Biblical Text: : Luke 3:1-20

I’m using apology above in the original sense – a defense, an argument for something, in this case, Advent. Advent is something that has largely gone missing from the US culture. To the extent that the pressure is on churches like ours that have it to say why. This sermon spends a little time in reminiscence of how Advent disappeared. But, it spends most of its time on why Advent really is a necessary season. Of all the seasons of the church year, Advent carries with it the themes most aligned with the Christian life in this world: hope, longing, preparation. John the Baptist stands in the lectionary as the character that we must go through. You can’t get to the manger without hearing the forerunner. And he’s got a couple of messages. One is apocalyptic and the other moral. This sermon develops those for the listener’s Christian life.

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