Indeed it is... today is the first day of the Church year and this short season before Christmas is called Advent.
Christians observe the season in prayer, fasting, and penitence in preparation of the coming Savior.
God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. Luke 1:26-31
The much anticipated holiday of Christmas? Advent is about getting ready for it.
The color blue is associated with this part of the church year - conveying a message of hope. A hope resting on Christ, who came to earth, born of Mary, to live the perfect life we can't, then suffer and die for our sins before defeating death and the devil in the resurrection.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:17
Advent is more than celebrating a long ago birthday... it is also to prepare for Christ's coming again.
What to do in the meantime... pray, watch, repent, share the Good News of God's Love for all men.
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1: 7 - 11
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