God's 'To do' list

Today Advent Sunday is the first day of the church's year and that makes sense when you consider our focus on the first Sunday of  Advent on the next item on God's agenda: the second coming of Christ.

At today's family service at St James, with many guests present for the baptism of baby Nirvana-Pixie and Trinity (aged ten), I started with a Christmas 'To Do List.'

I asked the children to help me put together on the flipchart a list of all the things you have to do in order to get ready for Christmas.

Next I presented 'God's To Do List' - drawn from across the whole of Scripture, things like create the world, call a people,. be born as a man, die on the cross - concluding with the last item: return as Lord and Saviour of the world.

All the items except the last one have been done, I suggested. They can be successfully ticked off God's To Do list. But the return of Jesus is the next item on God's agenda.

And it makes sense to consider that on the first Sunday of the church's year, because it is the next thing to happen in the plan of God.

All the other events we celebrate in the church's calendar have already happened.


PS My favourite 'To Do List' was in a cartoon with a Dr Who theme. It featured a Dalek in his house. Pinned on the wall was this:

TO DO
1. Exterminate;
2. Exterminate
3. Exterminate