advent click here. To God be the glory! – Hannah [Read more…] about It May Be At the Midnight: Fourth Sunday of Advent
Advent: The Problem of What Matters
Reading
Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—
Yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.
— Isaiah 11:1
Advent: The Paradox of What Matters
Reading
Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,the Spirit of counsel and might,the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.In that day the heir of David’s thronewill be the banner of salvation to all the world.The nations will rally to Him,and the land where He lives will be a glorious place.— Isaiah 11:1-2, 10
“In the Fullness of Time†– An Advent Devotional on the theology of time
Advent is a time of both beginning and anticipation. In human history, we have always tracked time from the perspective of the beginnings which define a person, a culture or a nation. We celebrate our birthdays and anniversaries as beginnings: the beginning of life, the beginning of life together. In the Old Testament, Israel orients their calendar year, really their time, around their defining event, the Exodus. In our modern period, we in the United States, though we follow the standard Western calendar, still orient our time around our beginning. July 4th is the oldest of our national holy days, where we still follow John Adams’ advice and celebrate the day with feasting and fireworks. If you were to receive an official proclamation from the President of the United States, it would include two dates: the standard year in Anno Domini and words similar to this, “In the year of our liberty . . .†in which the number of years since 1776 is given. If our nation had been formed before the standardization of the calendar, our new year would begin on July 4th instead of January 1st. [Read more…] about “In the Fullness of Time†– An Advent Devotional on the theology of time