“A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes – and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas).

My pastor said that Christianity isn’t that you can get to God but that God in Jesus has come to you. 

Advent is waiting on that promised Messiah, confessing that we’re not capable on our own of making our way to God but that we’re in desperate need of a Savior.

When we couldn’t find a way out of the mess we’d made of ourselves and our lives, God in Jesus came to us, loved us in our mess and rescued us from that mess. 

“So if you believe deep in your heart that God raised Jesus from the pit of death and if you voice your allegiance by confessing the truth that ‘Jesus is Lord,’ then you will be saved! Belief begins in the heart and leads to a life that’s right with God; confession departs from our lips and brings eternal salvation” (Romans 10:9-10, The Voice).

That is the Gospel.