Pause In Advent #1 - Just Eight Words

Months ago I read something, and immediately turned to 2nd December and drew a little heart in my diary. In the middle of the heart, I wrote just eight words;Worship Fully: Spend Less: Give More: Love All. I confess that I'd forgotten all about it, and had to google them to remind myself why...

These are the words which sum up the Advent Conspiracy. This will be the 10th year that AC has happened around the world. What started in a fairly small way, as the response of three pastors in the States to the crazy Christmas Frenzy which envelops their nation each December, has become a worldwide movement, working to change the world.

Americans spend $600billion in the run up to Christmas. To provide safe drinking water for the whole world would cost just $30billion. Go figure! as they say over across the pond.

Worship Fully; Because Christmas begins and ends with Jesus.

Spend Less; Feel less stress, and free resources for things that matter to Jesus.

Give More; Give relationally to offer one another presence, rather than merely presents.

Love All; Love the forgotten, the poor, marginalized, and sick in the ways Jesus asked us to.

These are simple ideas, but maybe if more of us really tried to do these things each day, then perhaps we'd discover that Christmas can still change the world. We are going to be looking at these principles at UCF during Advent - it will be good to hear ideas from other people about putting these things into practice.