A lot of protestant churches don’t celebrate Advent at all. They move directly to the Christmas Story on Christmas Eve with no time in preparation for this Christmas, I think this is a mistake. In Advent we celebrate the time of waiting for the Messiah. There are important lessons in waiting that we ought not to miss because our lives are filled with times of waiting. We don’t get everything that we want right away, sometimes we have for God’s promises to fulfilled. Advent teaches us this lesson.