Today is December 1 in the first week of Advent.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.  
 
Take a moment and quiet yourself. Take a deep breath. Welcome God’s presence, and say Come Holy Spirit. 
 
Today’s reading is from the book of Romans, chapter 6. 
 
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

This passage reminds us that following Christ isn’t just something we believe, it’s a way of orienting our whole lives that transforms everything. It changes our allegiances, it challenges our habits and patterns, and it calls us to a new kind of life. Consider the phrase ‘count yourself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ’ as we enter into prayer. Perhaps you could imagine what it might look like to be ‘dead to sin’. What images comes to mind when you hear ‘alive in God in Christ’? 

This is a dense passage! As we listen to it again, consider why the writer is so emphatic, and why he might be using such language about death, life, crucifixion, and resurrection...
  
Advent is a time where we anticipate not only new life, but a new KIND of life. The birth of Jesus – the incarnation – interrupts our old ways, our old habits, and all that is bad and broken. And it brings with it hope... hope in a new way, in a new life. As we end, imagine one area of your life or your family where you feel desperate for new life. Ask God to meet you in that place today.
  
Come, thou long expected Jesus,
 born to set thy people free;
 from our fears and sins release us,
 let us find our rest in thee.
Behold, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.