Advent: Preparing Our Hearts for the Coming of Christ

By Jennifer Bright

As the Christmas season approaches and we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior, our calendar quickly fills with events, activities, gatherings with family and friends, shopping, etc., all good things. Still, we can lose sight of the most essential thing in the busyness: focusing on Christ. He quietly fades into the background of our busy schedule.

What could we do differently this year to intentionally focus on Christ, to prepare our hearts and homes to celebrate His birth?

This month is a time of “advent” to slow down, remember, prepare, and spend moments in dedicated and intentional worship of our Savior, Jesus. We remember His birth on December 25 and prepare for His Second Coming, His Return. Advent is from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming; arrival.” The early Christians were expectantly looking forward to Jesus’ Second Coming, but today, many put the focus on remembering His first coming as a baby in a manger. His first “advent” is not the end of the story.

Two sisters in the Bible, Mary and Martha, in Luke 10:38-42, who both love Jesus, remind us not to become so distracted and overwhelmed with the good things that we miss the best thing, Christ Himself. Martha is like many of us as we prepare for Christmas. We attend many wonderful Christmas events and make memories with our families. We are busy rushing around checking off our to-do list. We have many things to do but leave ourselves physically exhausted and spiritually drained. Mary shows us a more excellent way by realigning, resting, and receiving the Living Word that transforms our souls. She sat with others to listen and learn from Jesus Himself.

“Focusing on the list might give us the Christmas we want, but so often at the expense of what we need. Unless we are intentional, all the shopping, decorating, wrapping, and attending can fill up our calendar but leave our soul empty.”

-Lisa Appello, When We Want a Mary Christmas in a Martha World

Year after year, I have been like Martha. All good things to plan and do, but neglecting the best, like Mary, worshiping and adoring our Savior and King. My challenge to myself and you this Advent season is to prepare our hearts for the arrival of our long-awaited Savior, to be like Mary and worship Him.

We can prepare our hearts for Jesus’s advent through: 

Pray for God’s wisdom about the activities, events, and gatherings we will participate in this season. Will it draw us closer to the Lord? Are they activities to fill our schedule or moments to fill our hearts in the worship of Jesus?

Set aside intentional time to worship, read Scripture, pray, listen to music, and sing songs that lead us to grow deeper in our relationship with Christ. We should not focus on a checklist to complete but should set aside time for true worship, as He has created us to worship Him in spirit and truth. (John 4:23). Also, to join other believers, worshiping and adoring our Savior at church and home. (Hebrews 10:23-25).

Keep our eyes, hearts, and minds on our hope in Christ as redeemed people bought with a price. (1 Corinthians 7:23) We are His children! We should be longing and looking for His Second Coming, awaiting His arrival, and preparing our hearts for that day.

This season, I will reorient myself to the best thing: worship through His word, prayer, and music that brings me to the throne of grace. I will invite others to do so as well. What about you? What will you do this Advent season to prepare your heart and home for Christ’s coming?

Let me leave you with lyrics from Bob Kauflin’s song, “In the First Light.” 

In the first light of a new day
No one knew He had arrived
Things continued as they had been
While a newborn softly cried.
But the heavens wrapped in wonder
Knew the meaning of His birth
In the weakness of a baby
They knew God had come to Earth.

As His mother held him closely,
It was hard to understand
That her baby not yet speaking
Was the Word of God to man.
He would tell them of His kingdom,
But their hearts would not believe
They would hate Him and in anger
They would nail Him to a tree.

But the sadness would be broken
As the song of life arose
And the Firstborn of creation
Would ascend and take his throne.
He had left it to redeem us,
But before His life began
He knew He’d come back not as a baby
But as The Lord of ev’ry man.

Hear the angels as they’re singing
On the morning of His birth
But how much greater will our song be
When He comes again to Earth
When He comes again

Hear the angels as they’re singing
On the morning of His birth
But how much greater will our song be
When He comes again to Earth
When He comes to rule the Earth!
When He comes back, When He comes back
To rule the Earth!

Here are some additional resources to help prepare your heart and home for Christ’s coming:

Jennifer Bright is the Communication Manager for Research and Quality Assurance for Classical Conversations. Jennifer’s passions are classical Christian education and discipling the next generation to live for Christ. She supports homeschool families by tutoring their students with the classical tools of learning. Jennifer and her husband began their homeschool journey almost 20 years ago in Russia while serving as missionaries, and currently, they reside in Covington, Louisiana.

A Generation of Transformation: Radical Reversal of Culture from Family to Government

By Regina Piazza

What is one thing public education and home education have in common?

The obvious answer would be . . . education. However, as we see in Vladimir Lenin’s ominous promise—“Give me just one generation of youth, and I’ll transform the whole world”—perhaps transformation is the true common denominator, as transformation is always the goal of education. Therefore, at the heart of the question of whom we trust to educate our children lies the bigger question of whom we trust to transform our world.

Education in America Is Eroding

Four decades ago, Former President Ronald Reagan illuminated the outcome of trusting the declining public school systems in his 1983 report titled A Nation at Risk:

“Our Nation is at risk. Our once unchallenged preeminence in commerce, industry, science, and technological innovation is being overtaken by competitors throughout the world. This report is concerned with only one of the many causes and dimensions of the problem, but it is the one that undergirds American prosperity, security, and civility. We report to the American people that while we can take justifiable pride in what our schools and colleges have historically accomplished and contributed to the United States and the well-being of its people, the educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people . . .

If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war. As it stands, we have allowed this to happen to ourselves . . . .

Our concern, however, goes well beyond matters such as industry and commerce [i.e. STEM & College and Career Ready]. It also includes the intellectual, moral, and spiritual strengths of our people which knit together the very fabric of our society.”

Are We Embracing Socialism?

Marion Smith, Executive Director of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation states, “When one-in-four Americans want to eliminate capitalism and embrace socialism, we know that we have failed to educate about the historical and moral failings of these ideologies.” This startling statistic is widely evident in the government-controlled school systems’ promotion of Critical Race Theory (CRT), Social Emotional Learning (SEL), Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), and LGBTQ++ coercion, where children are deceitfully maneuvered from parental teaching to state indoctrination.

Undeniably, a parent is charged to “train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it”(Proverbs 22:6); however, in an act of calculated division, totalitarians such as Hitler, Lenin, and Mao have used this proverb in their attempts to eradicate the family and shape the minds of the upcoming generation with the intent to, in those infamous words of Lenin, “. . . transform the whole world.” This exceedingly conspicuous tactic is front and center throughout America today, and has been clearly spelled out in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #4 of the United Nations Agenda 2030, with which the United States has cooperated:

“Our vision is to transform lives through education, recognizing the important role of education as a main driver of development and in achieving the other proposed SDGs. We commit with a sense of urgency to a single, renewed education agenda that is holistic, ambitious and aspirational, leaving no one behind. This new vision is fully captured by the proposed SDG 4 ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’ and its corresponding targets. It is transformative and universal, attends to the ‘unfinished business’ of the EFA [Education For All] agenda and the education-related MDGs [Millennium Development Goals], and addresses global and national education challenges. It is inspired by a humanistic vision of education and development based on human rights and dignity; social justice; inclusion; protection; cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversity; and shared responsibility and accountability.”

Is the intent of this agenda not clearly stated—“to transform lives” through global state control of education and the Marxist indoctrination of children?

The Family is the Solution

This agenda is in stark contrast to American parents’ unique success in cultivating a firm foundation of freedom in our nation, even before the development of our Constitution. Historically, American families have worked, worshiped, and educated while being undergirded with the self-evident truth that sacrifice over self-service, and self-governance over government restraint cultivates freedom, yet our modern families continue to succumb to the subtle and consistent conditioning toward the UN’s divisive preference to bring all schools under government control.

Now, more than any time in our nation’s history, is the time for parents to boldly and courageously assert our inherent responsibility to direct the upbringing and education of our children and vehemently reject the UN report’s claim that “the State remains the duty bearer of education as a public good.”

Now is the time for families to awaken from their self-imposed financial slumber, revive atrophied personal civic responsibilities, recalibrate family priorities, and recapture their God-given right to educate by exiting the institutions of indoctrination—the government-controlled K–12 schooling systems.

Now is the time for families to cultivate and practice ownership and discipline with the honorable motive of self-governance and freedom.

Kevin Roberts, President of the Heritage Foundation, states, “If a nation takes on the character of its people then our classrooms are ultimately about formation of citizens and souls.” Family is the best classroom—not government, entitlements, or vouchers.

Family necessitates devotion to one another, to our work, and to our inheritance.

Family promotes time-honored values, protects the dignity of life and marriage, and is the most trustworthy institution in civilization.

Family teaches that work is worship, and you must pay your own way—freedom’s prerequisites.

Ronald Reagan once said, “The family has always been the cornerstone of American society. Our families nurture, preserve, and pass on to each succeeding generation the values we share and cherish, values that are the foundation of our freedoms.”3

Through devotion, sacrifice, and commitment, the family establishes, inculcates, and maintains freedom. Families, therefore, are incomparable educators and the trustworthy remnant to guarantee that enduring transformation occurs in the world.

Regina Piazza is a thirteen-year home educator with Classical Conversations and has held multiple roles including Tutor, Director, and Support Representative. She is a former Air Force veteran and two-time business owner who ran for Florida State Senate for the first time in 2022. She is currently working to preserve education and religious freedom as Classical Conversation’s Florida State Advocate.

To hear more from Regina, check out Episode 24 of our podcast, Refining Rhetoric, “Why a Homeschool Mom Ran for Senate with Regina Piazza.”