“For outlandish creatures like us, on our way to a heart, a brain, and courage, Bethlehem is not the end of our journey but only the beginning - not home but the place through which we must pass if ever we are to reach home at last.”
― Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat

“Out of the Darkness, Into the Light: The Time before Christmas is the Time of Light and mutual Love.”
― Sir Kristian Goldmund Aumann, 24 Days Until Christmas: 24 Christmas Poems

“Author Glennon Doyle Melton wrote, “Every time we open our mouths and speak, we are either saying let their be light or let their be darkness.”
― Max Lucado

“Too many good ideas are overwhelming, and they can keep us from doing anything at all.”
― Tsh Oxenreider, Shadow and Light: A Journey into Advent

“With it’s transition from darkness into increasing light, Advent symbolically shows me my journey from the weaknesses I acquire because I live in a fallen world, to the enabling grace offered to me in Christ’s life, ministry, atonement, crucifixion, and resurrection. His ministry to me is individual, tailored to my specific needs. He saves me by changing me, transforming me, and making me into something I am not now. He can convert me—if I will let Him—into a fit traveler, able to walk the covenant path that leads through the temple and back to my Heavenly Father. Jesus willingly walks with me, inviting me to take on His yoke (which is easy) and to exchange my burden for His (which is light). Advent reminds me to invite the Light of the World to illuminate my life. O come, o come, Emanuel!”
― Jean-Michel Hansen

“As my Advent celebration approaches its end, I remember how merciful the Lord has been. My eyes move reluctantly from the manger. But if I emulate the wise men, who followed the star that led them to Jesus, my view will move across the poignant scenes of Christ’s mortal life, be stopped short by wonder and gratitude as I consider the incomparable gift of His atonement, crucifixion, and resurrection, and then lift to the promised dawn of His second coming. As I consider His promised return, I might ask myself, “When that day comes, will I kneel and joyfully exclaim that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Light of the World, my Redeemer, Deliverer, and Savior, or will it be truth that compels me to confess His name?” Today, as my celebration by candlelight of His first advent draws to a close, I resolve to let Him prevail in my life so that my adoration of Him in the brilliant light of His second advent will be spontaneous, heartfelt, and unrestrained.”
― Jean-Michel Hansen

“On this eve of Christmas, whether you feel yourself to be surrounded by earthly blessings or whether you feel your blessings to be few, set aside those thoughts and concerns long enough to remember what it is that we are celebrating: God’s loving plan to bring you home to himself, through the gift of Jesus Christ.”
― Kerry van der Vinne, Advent: Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room

“The message of Advent doesn’t fit neatly into a sound-bite or vignette. It’s too complex, too deep, to compete with glitter and noise; and it’s a hard sell in a culture that would rather skip straight to the big finish. But Advent is too important to be forgotten, because it is this season that prepares us to encounter our Lord.”
― Kerry van der Vinne, Advent: Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room

“The child wonders at the Christmas Tree:
Let him continue in the spirit of wonder
At the Feast as an event not accepted as a pretext;
[...]
So that before the end, the eightieth Christmas
(By “eightieth” meaning whichever is last)
The accumulated memories of annual emotion
May be concentrated into a great joy
Which shall be also a great fear, as on the occasion
When fear came upon every soul:
Because the beginning shall remind us of the end
And the first coming of the second coming.”
― T.S. Eliot, The Cultivation of Christmas Trees

“Advent Season by Stewart Stafford

A house bedecked in verdant wonderment,
With lights that mirror the starry firmament,
Where the Christmas Star did once shine,
To guide worshippers to the Divine.

The wreath on the door is a welcome portal,
For any passing cheerful mortal,
Wishing to enjoy warm company,
And mountains of gravy-drowned turkey.

Nostrils fill with cooking scents,
That waft through the house with excitement
A feast to consume on the 25th,
After the Man in Red has paid a visit.

Children orchestrate great noise,
And sit and play with gifted toys,
While adults watch and reminisce,
On childhoods past and favourite gifts.

The Wheel of Time turns,
Festivities End,
And the year itself begins again.

In Time's juvenile crawl,
Or adult speed,
Life zips forward, and history repeats.

© Stewart Stafford, 2020. All rights reserved.”
― Stewart Stafford

“With the arrival of Advent, Christians everywhere turn again towards the Savior. Advent marks the beginning of the celebration of His birth and His long-foretold ministry, atonement, death, resurrection and second coming. If Advent is an occasion when I re-turn my eyes to the Savior, then it is also an invitation to consider where my eyes—and my heart—have been in the meantime. Advent is the gentle nudge that invites me to remember that the truth most worth knowing is that Jesus Christ is the only way Home. It is also a gentle reminder that I ought to keep my eyes upon Him all year long.”
― Jean-Michel Hansen

“As we light our Advent candles, adding a new one each week, we move from darkness to light. Our ritual symbolically anticipates the birth or our Savior, Jesus Christ, who will actually move us from darkness to light if we will let Him. Advent invites us to worship at the manger, but if we stop there, we have missed the meaning of Christ’s birth. His advent is the beginning of the path that takes Jesus from the light of the wonderful star that signals His birth, to the terrible darkness of his full and final sacrifice, and then on to the blinding brilliant light of His resurrection, which is the advent of ours. As we return to the manger, let us not forget the meaning of his birth and the purpose of His life. He came to save, deliver, and redeem us: O come, let us adore Him!”
― Jean-Michel Hansen

“Why does the Church cause the gospel of the Last Judgment to be read on this day?

To move us to penance, and to induce us to prepare our souls for the coming of Christ, by placing the Last Judgment before our minds. Should not the thought of this terrible judgment, when all good and all evil will be revealed, and accordingly be rewarded or punished in the presence of the whole world -should not this thought strengthen us in virtue! (First Sunday in Advent)”
― Leonard Goffiné, The Church's Year

“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope.”
― - Romans 15:13 (NLT)

“When we soften our thoughts and open our hearts to the coming season of Christmas, we make room for Jesus: in our kind gestures, our giving hands, a warm smile and peace extended to our neighbors. Christmas is the season for His perfect love.”
― Allene vanOirschot, Daddy's Little Girl: A Father's Prayer

“As the world around us surges into a frenzied and festive December, let's take a step away from the party and ask the Holy Spirit to prepare our hearts for a deeper and truer celebration of Christmas — one that is not undermined by lamentation, but that is made more potent because of it.”
― Kerry van der Vinne, Advent: Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room

“Let the warmth of expectation kindle in your heart the desire to welcome His love into your daily life.”
― Allene vanOirschot, Daddy's Little Girl: A Father's Prayer

“Yes, the manger signals something about this baby, but it is not simply his poverty. By being placed in the manger, he is revealed as both the rightful son of Adam charged with caring for his creation and also the eternal Son of God who created them and who provides for them. So instead of filling the manger with hay or corn, he fills it with himself (p. 80).”
― Hannah Anderson, Heaven and Nature Sing: 25 Advent Reflections to Bring Joy to the World

“Since the advent of bright LED streetlights and car headlights, I avoid driving after dark.”
― Steven Magee

“Light sensitivity appeared prevalent in humans before the advent of electric lights and streetlights.”
― Steven Magee

“Said the trees to the
bramble, 'Come, be our ruler!'
'Wait!' said the mustard.”
― Richard Bauckham, Tumbling Into Light: Collected Poems

“Advent slows the rush of a chaotic world into a whisper of peace.”
― Allene vanOirschot, Daddy's Little Girl: A Father's Prayer

“May the loneliness of Christmas place in all hearts the longing for His presence.”
― Allene vanOirschot, Daddy's Little Girl: A Father's Prayer

“Moonless darkness stands between.
Past, the Past, no more be seen!
But the Bethlehem-star may lead me To the sight of Him Who freed me From the self that I have been.
Make me pure, Lord: Thou art holy;
Make me meek, Lord: Thou wert lowly;
Now beginning, and always:
Now begin, on Christmas day.”
― Gerard Manley Hopkins

“Christmas is the time for us not to be found wanting but waiting for the Savior in the manger.”
― Allene vanOirschot, Daddy's Little Girl: A Father's Prayer

“History reveals that times of suffering for the Church have also been times of looking upward. Tribulation has always sobered God’s people and encouraged them to look for and yearn after the return of their Lord. Our present preoccupation with this world may be a warning of bitter days to come. God will wean us from the earth some way--the easy way if possible, the hard way if necessary. It is up to us.”
― A.W. Tozer, From Heaven: A 28-Day Advent Devotional

“All of the mercy God is capable of showing, all of the redeeming grace that He could pour from His heart, all of the love and pity that God is capable of feeling--all of these are at least suggested here in the message that He came!”
― A.W. Tozer, From Heaven: A 28-Day Advent Devotional

“The gifts are intensifiers of desire for Christ himself in much the same way that fasting is. When you give a gift to Christ like this, it's a way of saying something like this: The joy that I pursue is not the hope of getting rich with things from you. I have not come to you for your things but for yourself. And this desire I now intensify and demonstrate by giving up things in the hope of enjoying you more, not the things. By giving to you what you do not need and what I might enjoy, I am saying more earnestly and more authentically, "You are my treasure, not these things." I think that's what it means to worship God with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.”
― John Piper, The Dawning of Indestructible Joy: Daily Readings for Advent

“Christmas has the waiting heart, often anxious for temporal desires, yearning for Jesus' presence above all.”
― Allene vanOirschot, Daddy's Little Girl: A Father's Prayer

“The answer to all the world's problems is wrapped up in a stable, waiting to be discovered.”
― Allene vanOirschot