Advent 2013: Days 1 and 2

Yesterday I began the Advent photo-a-day challenge. This is the list:

I am posting the pictures to facebook, but wanted to take some time as well to think more deeply about each word, and explain why I did the pictures I did.  So here is day 1 and 2...

Day 1: Go

It all sounds so cliche.  Church is not a building, it's a people.  The real work of church takes place outside of the building.  Yet there is usually some truth to cliches, and these are no exceptions.  This time of year particularly it seems easy to get caught up in the busy-ness of church, and our own lives.  But we need to take the time to shift our focus outside of ourselves and see the needs of others around us.  And we need to GO outside the church to meet people where they are.  At a youth conference a few weeks ago the theme was John 13:35, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."  

Day 2: Bound

This one was harder for me.  I thought about lots of different possibilities, but this is what I ended up doing:

See the thing about being bound is that there are many things we can be bound to.  Some of them are good and help us.  For example, we need to be bound to God.  But there are many things that we become bound to that are not healthy.  This time of year the easiest thing to think of is our stuff.  I am working part time at Easton this holiday season, and I have already seen first hand many holiday shoppers.  And I am not saying that giving gifts is bad.  I have already started my Christmas shopping as well.  But we need to keep in mind what we are binding ourselves to - and those whom we give the gifts.  Are we bound to our stuff?  And the other - which is what I considered doing as my picture - are we tying ourselves to lots of debt through our credit cards?  God has offered to set us free from that which binds us if we choose bind ourselves to him instead.  And that is where we find true freedom.