Reverse Advent Calendar

Do you remember the traditional Advent calendar?  Perhaps you still get one every year. A typical Advent calendar is used during the Advent season  to help count down the days until Christmas. Each day–from Dec 1- 25–a door is opened on the calendar revealing a small toy, chocolate, or bible reading.  This year, as part of our Advent preparations, people are invited to share in a new outreach project known as a “Reverse Advent Calendar.”

The Reverse Advent Calendar is a different kind of Advent calendar.  Based on Acts 20:35; “Remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive,’” the premise of the Reverse Advent Calendar is simple:  Instead of getting something yourself, you give to someone else. This is a great way too look beyond ourselves this Advent and Christmas season and to help others who might be in need at time of the year when money often runs short.

So how does it work?  Everyday throughout the Advent season individuals and families are invited to place a non-perishable food item into the basket provided.  As you do this, you can read the Scripture verses and meditations in the Advent devotional “Living the Gospel Life: Daily  Devotions for Christians On a Mission,” and to pray for those in our  community who are in need and who will benefit from your basket.

The Reverse Advent Calendar is an excellent reminder that Christmas is all about giving and not receiving–as we read in John 3:16;  “For God so loved the world, he gave his only Son…”

Baskets, devotionals, and a list of instructions are available at the Welcome Table.  Please return your filled basket to the church in January, and they will be delivered to the Salvation Army Food Bank.