Acts 1:1-5

Acts 1:1-5 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  During Advent, we celebrate what God has done and we look forward to what God will do.  It's not unlike sitting down for a meal at your favorite restaurant -- before the food is served, you're comforted by all the memories you have of previous meals there, and it gives you confidence that this next meal is going to be good.  You get excited, looking over the menu with anticipation at what will surely bring delight.
  In Advent, we remember all the amazing things that God has done.  Mostly, we focus on how God fulfilled the promises of the prophets so many years ago.  Those prophets had a challenging duty, calling the people back to faithfulness in the present while pointing forward to God's redemptive work.  They were calling people to rely upon a promise and shape their lives around the basis of God's previously reliable works and the certainty of God's continual providence.
  In the present, we sit down and remember what God has done.  With fondness and affection, we recall the ways that God has worked in our collective history.  We remember the sending of a Savior, a light into the midst of the darkness, and we look over the promises of God in ancitipation of the delight that God will bring to our weary souls, knowing that our hungry hearts will be fed by the Word of God trusting that the God who fulfills his promises will continue to provide for us both today and forevermore.