This week marks the first week of the 2014 Advent Season. We’ve put together four Advent posts—one for each week. We hope they help put you in the Christmas mindset. Check out the first post:

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Isaiah 40:1-5 (ESV)

Advent marks a time of waiting and hoping as we enter into a season of preparation for Christmas. During this first week of Advent, when you light the candle of hope on your wreath, be reminded of the reasons we are hopeful.

Be reminded that our God is a God who keeps his promises, always, and that he cares for and comforts his people. In the midst of all the cheerful hustle bustle of the season, are you in need of comfort? Take time throughout this week to prepare the way of the Lord in your heart and be filled up with the hope of his promise to comfort you!

Also, be reminded that our God is a God who is for all people and that he has promised to reveal himself again. With hopeful anticipation, we look forward to celebrating the birth of Jesus and to the day when he returns to reveal his glory to us.

How can you share the hope of God’s promises with others this week?