Advent: Waiting for the Coming King

Advent isn’t just a countdown to Christmas—it’s the Church’s way of ordering time around Christ. Nate and David trace how Advent holds a double horizon: He came in humility, comes into hearts by grace, and will come again in glory. Along the way, they swap mug updates (coffee vs. very bitter herbal “medicine”), talk about sanctifying time, and show how Advent’s practices—wreaths, readings, fasting, and Gaudete joy—train us to wait with vigilance rather than drift with consumerism.

They sketch the development of Advent (from early Christian focus on Easter to medieval four Sundays), explain why purple and rose matter, and walk through how different traditions live the season (Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed, and the Eastern Nativity Fast). Practically, they offer simple ways to recover Advent at home and church: light an Advent wreath, pray Scripture and the O Antiphons, choose a gentle “little Lent,” and let longing ripen joy. The episode closes with resources, a prayer, and a teaser for next week’s “When Was Jesus Really Born?”

Key Threads We Explore

Advent’s threefold coming of Christ (Bethlehem, the heart, the Last Day) Vigilance over sentiment: waiting as a Christian discipline Why the Church year is a “sanctified chronology” (redeeming time) The history: from longer regional fasts to Rome’s four Sundays Gaudete Sunday (rose candle) and hope-filled repentance Tradition snapshots: Catholic/Anglican/Lutheran/Reformed/Orthodox Practical recovery: Scripture readings, O Antiphons (Dec 17–23), fasting from noise, screens, and sweets; almsgiving

Scripture & Liturgical Touchpoints

Isa 7:14; Isa 9; Mic 5; Luke 1–3 (esp. John the Baptist); 1 Thes 5; Phil 4:4 (“Rejoice…”); the Lord’s Prayer; Aaronic Blessing.

Terms: Adventus/Parousia, Gaudete Sunday, O Antiphons.

Resources Shaping the Episode

• Christian History Institute on Advent’s development Mary Jane Haemig,
• Lutheran Quarterly (Advent wreath origins in German Protestantism)
• Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (liturgical year helps)
• University of Notre Dame reflections on the season Augustine and other Fathers on Advent & the Incarnation

Try This Week

Light the first candle and read Luke 3; pray “Thy Kingdom come.” Pick one small fast (sweets/media after dinner). Pray one O Antiphon per evening Dec 17–23.

Merch & Support

Grab the limited “St. Nicholas: Punch Heresy (Metaphorically)” tee, plus our mugs and shirts: freshgroundtheology.com