"Christians believe not just in one coming of Christ, but in three."

We tend to think of Advent as the season of anticipation before Christmas—and while it is that, it's also much more. Throughout its history, the church hasobserved Advent as a preparation not only for the first coming of Christ in his incarnation but also for his second coming at the last day. It's also about a third coming: the coming of Christ to meet us in our present moment, to make us holy by his Word and Sacrament.

In this short volume, priest and writer Tish Harrison Warren explores all three of these "comings" of Christ and invites us into a deeper experience of the first season of the Christian year.

Each volume in the Fullness of Time series invites readers to engage with the riches of the church year, exploring how its traditions, prayers, Scriptures, and rituals all point us to Jesus.



Tish Harrison Warren is a priest in the Anglican Church in North America. She writes a weekly newsletter for the New York Times and is a columnist for Christianity Today. She is also the author of Prayer in the Night andLiturgy of the Ordinary. She lives with her husband, Jonathan, and their three children in the Austin, Texas, area.







Esau McCaulley (PhD, St. Andrews) is associate professor of New Testament at Wheaton College and a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. He is the author of Reading While Black and Sharing in the Son's Inheritance, as well as the children's book Josie Johnson's Hair and the Holy Spirit. He lives in Wheaton, Illinois, with his wife and four children.



The Fullness of Time: Series Preface by Esau McCaulley



1. Yearning: Three Advents of Christ

2. Longing: Four Themes of Advent

3. Crying Out: Two Prophets of Advent

4. Stirring: Four Prayers of Advent

5. Approaching: EightPractices of Advent



Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Notes