30th November 2025 Nicky preaching "Advent"

OK, good morning everyone. It is lovely to see you this

morning. My name is Nikki.

I am often in kids if I'm not in church, but it is great to have

everyone here together this morning so hopefully we can have

a little bit of a giggle. First of all, I want to start

off with a game, so I need volunteers of varying ages.

Come on then Jacob, straight away.

You're going to be there. Come on then, Aya, I've got any

adults. Anyone.

No, I'm going to have to pick on someone.

Maybe not Russ. Not Russ.

No, not Russ. Matt, come up here quick.

I need you. I just need 2 for the second.

But we can promise you, I promise you we'll be able to

play this game after the service.

So I'm going to say sit down, sit down, sit down for the

minute. I had Jacob, I had Aya, and I've

asked Matt to come up here, OK? Right.

Just so that we don't have any injuries this morning, I'm going

to ask you guys to move over there and do take a seat over

there. Quick.

Can you be over there so you don't get a bat in the face?

That's generally Nat is going to describe and show what we're

going to do. I've got my trusty beautiful

assistant here. The game Splat the Rats.

Anyone played it before? One minute, Ben.

I didn't even. We didn't even give right.

You might need to turn around this way so everyone can see

over there. OK, the idea is hold your hands

in front of your faces. Front row.

Sorry, I hadn't anticipated this in the kitchen at home.

OK, so the idea is is that Ben let's go of the the rat stroke

chicken and Nat tries to hit it before it hits the floor.

You ready? Steady go.

Oh, OK, let's do it again. Let's let's have a couple of

goes. Let's do this.

Oh, closer like it. I'm loving the fancier.

Yeah. No, I'm sorry.

I didn't quite anticipate the. OK.

Gently. Gently.

Oh, I think you made OK. That's your three goes up.

OK, here we go. Pass the mat on.

Jacob is your go. Are you ready?

OK, Jacob, Are you ready? Let's do this.

This way around. Yes, you've got this.

OK. You ready?

Do you need my help? I don't think you do.

Do you say go, Ben? Oh, so close.

So close. Are you ready?

Next one. Do you think you're going to get

closer? Oh, again.

It's really tricky. Do you know what?

Shall I let you into a secret? Jacob, when we practice this in

the kitchen, I didn't hit one. I didn't splat one rat.

No, no, no, no. That, that.

That's a bit of cheating. OK, that's not quite the game,

but you're very clever to think of that.

Oh. Oh, I've lost my dingy bospers.

Oh, that was closer, Right. AA, your turn.

Quick, can you pass it? But no, the chicken needs to

come here. Thank you so much.

Right. AA, you go over here now.

Turn around that way. I reckon you're going to hit

that. Come on, AA, Are you ready?

That's it. Almost.

Good. First go.

Very good. Come on in.

I reckon you're going to get closer next time.

OK. All right let's let's do this

come on then that was even closer.

Are we going to get it? I think we might Are you ready?

Oh so close again at the end of the service.

I would love it if you came in another go, Samuel.

Not quite because otherwise we won't get through what I'm going

to say but at the end of the service it's all yours.

I promise you can have a go then, Matt.

Come on. Then.

We did bring a ball to go faster and A and a baseball bat.

But no, no, no, no, no. I think actually, in hindsight,

everyone's a bit too close. OK.

No, no, you're not allowed to go.

OK. Are you ready, guys?

For you? Stand back.

Get your hands ready just in case.

Is he going to do it? Well, you know, you.

Oh, close. I think you you could say.

You could say go. I mean, wouldn't it be good if

we had success the whole hog? Oh, is he going to do it?

Third go. Drum roll, please.

Are we going to do this? Ready.

Go. Oh, anyway, just to let you know

there has been success. And if you want to see it

afterwards, ask Ben to show you. OK.

Thank you so much. Kyle, do you want to take a seat

for a minute? Thank you, thank you.

Forgive me and thank you for indulging me with the game.

To start off with, I really love that game because it's all about

the waiting, the anticipation. Not quite there yet, but I love

the fact that each time you have a go, you can get a little bit

closer and a little bit closer. It's a bit like the arm game.

I don't know if you played in a car journey where you turn your

head and someone else places their fingers up your arm and

you have to guess when they get to your elbow.

Again, it's a great game. If you don't know what I'm

talking about, ask my family, they'll tell you about it.

But for someone who got car sick, if she tried to read or do

anything like that, it was a great one for keeping me and my

sister organised. Did you?

Did you? Let's try not to close your eyes

if you're driving. Please, Please.

OK. Right, Advent.

We've alluded to it before. Please enjoy this festiveness,

especially with Samuel and Benji up there.

Welcome to the first Sunday in Advent.

Is it all about a time of hope, joy, love, and peace?

As a caveat, just at the beginning of this talk, I found

parts of this talk brilliant, and I also found parts of

writing it really challenging. So I am nowhere near there as

I'll explain a little bit more. But when I started, before I

started researching about it, I was so excited.

Like did we say, can you do Advent the first Adventist

Sunday? I was like, yes, this is me.

I'm all over it. Christmas is my favorite time of

year. I get so excited.

I thought, this is nailed, this is brilliant, perfect.

And then I started looking into it a little bit more.

I found out it's about waiting. Waiting.

It's not my strength. If you ask anyone, especially

the children, that I'm marching off to the certain place in

school, waiting is not something that I like doing.

Ben, even when he broke himself and tore his hamstring, I got

frustrated with him walking slowly to an appointment.

Waiting for him was a challenge. I'm not very good at slowing

down, waiting or, heaven forbid, having to be patient.

Never pray for patience. Don't.

Don't do it. God gives you opportunities to

try it. That's awful.

But anyway, so when I found out that Abbott was all about the

waiting, I was just thinking, Oh no, Lord, what are you trying to

chat to me about this morning? So my question to you this

morning is, who likes waiting? There are two different types of

waiting though. There's good and there's bad.

And in fact, I'm quite aware that I'm right in the middle of

the screen, so hopefully I'm not in the way.

And Dina boppers don't get in the way either.

A good example. Sorry.

Let's start with the bad examples and go to the good

traffic jams. What about exam time?

Maybe there's not quite enough to write what you want to write.

Or maybe there's far too much time and you haven't got enough

to write in that time. What about the doctor's waiting

room trying to wait until the end of the school day so you can

go home, teachers and children alike?

What about waiting for the gingerbread mix to cool down so

you can actually make the gingerbread biscuits and eat

them all? I find it hard not to eat the

mix itself, but some of you might feel the pain of a 2 year

old waiting for them to put their shoes on.

I do, it rings in my head and the Q and ALDI I don't think I

need to say anymore. But then there's good types of

waiting aren't there as well? Like before you go out on a

night out or before you might go on holiday trailers before a

movie that you're looking forward to seeing.

Waiting for a baby Italia. Welcome Sheree and Will.

Exciting times waiting for your Christmas presents.

That's a good waiting, isn't it? Maybe it's at the end of the

service so you can eat the chocolate that is in front of

you or the sweet that's in front of you.

Whichever 1 you might relate to. We all know what waiting is all

about. So with your chocolate and

sweet, please forgive me. I will reveal a little bit more

at the end, but if you can not eat it, hopefully you will be

rewarded in that perseverance. So as we looked at today, we're

celebrating the first week of Advent.

And for some of you, this means a sense of excitement is

building up. You know, you've got your Advent

calendar to open tomorrow. It's nearly Christmas.

The the presents aren't far away.

The waiting is almost over. However, for others of you,

there might be a big dread. All the things you've yet to do,

the To Do List getting longer and longer and longer.

So I thought in the waiting today, kids, I don't want to

leave you hanging. What I would love you to do is

create an advent calendar for me.

So it's in the form of this paper chain it has got.

So we've got some kits for you guys to create your own advent

calendar that as we wait, we've just got the the story of

Christmas running up to Christmas and we've got them

into the numbered so that hopefully you can, with a little

bit of adult direction, maybe get the numbers.

To be honest, it doesn't really matter.

The story's great no matter how you read it.

But the different colours represent the joy, the hope, the

of and the piece that we can celebrate this advent.

So if you would love to go over, we've got Libby and Abby over

there. Any other youth that are

available to help give out some kits, please do take them, take

some pens if you want to embellish, enjoy them, make it

your own. That would be amazing.

So hopefully you can have some fun doing that as you wait for

the end of our service. But as I've been looking into

what Advent is, I've learnt a few things.

And again, a bit of a caveat. I am a teacher, so the

PowerPoint is generally for me so that I could picture things.

Hopefully those of you that get bored can keep me accountable to

what I say is what actually I've written on the board as well.

Well done you. But Advent it the word is a

Latin word. It's Aventis.

Thanks, Daisy. Which means coming.

The first day of Advent is 4 Sundays before Christmas.

It's also the Christian new year.

Happy new year. I bet that's something you

didn't think you'd hear this morning, huh?

But it kicks off the entire cycle of the liturgical

calendar. And as we as Christians start

off this new year, we start by waiting.

Waiting is nothing new. In James 5 verse 7 it says, Dear

James 5:7

brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord's

return. Consider the farmer who

patiently waited for the rains in the fall and in the spring.

They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen.

You too must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of

the Lord is near. Now I could just end the talk

there because I mean, that is a beautiful verse which has so

many keywords that you could unpack.

Patience eagerly. Courage, the way the farmers

wait every single year, never knowing from one year to the

next whether the harvest is going to be good or not, but

still waiting eagerly. But I digress, as you'll find

out, I do quite easily. Advent is where we prepare and

look forward to the coming of Christ.

It's fasting before the feasting.

It's a little bit like Lent. Talking about Lent chocolate.

Sorry. At the end.

Not before. Generally.

That's what I gave up. That's that's the reason.

But has anyone got an Advent calendar here ready for

tomorrow? Yeah.

Is anyone's chocolate? Yes, I know.

Who loves that. Has anyone ever eaten their

chocolate before the day? Really.

Russ, I oh, my secrets are coming out.

Unbelievable. OK, All right, so when I, when I

grew up, I had an Advent calendar.

But my dad is amazing man. And he's a man who loves the

Lord. And it was always an Advent

calendar that had Bible verses in it, which was great.

But I was a bit like, where's the chocolate?

So this year, when I was chatting to them back in

September, I was just sharing with them that I'd fallen off

the wagon very early and I bought an Advent calendar.

And my dad, who knew the answer before he'd even said it, just

went, Nikki, any Bible verses on it?

And I was a bit like, no. And ashamedly, I had to admit

that it they hadn't. It was totally Sainsbury's,

dazzling me with the chocolate array of Advent calendars.

But have I succumbed to the razzle dazzle of Christmas

rather than the story that it celebrates and the beginning of

so much more? Advent calendars were first made

with Christian verses in 1930s, but I didn't realise it was only

after World War 2 that they became a little bit more

popular. Today, advent calendars can be

made out of chocolate, sweets, perfume, makeup, wine, socks,

you name it. Anything can be commercialised,

but can we still find God in the treat?

Could the chocolate, the socks, the sweets, the perfume?

Could they still be a tangible reminder of the anticipation

that Advent highlights in an instant age of gratification?

I mean, who doesn't get frustrated when Amazon say

they're going to take two days to deliver rather than just one?

Do we lose sight of the joy of waiting?

Traditionally, Christmas was celebrated from Christmas Eve

through to the 12th day and nowadays decorations and

celebrations are in the shops from September through to

December. As soon as the back to school

stuff disappears off the shelves, the hole that is left

is generally filled with Christmas.

The next thing. There is no waiting, there is no

fasting, so to speak. The excitement of Christmas is

brought earlier and earlier and is so much more accessible that

there is a sense that is become normal rather than specially

awaited. A life changing time intended.

Now again, please don't get me wrong.

This is where my caveat comes in.

Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely love Christmas.

I love getting excited about getting a tree up.

I love the fact that I can decorate the house with lights,

make it bright and twinkly in the dark dismal days.

It doesn't matter that on 12th night most of the needles of our

Christmas tree have fallen off because just the magic of it all

this time of year, getting excited and wanting to enjoy it

is something that I love. Giving and receiving gifts,

remembering that we have already been given the best gift of all

in Jesus. Surely that's what Christmas is

all about, and it's celebrations.

And that can start modestly, maybe at the beginning of

December, end of November. As I've read more into Advent,

I've realized that although an immense amount of fun, the

decoration and the gifts are not really the point of this time.

God has so much more for us where we wait anticipating what

is to come, waiting on what He wants to say to us, waiting for

for what he wants to do in US. Mary and Joseph were preparing

waiting for someone Jesus, someone who was going to be life

changing. How do we prepare our hearts for

Jesus this Advent? How are we waiting on God and

what he has to say to us? Also what are we waiting for?

This book of Advent, The Season of Hope by Tish Harrison Warren.

It's brilliant, and if you get a chance to read it, I would

highly recommend it. When you do read it, you'll

realize that most of the talk has come from here.

That together with the Bible Project, the adventure series on

the Bible app So good. But this talks about the

Christian New Year that does not begin with our frenetic effort

or energy or the merriment of Christmas or the triumph of

Easter. It does not begin with the

mandate of the Great Commission. Instead, we begin in a place of

yearning, wanting, waiting for our King to come as a church.

We're waiting together for the one to whom we prayed, the one

who came as an infant Christ in the incarnation Jesus, and the

one whose work continues in the world even now.

Christ in the present, his Holy Spirit, and as a whole church.

We're waiting for when God will come again.

We are waiting and yearning and hoping with twists and turns.

So much uncertainty ahead, but still we wait.

As we wait, we can look into Jesus life and the Advent story

for inspiration. And there are just four things

that I wanted to pick out today. Hope, We are not the first to be

waiting. The confused and the oppressed

Israelites longed for the hope of God, Shalom for the hope of

His peace. We read about this in Isaiah 9

Isaiah 9:12

verse 12 where it says the people walking in darkness have

seen a great light on those living in the land of the deep

darkness. A light has dawned.

Light Hope, it's in the light. Hope is anticipating a future

that is better than the present. Biblical hope is based on a

person different to optimism, choosing to see in all

situations how things could work for out for the best.

Biblical hope is not based on circumstances.

Hopeful people in the Old Testament and Bible recognise

that things were never going to get better, but because they

look to God's past faithfulness that motivates their hope for

the future. Biblical hope is bold.

It's not optimism based on the odds.

Biblical hope is a choice to wait for God to bring about a

future that's as surprising as a crucified man raising from the

dead. Christian hope looks back to the

risen Jesus in order to look forwards, so that we can wait

and look forwards with hope. The Israelites were not only

drawing on the hope of God, but his peace, his Shalom too.

And when I practice this at home, Daisy, when what's Shalom?

Shalom is the Hebrew word for peace, the Old Testament Hebrew

word for peace. In Azar 9 verse 6, it says for

to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government

will be on his shoulders, and he will be called wonderful

counsellor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of

Peace. His government and its peace

will never end. Peace is not just the absence of

conflict, it's taking what's broken and restoring it to

wholeness. Whether it be in our lives, our

relationships, or the world, God is the one who makes right the

wrongs and heals all the broken. Jesus came to bring his peace.

Now life is complex, we're no longer whole.

We need to be restored. And that is what Isaiah was

looking forward to in the future.

King, the Prince of Shalom, the Prince of peace.

And in John 14 verse 27, it says peace.

John 14:27

I leave with you my peace. I give to you.

I do not give to you as the world gives.

Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

With peace there is no need to be afraid.

The Advent stories continues to show how we can have joy in this

waiting. We are told about this joy

before Jesus was even born, when the angels came to renounce the

birth to the shepherds. Sorry, it's my Third Point.

In Luke 2 verse 10 to 11 it says but the angels said to them, do

Luke 2:10–11

not be afraid. I bring you good news that will

cause great joy for all people today in the town of David, a

savior has been born to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord.

Joy is mentioned so many times in the Bible right from the get

go, from the first page where Jesus, where God says what he,

what he looked at, what he had made and he said it is good.

Again, getting excited with these teams.

We'll keep them on. He also goes on to say in 100

and Psalm 104, verse 15, where it says wine brings joy to

Psalms 104:15

people's hearts. Again, if you know us as a

vineyard, we love a celebration glass of wine I would never say

no to. But anyway, I love the fact that

there are so many different ways in which God brings joy in and

throughout and weaves it throughout the Bible.

Too many for me to go into now, but the joy for God's people is

rooted in God's future where we're going, not the present

circumstances, whether they be struggle or whether they be

ease. Paul still wrote about his joy

despite the fact he was imprisoned and in pain when the

Holy Spirit. Oh sorry, no, let me see this

first. Christian joy is a profound

decision of faith and hope in the power of Jesus's own life

and love. When the Holy Spirit comes to us

today, are we ever surprised? Are we ever afraid?

We are not alone if we do feel like that, but we can be

reassured. Jesus always brings good news.

And as the Angel said, I bring you good news that will cause

great joy for all the people. And so we can find joy in the

waiting. And lastly, we look to love the

part that holds it all together. Jesus showed us how to have an

agape love, which is a love in action, seeking people's

well-being without expecting anything in return, even when

you even with your enemies. You should only have to look at

the life and death of Jesus to see this.

And in one John 4 verse 9 to 11 it says God showed how much he

John 4:9–11

loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that

we might have eternal life through him.

This is real love, not that we love God, but that He loved us

and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to

love each other. As God showed us His selfless

love, His enemy embracing love, surely we can do the same to

others. So as I come in to land, what

does Advent invite us to do? I'm not asking you to become the

Crinch. Please don't make me become the

Grinch. But, and I don't want you not to

celebrate Christmas, but I'm simply encouraging you to walk

into the invitation of decelerating, to be still and to

rest. Advent is unavoidably,

unavoidably countercultural. It gives us a chance to be a

different sort of person. But I hear you say, how can I do

this? How do I stop?

There's so much to do. There's so many things to go to,

there's so much. We are quite naturally impatient

in everything to reach the end without delay.

And again, I speak personally. If it's not you, then please

enjoy. But we should skip the

intermediary steps, wouldn't we, if we could?

We're impatient of being on the way to somewhere unknown,

somewhere new. But God calls us in this time

into the time of preparation, a time of waiting on him.

It's an invitation, an opportunity to intentionally

step away from the noise, the hurry, and the crowds.

I think Tish Harrison Warren sums up Advent so well when she

says Advent is a training in hope.

Because the season tells us that when things lie fallow, they do

not lie in waste. Things that seem dormant are not

dead, and times of waiting are not without meaning, purpose, or

design. How are we going to prepare our

hearts for Jesus's return? How is God preparing us for His

works in and through us? Can we enjoy the excitement in

the waiting and the rewards that come from that perseverance?

Are we encouraged by these words?

Wait and see that the Lord is good.

As we make time to prepare and wait on God over these next few

weeks, may we be able to reflect his God's hope, His peace, His

joy, and His love. So as we come into a time of

prayer now before communion, I would love you to take your

sweet or your chocolate. And if you haven't got one,

there's one here waiting down for you.

We would love you to come and help yourself, but we just want

you to spend some time in reflection.

What might God be trying to say to you through that chocolate?

When you look at it, when you smell it, when you taste it,

what my God be trying to say to you?

And as we wait on the Lord, I just pray that you enjoy that

time that He speaks to you. Heavenly Father, we thank you

for your presence and your peace in this place.

Lord, we thank you for the gift of chocolate, but we thank you

for the gift of your Son. Lord, we thank You for this

invitation to step towards you, to fast before the feasting.

Holy Spirit, would you move afresh.

Lord, we thank You that You came, that You are here and You

are coming again. We're going to celebrate the

Lord's Supper now together as a, as a church family.

And if you are walking towards Jesus, whether you are certain

about him or whether you're exploring, then we invite you to

come. We've got grape juice and we

have got bread, and we if the children, if you would like your

children to come and join in, then we would love that as well.

This is an opportunity for us to embrace all that Advent is

celebrating the fact that Jesus came, that he is here now, and

that he will come again, The promise of his future Kingdom

coming in full. I'm just going to read a short

passage from 1 Corinthians. This is Paul recounting the Last

Supper with the with the Lord that he had with his disciples.

For I receive from the Lord what I also pass on to you, the Lord

Jesus. On the night that he was

betrayed, he took bread. When he'd given thanks, he broke

it. And he said, this is my body,

which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying This cup is

the new covenant in my blood. Do this whenever you drink it in

remembrance of me. For whenever you eat this bread

and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Lord Jesus, thank you, thank you, thank you that you came and

we anticipate celebrating your coming again this December.

Lord, we thank you that you are here by the power of your Spirit

holding us up, leading us on, empowering us to be your hands

and feet. And Jesus, we hold on to the

hope that you are coming again, that in your presence everything

changes, and when you come again, everything will look

different. Laurie, hold onto that hope.

We thank you. Jesus, in your own time, feel

free. We've got Pip and Essie who are

holding grape juice and bread. And we would just love to invite

everybody to come and take it if you'd like to, and then we will

worship again.