Michael Milton

Michael Milton and Faith for Living, Inc.

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November 27, 2011

A Song for the First Sunday in Advent as I go Preaching

It is the first Sunday in Advent. I am about to preach on this wonderous day in the Christian year. As I am, my thoughts go back to a time many years ago when I was church planting. I used to come into this borrowed chapel, Whitefield Chapel, at Bethesda Home for Boys, near Skidaway Island, Georgia, long before the congregation (whomever that might be; ah, the glories and faith needed in a church plant). This one morning I was to preach on a passage from God’s Word related to Advent. But my heart was so overwhelmed with the beauty of the day, its meaning, the golden beams of light filtering through ancient live oaks and through the thick glass of those quaint gothic windows of the chapel, and landing on empty pews where soon men and women and children, friends know and unknown, would gather to worship the Lord who came. I sat at the grand piano, whose sounds ricochet from the old brick floor of this sanctuary to the hard edges of the (uncomfortably) beautiful pews and found some acoustic softening in the old wooden, “step-in” pulpit. As my fingers found a musical phrase, my mind was freed to think more about what was about to happen. I would have the treasured opportunity of a human being to bring the message of Jesus’ coming to a new generation of believers. I thought about His first coming. I wondered, as I looked on the Communion Table, about His Second Coming. But what struck me most at that singular instant was that He was coming again today, if not physically then through the power of His Spirit. Jesus would walk down that little aisle and into those pews and, perhaps, into the locked doors of our hearts, to reside there, or to stir us to open the door again. I began to think about his perpetual Advent. As I did, the thoughts of Advent, memories of my own sacred encounter with Jesus Christ, the joy of fellowship, His first Advent and Second, all mingled together and became attached to the simple, Americana musical phrasing that I was playing on that piano. The song “Jesus Came” was born that first Sunday in Advent.

I am thinking about that time as I go to preach today. And I am praying He will come again. Even so come Lord Jesus.

Jesus came
When I was down
I was lost
No way to be found
He touched my soul
And made me whole
When Jesus came
Jesus came
Into my life
His Words brought love
His Words brought life
I never knew
What was true
‘Till Jesus came
Even so Lord Jesus come
Is the cry of those whose lives
Have felt Your tender majesty
And so we pray and so we plea
Jesus come
When I grow old
When I see that my story’s been told
Come Shepherd lead me
Through death’s door
To find You there forevermore
Jesus come
In all Your power
Though we know not the day nor the hour
We long to see
The world set free
So Jesus come
Jesus come
Jesus come

Amen.  I go again to preach this Advent Sunday with a prayer that He comes again in every way until He comes again in His final way.

Jesus Came, Copyright 2011, Words and Music by Michael Anthony Milton, BMI (Bethesda Words and Music). Available through https://michaelmilton.org/music or here.

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What is Faith For Living?

Faith for Living is the 501c3 North Carolina non-profit ministry of the Rev. Michael A. Milton, Ph.D. that exists to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible, through every means available, so that there will be a multitude caught up to be with Jesus Christ when He comes again. Faith for Living reaches out to support individuals, the Church, and other non-profits through communication, discipleship, and education.

Featured Music of Michael Milton

“Jesus Came” words & music by Michael Anthony Milton
© 1999, 2012, 2020 Bethesda Music (a div. of Faith for Living, Inc.) | BMI

Featured Resource

“When your heart is broken, when your spirit is so crushed that you wonder if you will live again; when your life is in a total blackout; then, this book will give you the light and strength you need to carry on.”

—Russell, Amazon Reviews.

Songs in the Night is available in paperback and Kindle. COMING SOON: Songs in the Night: How God Transforms Our Pain to Praise will be released as an audiobook on AUDIBLE.

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