In this teaching series we will be looking at what it looks like to live wisely in every aspect of our lives: our friendships, our work, eating and drinking, worship, service, speaking and listening, civic engagement, and more. Our guide through this series will be the many hundreds of individual proverbs collected in the Old Testament Book of Proverbs. Most of this book is not arranged chronologically or thematically, it is simply a collection of wisdom sayings (i.e., proverbs or maxims). We will be drawing on these maxims to learn what it means to apply wisdom to our lives. One goal of this series is to actually change how Christians in our community live their actual lives. The Hebrew word for Wisdom is Hokmah, which is used to describe those who work with their hands and echoes the creative work of God in making the world in Genesis. Wisdom is applied knowledge. We want to be a people marked by wisdom in the midst of a culture that encourages foolishness at every turn. Of course, the paradigm of wise living is Jesus of Nazareth, so we encourage speakers to draw attention to the way these wisdom principles were exemplified in the life of Jesus in the gospels.

In this teaching series we will be looking at what it looks like to live wisely in every aspect of our lives: our friendships, our work, eating and drinking, worship, service, speaking and listening, civic engagement, and more. Our guide through this series will be the many hundreds of individual proverbs collected in the Old Testament Book of Proverbs. Most of this book is not arranged chronologically or thematically, it is simply a collection of wisdom sayings (i.e., proverbs or maxims). We will be drawing on these maxims to learn what it means to apply wisdom to our lives. One goal of this series is to actually change how Christians in our community live their actual lives. The Hebrew word for Wisdom is Hokmah, which is used to describe those who work with their hands and echoes the creative work of God in making the world in Genesis. Wisdom is applied knowledge. We want to be a people marked by wisdom in the midst of a culture that encourages foolishness at every turn. Of course, the paradigm of wise living is Jesus of Nazareth, so we encourage speakers to draw attention to the way these wisdom principles were exemplified in the life of Jesus in the gospels.

In this teaching series we will be looking at what it looks like to live wisely in every aspect of our lives: our friendships, our work, eating and drinking, worship, service, speaking and listening, civic engagement, and more. Our guide through this series will be the many hundreds of individual proverbs collected in the Old Testament Book of Proverbs. Most of this book is not arranged chronologically or thematically, it is simply a collection of wisdom sayings (i.e., proverbs or maxims). We will be drawing on these maxims to learn what it means to apply wisdom to our lives. One goal of this series is to actually change how Christians in our community live their actual lives. The Hebrew word  for Wisdom is Hokmah, which is used to describe those who work with their hands and echoes the creative work of God in making the world in Genesis. Wisdom is applied knowledge. We want to be a people marked by wisdom in the midst of a culture that encourages foolishness at every turn. Of course, the paradigm of wise living is Jesus of Nazareth, so we encourage speakers to draw attention to the way these wisdom principles were exemplified in the life of Jesus in the gospels.

In this teaching series we will be looking at what it looks like to live wisely in every aspect of our lives: our friendships, our work, eating and drinking, worship, service, speaking and listening, civic engagement, and more. Our guide through this series will be the many hundreds of individual proverbs collected in the Old Testament Book of Proverbs. Most of this book is not arranged chronologically or thematically, it is simply a collection of wisdom sayings (i.e., proverbs or maxims). We will be drawing on these maxims to learn what it means to apply wisdom to our lives. One goal of this series is to actually change how Christians in our community live their actual lives. The Hebrew word  for Wisdom is Hokmah, which is used to describe those who work with their hands and echoes the creative work of God in making the world in Genesis. Wisdom is applied knowledge. We want to be a people marked by wisdom in the midst of a culture that encourages foolishness at every turn. Of course, the paradigm of wise living is Jesus of Nazareth, so we encourage speakers to draw attention to the way these wisdom principles were exemplified in the life of Jesus in the gospels.

In this teaching series we will be looking at what it looks like to live wisely in every aspect of our lives: our friendships, our work, eating and drinking, worship, service, speaking and listening, civic engagement, and more. Our guide through this series will be the many hundreds of individual proverbs collected in the Old Testament Book of Proverbs. Most of this book is not arranged chronologically or thematically, it is simply a collection of wisdom sayings (i.e., proverbs or maxims). We will be drawing on these maxims to learn what it means to apply wisdom to our lives. One goal of this series is to actually change how Christians in our community live their actual lives. The Hebrew word  for Wisdom is Hokmah, which is used to describe those who work with their hands and echoes the creative work of God in making the world in Genesis. Wisdom is applied knowledge. We want to be a people marked by wisdom in the midst of a culture that encourages foolishness at every turn. Of course, the paradigm of wise living is Jesus of Nazareth, so we encourage speakers to draw attention to the way these wisdom principles were exemplified in the life of Jesus in the gospels.

In this teaching series we will be looking at what it looks like to live wisely in every aspect of our lives: our friendships, our work, eating and drinking, worship, service, speaking and listening, civic engagement, and more. Our guide through this series will be the many hundreds of individual proverbs collected in the Old Testament Book of Proverbs. Most of this book is not arranged chronologically or thematically, it is simply a collection of wisdom sayings (i.e., proverbs or maxims). We will be drawing on these maxims to learn what it means to apply wisdom to our lives. One goal of this series is to actually change how Christians in our community live their actual lives. The Hebrew word  for Wisdom is Hokmah, which is used to describe those who work with their hands and echoes the creative work of God in making the world in Genesis. Wisdom is applied knowledge. We want to be a people marked by wisdom in the midst of a culture that encourages foolishness at every turn. Of course, the paradigm of wise living is Jesus of Nazareth, so we encourage speakers to draw attention to the way these wisdom principles were exemplified in the life of Jesus in the gospels.

Advent is a season of waiting. The word “advent” means “coming” and during this four-week season before Christmas we remember the coming of Jesus into the world in the incarnation (and the dark times before Jesus was born in Bethlehem). We also wait expectantly for the coming of Jesus again to set all things right. During Advent, we celebrate a different “advent virtue” each week: Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy. We learn how to infuse our waiting with each of these virtues. Our waiting would be so different if it were characterised by joy or by hope! Instead, most of us fill up our “waiting time” with noise, movement, and busyness: podcasts on the Tube, rush on the streets, phones and distractions even at the table with family and friends, and hardly any moments of thoughtful, considered, patient and deliberate waiting. But Christians are a people who should be great at waiting! This season offers us the chance to consider what our waiting for Jesus should be like—not just a passive waiting, almost a neglectful waiting. But an active, dynamic, and virtue-infused waiting! In the liturgical calendar, Advent marks the beginning of the year. This is quite a contrast in a society that celebrates Christmas as the end of the year. What would it look like for Christians to observe this season of Advent 2022 not as just another end to just another year, but the beginning of a new season? A time of renewal? This Advent season at St. Alban’s we are talking the time to start anew, step afresh into the life of God, and wait fully, actively, and virtuously for the fullness of time when Jesus, the Prince of Peace, will bring the Kingdom of Peace in full.

Advent is a season of waiting. The word “advent” means “coming” and during this four-week season before Christmas we remember the coming of Jesus into the world in the incarnation (and the dark times before Jesus was born in Bethlehem). We also wait expectantly for the coming of Jesus again to set all things right. During Advent, we celebrate a different “advent virtue” each week: Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy. We learn how to infuse our waiting with each of these virtues. Our waiting would be so different if it were characterised by joy or by hope! Instead, most of us fill up our “waiting time” with noise, movement, and busyness: podcasts on the Tube, rush on the streets, phones and distractions even at the table with family and friends, and hardly any moments of thoughtful, considered, patient and deliberate waiting. But Christians are a people who should be great at waiting! This season offers us the chance to consider what our waiting for Jesus should be like—not just a passive waiting, almost a neglectful waiting. But an active, dynamic, and virtue-infused waiting! In the liturgical calendar, Advent marks the beginning of the year. This is quite a contrast in a society that celebrates Christmas as the end of the year. What would it look like for Christians to observe this season of Advent 2022 not as just another end to just another year, but the beginning of a new season? A time of renewal? This Advent season at St. Alban’s we are talking the time to start anew, step afresh into the life of God, and wait fully, actively, and virtuously for the fullness of time when Jesus, the Prince of Peace, will bring the Kingdom of Peace in full.

Advent is a season of waiting. The word “advent” means “coming” and during this four-week season before Christmas we remember the coming of Jesus into the world in the incarnation (and the dark times before Jesus was born in Bethlehem). We also wait expectantly for the coming of Jesus again to set all things right. During Advent, we celebrate a different “advent virtue” each week: Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy. We learn how to infuse our waiting with each of these virtues. Our waiting would be so different if it were characterised by joy or by hope! Instead, most of us fill up our “waiting time” with noise, movement, and busyness: podcasts on the Tube, rush on the streets, phones and distractions even at the table with family and friends, and hardly any moments of thoughtful, considered, patient and deliberate waiting. But Christians are a people who should be great at waiting! This season offers us the chance to consider what our waiting for Jesus should be like—not just a passive waiting, almost a neglectful waiting. But an active, dynamic, and virtue-infused waiting! In the liturgical calendar, Advent marks the beginning of the year. This is quite a contrast in a society that celebrates Christmas as the end of the year. What would it look like for Christians to observe this season of Advent 2022 not as just another end to just another year, but the beginning of a new season? A time of renewal? This Advent season at St. Alban’s we are talking the time to start anew, step afresh into the life of God, and wait fully, actively, and virtuously for the fullness of time when Jesus, the Prince of Peace, will bring the Kingdom of Peace in full.

Advent is a season of waiting. The word “advent” means “coming” and during this four-week season before Christmas we remember the coming of Jesus into the world in the incarnation (and the dark times before Jesus was born in Bethlehem). We also wait expectantly for the coming of Jesus again to set all things right.

During Advent, we celebrate a different “advent virtue” each week: Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy. We learn how to infuse our waiting with each of these virtues. Our waiting would be so different if it were characterised by joy or by hope! Instead, most of us fill up our “waiting time” with noise, movement, and busyness: podcasts on the Tube, rush on the streets, phones and distractions even at the table with family and friends, and hardly any moments of thoughtful, considered, patient and deliberate waiting. But Christians are a people who should be great at waiting! This season offers us the chance to consider what our waiting for Jesus should be like—not just a passive waiting, almost a neglectful waiting. But an active, dynamic, and virtue-infused waiting!

In the liturgical calendar, Advent marks the beginning of the year. This is quite a contrast in a society that celebrates Christmas as the end of the year. What would it look like for Christians to observe this season of Advent 2022 not as just another end to just another year, but the beginning of a new season? A time of renewal? This Advent season at St. Alban’s we are talking the time to start anew, step afresh into the life of God, and wait fully, actively, and virtuously for the fullness of time when Jesus, the Prince of Peace, will bring the Kingdom of Peace in full.