Advent | Student Christian Movement

Apocalypse Now

1 Dec 2020

Isaiah 64:1-9, Mark 13:24-37

Having endured months of a global pandemic that has upended nearly every aspect of our lives, it is understandable why some people have described this year as apocalyptic. We are certainly living in tumultuous times as we experience the impact of a pandemic...

The Advent of Adulting

16 Dec 2019

Technically this is my fourth Advent as an adult, but it’s my first since graduating, and therefore the first Advent where I genuinely feel like I'm part of the ‘real’ world. It’s odd. I’m just about used to buying my own Advent calendar, but am still not good enough at budgeting to plan for all...

Rest: The Lost Art of Stopping

12 Dec 2019

Recently I went on holiday with my wife and the in-laws to Norfolk. Unfortunately, whilst I was there I got pretty sick, and ended up spending a good few days in bed. Not an ideal holiday! When you’re lying in bed with very little to do, and with very little access to the Internet, you tend to...

Advent Joy: Waiting for the Saviour

19 Dec 2018

Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,

“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,

according to your word...

Rach's Reflections: A Joyful Christmas?

19 Dec 2018

I don’t really know where this year has gone, but somehow it is Christmas. I wonder what 2018 has been like for you? If I had to describe 2018 in one word it would be 'change'. What would yours be?

This year the SCM staff team has had three people leave, two people return and three ...

Welcoming Christ in the Chaos

18 Dec 2018

This advent, I have been rushed off my feet.

I love the atmosphere of the season of Advent. The darkness, the stillness, the waiting. In an ideal world, I would spend time every day during advent quietly contemplating the incarnation of our Saviour, and waiting in joyful anticipation for...

It's Not A Christmas Bush!

13 Dec 2018

My housemates like to tease me by calling the Advent bouquet I have put up in our kitchen a Christmas bush or a Christmas tree. They think I will take offence when they call it a tree or a bush. But actually, renaming it as a bush I can forgive. It does sound much more impressive than bouquet....

Advent Hope in Dark Days

12 Dec 2018

I don't function very well in Advent. It's not so much because of the liturgical season itself, though the fierce calls for repentance in hymns and liturgy don't exactly raise the spirits. Nor is it because of the inevitable rush to write Christmas cards and wrap parcels before the last date for...

An Advent to Remember

6 Dec 2018

Many people see Advent as the countdown to Christmas. The countdown to one intense day where presents are given, families get together, and a meal is shared between loved ones.

However, what if we reframed our thoughts about what Advent is all about?

Instead of looking at it as...

Advent Waiting: Carpe Deum

6 Dec 2018

Advent is Christmas season in the world outside. Lights are appearing in the streets and houses outside, Santa’s hired some new staff for his mailroom and the debates over who is hosting have a new sense of urgency. Our secular Christmases do not so much start on the 25th December as they end....