“The Elisabeth Elliot Podcast” had an episode discussing the Advent of Christmas. She said, “Advent is the name the church has given to what precedes the Christmas season. It comes from two Latin words meaning ‘to come toward.’ … The word ‘Advent’ for Christians throughout the ages has had three different meanings. One is the coming of Jesus to the world as a baby. Another is the coming that He speaks about in the passage in Luke, of His coming back again. And the third is His coming to you and me in His gentle and patient and courteous love.”

Her challenge: “I want us to be preparing ourselves for the Christmas season not in terms of shopping and cooking, but in terms of recognition of WHO it is that we receive, and WHO it is that is reminding us in this season of His coming… How do we prepare for His coming? We should be spiritually attentive, awake, watching for Him, listening to Him, expectant…In this Advent time, we take up our stand, we watch to learn what He will say to us… Wait for Him. Listen to Him. Be silent before Him. And receive the coming, the Advent, of the Lord Jesus at this Christmas time.”

Names of Jesus For Advent, from the YouVersion app

Day 1 Alpha and Omega:

We praise God that in His kindness, He gave us Jesus to be all that we need, having been there from the beginning, as part of God’s plan for the salvation of the world.

Day 2 Lamb of God:

In Revelation 5:9, we see the living creatures and elders fall before the Lamb because He purchased all of the people with His blood. We thank God for Jesus, the Lamb of God.

Day 3 Light of the World:

When Jesus is described as the light of the world, we see the fullness of God in human form, for all to see His glory.

Day 4 Savior:

In His kindness, God sent His own Son to live the perfect life, and to die to save us from eternal separation from Him.

Day 5 The Word:

Jesus as the Word of God means perfect relationship with God, and with us. We can approach the throne of God with confidence knowing that Jesus, as the Word of God, has done it all.

Day 6 Immanuel, God With Us:

The faithful people of God in the Old Testament looked forward to the Son of God, and we have seen the fulfillment of God in Christ who lived a perfect life and went to the cross to save us. To know Christ is to know God.

Day 7 Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace:

God who is out of the ordinary… a counselor as a king giving counsel to His people. Jesus as Mighty God gives His protection and provision. Jesus as the Prince of Peace who came to bring ultimate peace to the world, the peace between God and man who were separated by sin.

Day 8 The Good Shepherd:

We thank God for providing us with a great protector in Jesus, who would go to the ends of the earth to protect His flock.

Day 9 Messiah, The Christ:

Praise God for Jesus, the Messiah – the Anointed One – who has saved His people.

Day 10 Son of God:

Being the Son of God, we know this to mean that Jesus is in the nature of God. And so we can have confidence that to know the Son is to know the Father!

Day 11 Servant:

Jesus modeled the role of servanthood through His actions – washing His disciples’ feet – a role left to the least of servants to honor visitors to one’s home as an example of what this servanthood looks like in a practical way. We thank Jesus for showing us how He wants us to love one another.

Day 12 Son of David:

Son of David is more than a statement of his physical genealogy. It is a title that indicates His Messianic standing. He would be the deliverer they had been waiting for, the ultimate fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies.

Day 13 Friend:

“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

Day 14 Jesus:

We can approach God with confidence, resting in the saving work of Christ Jesus. Indeed, Jesus is the sweetest name of all!