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b'READ: ISAIAH 53; LUKE 2:1-21\\n\\n\\n\\nListen. Can you hear it? That whisper of hope on the horizon? The echoes of an infant King born in a manger. The culmination of hundreds of years of prophecy born in a tiny babe in Bethlehem\\u2014 Immanuel, God with us.\\n\\n\\n\\nThe rush of the season, the crush of life\\u2014 expectations from within and without. How will we hear if we don\\u2019t choose to be still and listen? Advent is about hoping, waiting, rejoicing. Being present to the One who presented His One and Only Son as the one-time atonement for our sins. Being present to the One who is after only one thing: your heart.\\n\\n\\n\\nColorful lights wink on an evergreen tree. Let it be a reminder of the Light of the World, who gave up His life for you on a tree fashioned into a cross. But that thrill of hope? It\\u2019s not an illusion. The Light of the world is still shining\\u2014Jesus is alive!\\n\\n\\n\\nLove was born\\n\\n\\n\\nThe veil was torn\\n\\n\\n\\nDeath was defeated!\\n\\n\\n\\nListen to the promise: He\\u2019s coming again. It may be hard right now. Your mind and body may be weary. Wait in hope! The One who came as a baby will, in the twinkling of an eye, come back to make all things new, to raise us from the dead, to make His home among His people. Then, we will be with Him forever. \\u2022 Savannah Coleman\\n\\n\\n\\n\\u2022 As we wait for Christmas day during the season of Advent (which means \\u201cimportant arrival\\u201d), we have an opportunity to turn our hearts to the coming of a baby in a manger, the Savior of the world. Beyond the birth of our King, Advent is also a time of preparation for His second coming, when He will return to earth and make all things new. Even as we wait for that glorious day, He calls us to be attentive to His presence with us, here and now. When Jesus took His final breath on the cross, at that very moment the veil in the temple (that separated the Holy of Holies, where God\\u2019s presence was, from the rest of the temple) was torn in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:50-51). Jesus came because God wanted to be with us, so much so that He was willing to die for us! Then He rose from the grave, defeating sin and death forever. Now nothing can separate us from His love. How can you prepare your heart to focus on the presence of God today?\\n\\n\\n\\n\\u2022 If you want to dig deeper, read Micah 5:2; Matthew 1:22-23; John 8:12; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52.\\n\\n\\n\\nBut as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. Micah 7:7 (NIV)'