Are we too numbed with the issues of the world that we forget that we are waiting for the coming King? Be awake be aware and be alert! He is Coming soon!

1. KEEP WATCH!
BE READY!
1st Sunday of Advent
27th November 2016

2. Today…
What is the season we are living in?
Advent is a season observed in many
Western Christian churches as a time of
expectant waiting and preparation for the
celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at
Christmas. The term is a version of the Latin
word meaning "coming".
Latin adventus is the translation of the
Greek word parousia, commonly used to
refer to the Second Coming of Christ. For
Christians, the season of Advent
anticipates the coming of Christ from two
different perspectives. The season offers
the opportunity to share in the ancient
longing for the coming of the Messiah, and
to be alert for his Second Coming.

3. Today…
What are our current concerns?

4. The Bible in one hand the papers in the other?
BALANCE?

5. Matthew 24:36-44
24:36 "But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but
only the Father.
24:37 For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
24:38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in
marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark,
24:39 and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the
coming of the Son of Man.
24:40 Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left.
24:41 Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left.
24:42 Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
24:43 But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief
was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.
24:44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

6. Quick contemplation…
The CERTAINTY: The Son of God is Coming!
The UN-CERTAINTY: Not knowing the when and how!
"no one knows, not even the Son" (36);
"they knew nothing" (39);
"you do not know" (42);
if the owner had known" (43);
and "at an unexpected hour" (44).

7. The problem? (#1)
We are numbed by the "same-old, same-old."
"Well here we go again; so what's new?"
"Has anything really changed?" we ask.
The problem for us is the sameness, the routine of it all - whether good or bad.

8. The problem? (#2)
The danger is then that not knowing turns either into not believing and despair or
into wild speculation and fears.

9. What can we do? (#1) Be AWAKE!

10. What can we do? (#2) Be AWARE!
a servant who takes
faithful care of the
master's household
(24:45-51);
ten maidens, five of
whom keep their lamps
trimmed (25:1-13);
stewards who care
responsibly for what is
entrusted to them
(25:14-30); or
ones who "not-knowing"
still go about
unconsciously caring for
those in need (25:31-46)

11. What can we do? (#2) Be AWARE!
a servant who takes
faithful care of the
master's household
(24:45-51);
ten maidens, five of
whom keep their lamps
trimmed (25:1-13);
stewards who care
responsibly for what is
entrusted to them
(25:14-30); or
ones who "not-
knowing" still go about
unconsciously caring
for those in need
(25:31-46)

12. What can we do? (#3) Be ALERT!
The Son of Man is coming and you must be ready.
Embody once again the excitement,
the expectation,
the surety of God's promise to be near us
as we live in faithful discipleship while waiting the coming of Christ our Lord.
We need to see the mystery
and the promise of the
extraordinary presence of
God in the ordinary routines
of life, or even in those
disastrous events that make
God's presence so difficult to
envision.