2. Advent Preparation and WaitingPreparation and Waiting Hope and AnticipationHope and Anticipation First coming – Jesus as a babyFirst coming – Jesus as a baby Second coming – Jesus as LordSecond coming – Jesus as Lord

3. Waiting Time Average 8 minutes waitAverage 8 minutes wait 1 minute walk1 minute walk 7 minutes waiting7 minutes waiting Walk 6 minutesWalk 6 minutes Wait 2 minutesWait 2 minutes Complaints - zeroComplaints - zero

4. Waiting Time UK average life expectancy: 79.5 years 696,882 hours696,882 hours 29,037 days29,037 days 954 months954 months

5. Waiting Time 954 months 1/3 rd spent in bed Time left: 636 months

6. Waiting Time 636 months Education: 1,305 days Time left: 593 months

7. Waiting Time 593 months At work: 10.6 years Time left: 465 months

8. Waiting Time 465 months Eating & Drinking Getting ready Make-up/shaving 7 years Time left: 381 months

9. Waiting Time 381 months Learning to drive: 1 month Stuck in traffic: 4.5 years Time left: 326 months

10. Waiting Time 326 months HouseworkGardening Washing clothes Decorating: 6.5 years Looking for lost items: 1 year Time left: 236 months

11. Waiting Time 236 months Holidays & Sick days: 5 years TV/PC/cinema/ Theatre/Sport: 8.5 years Complaining: 5 months Kissing: 2.5 weeks Time left: 69 months; 3 days; 12 hours

12. Waiting Time Doing nothing for the first 3 years Time left: 33 months; 3 days; 12 hours approximately!!! The clock is ticking

13. Time is valuable Can’t earn time – we just spend itCan’t earn time – we just spend it Don’t own time; can’t keep time – but we use itDon’t own time; can’t keep time – but we use it Time is free – yet it’s pricelessTime is free – yet it’s priceless Can’t save time – but can reallocate itCan’t save time – but can reallocate it Can’t find time – but we can lose itCan’t find time – but we can lose it Can’t get back time – once used it’s gone foreverCan’t get back time – once used it’s gone forever

14. Time is valuable Time is the most precious gift in the worldTime is the most precious gift in the world Everyone in the world has timeEveryone in the world has time Never say “I don’t have time”Never say “I don’t have time” 86,400 seconds every day – you choose how to use it86,400 seconds every day – you choose how to use it “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it’s called the present”“Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it’s called the present”

15. Waiting Time There’s waiting and there’s…waiting What are we waiting for? What are we waiting for? How we wait How we wait Passively or Actively Passively or Actively

16. Waiting Time “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way – a voice of one calling in the wilderness, “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him” – Mark1:1-3 (NIVUK)

17. Waiting Time “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way – a voice of one calling in the wilderness, “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him” – Mark1:1-3 (NIVUK) “(Jesus) said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned’” - Mark 16:15-16 (NIVUK)

18. Active Waiting “Active waiting means present fully to the moment, in the conviction that something is happening where you are and that you want to be present to it” “Active waiting means present fully to the moment, in the conviction that something is happening where you are and that you want to be present to it” Henri Nouwen

19. Challenge “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” – 1John 3:2 (NIVUK)

20. Challenge What are we waiting for?What are we waiting for? How are we going to use the time we have?How are we going to use the time we have? “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord” – Ephesians 3:10-11 (NIVUK)