EP 54: Making Room this Advent

Avi comes from the Latin word Adventist, which just means

arrival or coming. So it is that anticipation.

There is this tension between joy and longing that exists.

So there's this idea of we are celebrating, bored, also

waiting. And it's just a good thing to be

reminded, particularly around what our culture typically does

around Christmas, which is not wait, not pause, not slow down.

But it's just constant, you know, consumerism is always,

always going. Hey everyone, and welcome back

to the Grace Church Members Podcast.

I'm your host, Whitney Maynus, and I am in the studio today

with Scott and Bobby Rawlerson. Guys, how are we doing?

Hey, Whitney. Hello, good.

Good. Good to see you.

And today we are going to be talking about Advent Happy

December, the December 1st by the time we release this.

And in a minute we're going to talk about some resources that

we have coming out, some things that y'all can look forward to

that just will help you think about this season.

Well, but to start off, gosh, we just love to talk a little bit

about Christmas, wouldn't we? So guys, tell us what, what do

you like to do during this season?

Like what resonates with you and your soul and celebrates well?

Well, I'm going to let Bobby start because he's got, he's got

a lot of, a lot of activity in his house.

We're in teen esters now. Bobby's, Bobby's got lots of

kids. What what does that look like

for your your family? Yeah.

So for US, one of the things that I inherited from my family

growing up is my mom's an accountant, so she like things

ordered. And so my dad would sit by the

tree and he would hand out one present at a time, and then that

person had to open that present. With everybody staring at.

Yes, because my mom was going to watch people open the presents

she bought them. And so that was kind of

something that we adopted into our family because if you just

let five children go free for all, it's going to be chaotic.

And it lasts like, yeah, lasts like 3 minutes.

Yeah, yes. It lasts 3 minutes and then it's

over and there's just, you know, wrapping paper everywhere.

So this is, you know, more organized.

We go one at a time. We, you know, put the trash in

the trash bag along the way so it's structured.

Like it lasts. Yeah, it's structured, so it

takes a while, but but it's fun. So that's one of the things that

I kind of pulled from my family. We always read the Christmas

story on on Christmas Eve. So that's a big, you know, big

piece that I enjoy with with our family as well as just kind of

watching the kids engage with that as they get older.

Yeah, we're, we're also A1 gift at a time wrapped.

Yeah, you know, Christmas morning kind of kind of family

and and I do enjoy that. We know a little breakfast

casserole and put on some kind of music.

I I like Christmas music. Yeah, but not until after

Thanksgiving. I mean as you.

Said but I like it's a hot. That's a hot take though, so I

like Careful I. Like Christmas, I like listening

to Christmas music. I like Elvis.

I think Elvis has a really great Christmas album.

And then, yeah, we don't, we don't have a lot of activity at

our house. And so I, I like getting out

into activities. So I like going downtown,

preferably when it's cold. I like, and I like bundling up.

I like walking around. I like seeing everybody hustle

and bustle. I like going into the Hyatt,

looking at the trees. I mean, it kind of the same

every year, but I just enjoy that.

And then just plot twist, I like to go get ice cream even though

it's cold. Which it is insane.

I know so, but you know, there's something about just the way

people are experiencing the the holidays.

I just kind of like to be a participant and just just watch

folks. Yeah, of people watcher.

Yeah, good hobby to have for sure.

What about you? I mean, I do love movies and so

I think growing up I just remember, you know, we just

leave on whatever channel and it would just cycle through all the

movies. White Christmas just feels very

nostalgic. It is related to the music, kind

of. Your older Frank Sinatra kind of

jazzy vibes are really great. So definitely I would I would

much prefer something warm. The idea of eating ice cream in

the winter is crazy to me, but. Yeah.

And I like your question because there's there is so there's so

many things to choose from because there's so much activity

that goes on. And so then we're kind of back

to our even question today is then how do I center myself

spiritually through through that whole through that whole season.

And so because there's room for both.

There is, yeah. It's so right.

We want to have some fun. We want.

We're not against all of the fun things that the season has to

offer, but there's also a lot of depth to be had and a lot of

rest to be found as well, which sometimes can be easy to miss.

So. Which had two two things.

I do like the week after Christmas because that tends to

be the the reset. Everybody shuts down.

It's great. And then here's here's a

question for the two of you. How?

How soon can you say Merry Christmas?

It's a good question. It's a tough one, right?

I mean, yeah, I was trying to figure out how to start this

podcast. So I was like, do I say Merry

Christmas, December 1st? So we're with Happy December,

but. Yeah.

So do you have an answer to that?

You have a favorite tradition? You have a favorite Christmas

album? Please leave it in the comments

and we'll give you a mention in future episodes.

That's right. One more quick question.

Favorite childhood gift that you got?

Oh, far and away first thing that comes to mind.

It was like 7 year old ultimate dream.

We got in Atari. That's right.

So for all you Gen. Xers, yes, we got in Atari.

Yeah, for me, I was probably six or seven.

It was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

Let's. Go and this van was incredible.

It shot pizzas from the top at enemies and man, I was just

obsessed with getting this and I, I don't remember being more

excited. I think it was just a

combination of being young and really, really wanting that van

and then my parents leaving it to the very last gift and man,

it was just a great, it was a great morning.

There you go. Yeah, I think I got a light

bright at some point, and that changed my life.

I just play with that all the time and try to keep my little

brother from eating the pieces. And that was a good time.

So. Well, let's talk a little bit

about Advent. Let, I mean, let's just start

with the idea itself. I, we've talked a little bit,

but just, if you did not grow up in a denomination or a tradition

that really did that, I know I didn't, you know, And then I

have become more associated with the idea and learned a lot about

it, but may not be familiar for everybody.

So, Bobby, can you explain just a little bit of where the idea

of Advent comes from and what we're really talking about?

Yeah, I think this is a good distinction to make because I do

think we have a lot of people at Grace, including myself, who did

not grow up in a tradition that really just went through Advent

as a church. And so I didn't really know the

word Advent existed until I was in college was the first time I

heard it. But I mean, Advent for us, for

people who haven't really experienced it or just as kind

of handled or look, read through the guides that we've had in the

past. Advent for us is just a season

where we want to slow down. Like we want to slow down.

We want to pay attention to Jesus.

There are four Sundays before Christmas.

We kind of do two things. We look back to what Jesus did

in his, in our incarnation is first coming in Bethlehem.

Obviously that's Christmas and that's what we're all

celebrating. But there's an aspect to Advent

where we look ahead to what is promised in his return and that

he will make all things new. And so I think that kind of

twofold focus keeps Christmas from becoming just nostalgic and

it reorients us to the larger story of Scripture and just

keeps our focus on, you know, not to be corny, but the real

reason for the season. Sure.

Yeah, that's right. And what does the word ADVENT

actually mean? Yeah.

So Advent comes from the Latin word Adventist, which just means

arrival or coming. OK, So it is that anticipation,

there is this tension between joy and longing that exists.

So there's this idea of we are celebrating, but we're also

waiting. And so it's just a good thing to

be reminded, particularly around what our culture typically does

around Christmas, which is not wait, not pause, not slow down.

But it's just constant, you know, consumerism is always,

always going. Yeah, and that's a good reminder

for us. Where, where did the tradition

come from? Just this idea of even we're

going to take a whole month, you know, as opposed to like Easter,

we do Holy Week, it's one week. But yeah, what's what's kind of

the origin of all that? Yeah, historically, Christians

kind of began keeping a season of preparation, so to speak,

before Christmas. Back in the early church.

I mean probably late 4th, 5th centuries communities,

particularly in the West, were already setting aside weeks for

fasting and for prayer and instruction kind of leading up

to what would be called like the nativity.

And so there are different, I guess, patterns or different,

you know, periods of time that people would have.

Some would have 5 weeks, some would have six weeks.

But over time, the pattern kind of settled into four Sundays in

Rome in particular, which other regions sometimes would keep,

again, 5 or 6. But for them, that's kind of

where it all came from. And the heart of the tradition I

don't think has really changed. It stayed pretty consistent in

many churches. They, they use kind of Advent

wreaths, weekly candles that are associated with hope, peace,

joy, love, more of a visual reminder.

But I think the heart of it and the heart behind why we're kind

of creating an Advent guide and wanting people to experience

this is has stayed the same throughout the years.

Yeah, which is cool because, I mean, we did not invent Advent,

you know, like it's been around for a while.

And it is always good to be reminded that we are part of

this greater church that has existed for a long time.

A lot of people have thought about the Scriptures and brought

a lot of great practices to bear to help us to reflect on them

well. Sure.

Yeah, that idea of expectation, joyful expectation for The

Arrival, I mean that that is just a little lost on on us when

we need instant gratification. And so I do, I do love that

idea. I don't know, a few years ago,

it's been several years ago now, but we do, we did a teaching

series. We'll probably do it in the

future, but it was called The Arrival and we looked at the

Christmas story through the lens of four specific characters.

And, and I remember that was one of the first times that I had

really made this connection with coming or arrival and Advent

again, again, not growing up in a tradition where we did, we had

the candles and all of that. I mean, we, we may have

celebrated in different, different ways.

And you know, there's a lot of people listening and you have

your own traditions, and there's not one one way.

It's just that every way should lead to the same point, which is

this idea of expectation sure of the coming Christ.

So absolutely. So then as we are getting ready

to enter into this season, the good news and the exciting news

feel like we need some sound effects like shoot, shoot off

Something is that we have a new Advent book that Bobby and Jeff

Ennienberg and a lot of our staff have worked really hard on

putting together for us. And so we really just wanted to

give Bobby the opportunity to share a little bit of the

thought behind that and how it's structured and give you guys a

little sneak peek into it. So Bobby, yeah, let's just start

with how did y'all approach this project and kind of land on the

focus that you did? Sure.

Yeah, we had a great team that all sat down and kind of thought

through how are we going to approach Advent this year and

how is that going to look different from what we've done

historically. And this year we took a a bit of

a different approach than we have in the past.

We created a simple Advent guide that's built around for

spiritual practices, right. If you, if you're more around my

age, you're probably thinking more for spiritual disciplines.

That's kind of the language that has been used.

And each week what the guide is going to help you do is engage

with a short teaching. There's going to be a brief kind

of set up a few clear steps and then like a closing prayer

prompt each week. And that's going to center

around and help you dive into each of the practices.

So just to give you a general idea of what those practices

are, you're going to have scripture.

So the idea that Jesus is his incarnation and also his second

coming are both promises that we see.

And so as a, as a person who's going through this Advent or as

a family, you know, you're going to read Isaiah 9 two through 7,

you're going to memorize Isaiah 9/6 and kind of just be thinking

about that. The second is simplicity.

Simplicity is about making room. So in this season, we have a ton

going on. Everyone's being pulled in so

many different directions. So simplicity is not about not

doing anything. Simplicity is about choosing the

one thing that matters most. So making room in your life for

Christ to experience this season in a way that's going to be a

discipleship moment for you in a lot of ways.

And so that's one of the areas where we'll encourage someone to

subtract something, maybe add something to their, their

calendar. A generosity, the idea of giving

first, right? And being kind of anchoring that

in the idea of, of 2nd Corinthians 8 through 9, that

Jesus became poor so that we might be rich in him.

And so we're going to invite people to decide in advance,

like how they're going to be generous outside of just, you

know, what we typically do with our children and buying gifts.

But how are we going to be generous?

Like, what is that going to look like with your church?

What is that going to look like maybe with a neighbor, maybe

with like a kind of a global partner, a missionary that you

support? Like what is generosity going to

look like for your family? Bobby, I like, I like what you

said somewhere in the notes, you know, you said choose how you're

going to give before the season chooses for you and I and I love

that, you know, because I think that we have a very, very

generous church. We're growing in our generosity.

We were created by God to be generous people.

But there is a lot of ideas, lot of opportunities, lot of things

vying for our attention. And you can either be reactive

or you can be intentional. Sure.

And and I love the fact that you you included that.

And it seems to build off of these, these concepts seem to

build off each other. Week 1 scripture, Week 2,

simplicity, Week 3, generosity. And then tell us about week

four. Yeah, Week. 4 is prayer and

waiting. So it, it is really focused on

Psalm 130 and being diligent to not only understand that we're

reading God's word, we're making room, we're giving first, but

there's this idea of longing that exists and that's why

that's prayer and waiting. So we are engaging with prayer.

We're, you know, lighting a candle, maybe reading scripture,

naming a real longing that you have, you know, thinking about

it from that perspective that maybe it's a healing, maybe it's

a salvation for someone who's close to you.

Maybe there's an issue that you're just going through that's

difficult with you, your family. Like cry out to the Lord in

those in those moments and pray in the midst of the fact that we

are all waiting for him to return.

And so that's kind of the last spiritual practice that we'll be

doing together. But yeah, yeah.

And that reminds me, too. Just that last piece about

longing and just crying out to God.

We did an episode with Joey Altam last Advent season, and he

just did a great job of laying out just the challenges that can

come with this season with grief and loss, but just how much hope

there is to be had as well. So if that resonates with you,

that's episode 44 would definitely encourage you guys to

go back and listen to that. But overall, I mean, I'm

certainly just excited to take the time to slow down.

And is it built to go like you do it each Sunday or kind of

stretch it out throughout the week?

Yeah, I think you could do either.

It's really up to you. I mean, it's a weekly, you know,

chapter by chapter is a one week of a, of a practice.

So you could do that on a Sunday, you could do it.

You know, if Thursday works for you, Thursday is great.

You know, if you want to break it up and do it a little bit as

you go throughout the week, I think that's also a possibility.

One of the things we really would love is for just getting

in into this with other people. So you know, family, great.

If you are single, there are some, you know, community group

that you are involved in where you're getting community at your

campus, see if there's a few people that want to, you know,

walk through this together. That's an option.

At the end of the day, I think what Scott said is, is really

the goal is like being very intentional.

And so that is that is going to save us from being washed away

by the wave of consumerism in this, in this kind of culture

that we live in is being intentional from the beginning.

And so that's the that was the goal behind this.

You know, we have two types of people really.

We have the, the person who's Christmas tree has been up since

the day after Halloween, right? So those people are those people

are a little crazy in my eyes, but that hey, that's, that

works. And, and what I, I think for

those types of people, we're wanting to, to pull back and

say, Hey, slow down. I understand you love Christmas,

right? I get that.

But are you really focusing on the right thing?

And then for the person who is kind of like my family growing

up, which we started thinking about Christmas trees on

December 23rd, like we probably should get one of those trees

that we put lights on because we just had so much going on.

I think for them, it's a little bit different.

It's still a pullback like you need.

You need to be intentional, take time and not just treat December

as any other month, but really engage in in what we're doing as

as a church. Yeah.

And I do love the practical nature of this because I do

think I've observed Advent in the past in a very reflective

way, which is super helpful, super important.

But I like the idea of attaching an action step to it just so you

know it, because it is just you are fighting for brain space

during the season and there's a lot of things fighting for your

attention, a lot of good things. And so just not just trying to

not do something, but trying to do something else productive,

not just for the sake of it. And we've talked on this podcast

before, not for performance, not to check a box, but really to

help us engage with the spiritual truths that you've

paired with each of these things and that we would really just

dwell with the Spirit of the Lord during this season.

And receive, I mean, just he's holding out joy to us.

He's holding out peace to us. Like, he has already offered

that all within himself as he's condescended to this Earth to

come be with us as we've been in Exodus and we've talked about

this idea of eminence, like how perfect it is that we're getting

ready to go into the Christmas season.

And so I'm excited. I just think that this will be

really, really helpful for us. Bobby, while you're here, if you

could talk just a little bit more around just the importance

of practices, spiritual practices, just to build off a,

Whitney said. I mean, traditionally, you know,

like the Advent weeks or hope and faith and joy and peace and,

and, and those are all still a part of this Advent guide for

us, but but they're not the main titles.

We chose different titles. A little bit more about your

thinking around that and then just kind of use that as a

Segway just to talk about the the the role that spiritual

practices really play in helping us become.

Fully devoted followers of Jesus.

Yeah, if you're, if you're going to take, I think your faith

seriously, like you have to be engaged in daily, weekly,

monthly practices where you are intentionally carving out time

to be with the Lord. You know, the things that we

most have heard of growing up is, you know, you read, pray, do

your quiet time, that kind of thing.

I mean, those are essentially just spiritual practices.

And so when we're thinking about Advent, we, we wanted to make

sure that it wasn't just information that was being kind

of given, it was information that's tied to taking a step and

doing these things together in community is one of the things

that we hope happens because doing spiritual practices, I

think particularly in the West in the 21st century, a lot of

these things are kind of individualized.

And so bringing those out of kind of just this is my

relationship with Jesus type thing and actually engaging with

family or friends or whoever is one of the things I think is

really important, not only for the Advent season, but just with

spiritual practices in general. And we really do want to have a

focus as a church on taking what we're learning and putting it

into practice so that our relationship with the Lord is

vibrant and it's growing and we are being disciple.

And these are some of the things that we've been thinking about.

You know, one of the things that we're working on is the next

Essentials mod module, which we did Acts and now we're going to

be looking at spiritual practices for an entire semester

of essentials. Take 9 spiritual practices,

walking through them, putting them in the practice.

You know, one of the days is just to practice and plan how

this is going to be a part of your life going forward.

And so I think this is a kind of a season for our church to think

about. Am I engaging with the Lord in

the ways that he is he's offered?

Am I being intentional about it? Yeah, and I, I think about the

just the word active, intentional and active comes to

mind. You mentioned nostalgia.

And I just know for me personally, you know, one of the

issues, you know, you're getting into the month and there's all

the things that we enjoy, right? The Walking downtown, the

listening to Christmas music, the shopping, the watching the

movies. And it brings back, you know,

for for a lot of us, really good memories.

And it's easy to be nostalgic and kind of stuck in the past.

Sure. But the irony is this idea of

anticipation and expectation. That's an active characteristic.

And and I love the the week 4 is longing and we all have things

that we are longing for. But but how active are those

longings? And how are we applying what we

know about the hope of Christ, the whole purpose of which we

celebrate his his incarnation, right And taking flesh.

How can we connect that to the to the everyday and not just in

the past, in the nostalgia, in maybe even the the frustration

of what not what, what is not happening in our lives, but just

to kind of keep looking forward, keep looking forward, keep

looking forward. And so I even think that the,

the practice that that expectation and remembering are

also practices that are, that are baked into all of this.

Absolutely. And so, so, yeah, don't just

settle for nostalgia. Nostalgia is, is, is a, is a

part of remembering God's goodness and God's faithfulness.

But then how does that activate your faith for the future?

And I love how you've given us some some language and some some

tools for that. Yeah.

And along those lines as well, something else you guys can look

forward to is we will have a two-part teaching series the

week before Christmas and then the week of Christmas where we

finished Exodus and we'll focus on Christ's first arrival.

And then we will have a second teaching on his second arrival

that we are waiting for with expectations.

So it is that idea of we're looking back, we're seeing what

God has already done and then we are expectant for what is still

to come. And then of course we've got

Christmas Eve services as well. So y'all be looking out for

those dates from your campus. But lots of good opportunities

to celebrate, to worship, to be in community and to think about

these things with intention. Well, and we are just grateful

for our staff, just the work that they've put into all of

these things to to help us do that.

So guys, anything else y'all got before we wrap up?

Yeah. I would just love to maybe just

read just a couple of verses just to kind of summarize it's

the intent of all of this and really tie these things

together. We've been studying the book of

Exodus, like Whitney mentioned, the idea of God longing to be

with his people to to Tabernacle with his people.

That just still blows me away. Like, like, why would God want

to do that? Like what does he have to gain?

And then the ultimate fulfillment of that in Christ.

And so you know, we've been doing RTS know a number of you

are we've been reading the book of Leviticus and and just

thinking to Hebrews and I just wanted to end this proclaiming

just the unbelievable nature of Christ.

If I could from Chapter 9, just a couple of verses here 11:00

and 12:00. So Christ has now become the

high priest over all of the good things that have come.

He has entered the greater, most perfect Tabernacle in heaven,

which was not made by human hands and is not part of this

created world. And with His own blood, not the

blood of goats and calves, he entered the Most Holy place once

for all time and secured our redemption forever.

And when you think about longing and anticipation and then the

beauty of God's plan, sending Jesus for His ultimate purpose,

and then us having the being the beneficiaries of that being in

Christ looking forward to that second coming.

It just if you just can just drown out the noise that is such

a reason to celebrate such a reason to celebrate, such a

reason, a reason to slow down, be intentional to gather with

others and just really proclaim the goodness of of Christ.

And so we're on the beginning of the season.

And so just just ask you guys just take small steps to be able

to reclaim that each and every day so that it can grow and that

we can really have a have a Worshipful Worshipful Advent

season together. So Bobby, thanks again for your

work on this. No, absolutely.

Thanks for having me.