tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49356304848282382362024-02-19T00:12:22.791-08:00Daily Advent DevotionsA project combining the themes of Advent with a desire for a missional presence of the Church in our world.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-57308594322095307732016-12-25T00:30:00.000-08:002016-12-25T00:30:00.201-08:00December 25 Christmas
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light.
For those who lived in a land of deep shadows—
light! sunbursts of light!
You repopulated the nation,
you expanded its joy.
Oh, they’re so glad in your presence!
Festival joy!
The joy of a great celebration,
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-81077450369412161532016-12-24T00:00:00.000-08:002016-12-24T00:00:12.470-08:00December 24 Christmas Eve Lighting the candles:
As we light the first candle, we are reminded, that Christ is our Hope. We also “wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:13)
The second candle we light reminds of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Let us “make every effort to live in peace with all men and be holy.” (Hebrews 12:14)
The third candle is the Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-69868785043573444892016-12-22T16:06:00.000-08:002016-12-22T16:06:00.280-08:00December 22Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-22602977258406834262016-12-21T00:00:00.000-08:002016-12-21T00:00:17.869-08:00December 21We often turn our hearts toward the love of family or the love of gifting or food or any of the other events that surround the holidays. But how often do you turn your heart in gratitude or live out a love of the gift of creation. The whole earth longs for and while it waits like us, it lives to rejoices in the gift of Christ. So this year as you wait we encourage you to take time in Creation. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-63657947526634717942016-12-20T00:00:00.000-08:002016-12-20T00:00:13.329-08:00December 20As we tire of waiting for the love born of and in flesh to return let us pray together:
We give you thanks for the babe born in violence.
We give you thanks for the miracle of Bethlehem,
born into the Jerusalem heritage.
We do not understand why the innocents must be slaughtered;
we know that your kingdom comes in violence and travail.
Our time would be a good time for your kingdom to come,
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-65111582548107403602016-12-19T00:00:00.000-08:002016-12-19T00:00:24.416-08:00December 19Scripture: Malachi 3:6-12
Reflection: “Returning God’s Love” by Joanie Yoder
The book of Malachi begins with this wholehearted word from the Lord to His half-hearted worshipers: “I have loved you” (1:2). Though Israel had long been the object of God’s love, they no longer returned His love.
God listed the ways His people had offended His love through their disobedience. Israel’s responseAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-49750533294470751892016-12-18T16:14:00.000-08:002016-12-18T16:14:01.809-08:00December 18 (Fourth Sunday)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-27334984138335936352016-12-17T00:00:00.000-08:002016-12-17T00:00:08.954-08:00December 17Scripture: Isaiah 66:7-11
“Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her. For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance.” (verses 10-11)
Reflection:
The picture of God as a nursing mother is not something we frequently celebrate. This Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-14243299879968821202016-12-16T00:00:00.000-08:002016-12-16T00:00:13.985-08:00December 16Passage: Hebrews 10:32-39
Scripture:
“Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.” (Hebrews 10:33-34)
How can the Word of God connect JoyAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-12788747849033926872016-12-15T00:00:00.000-08:002016-12-15T00:00:02.181-08:00December 15Passage: 2 Samuel 6:1-11
“David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals.” (2 Samuel 6:5)
What images come to mind when we imagine King David and likely more than 30,000 people “celebrating with all their might”? I’m not sure if the first thing that comes to our mind would be anAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-31988823905375548452016-12-14T00:00:00.000-08:002016-12-14T00:00:19.820-08:00December 14Passage: Luke 7:31-35
“The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’” (Luke 7:34)
Jesus tells us that fasting and feasting is often interpreted by others as something that is evil. This Advent, we have begun discovering the discipline of fasting in new ways for ourselves. Perhaps we have already heard Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-81446086477597147422016-12-13T00:00:00.000-08:002016-12-13T00:00:06.913-08:00December 13Passage: Ezekiel 47:1-12
“The man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the Temple toward the east.” (Eze 47:1)
Ezekiel’s vision presents something that is impossible according to the laws of nature. The water from the invisible source underneath the Temple transforms the Dead Sea into fresh water! The image is picked up again inAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-85258491957604554122016-12-12T00:00:00.001-08:002016-12-12T00:00:23.185-08:00December 12Scripture: “Once more the humble will rejoice in the LORD; the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.” (Isaiah 29:19)
Passage: Isaiah 29:17-24
What could be the connection between humility and joy? Is it perhaps that we can choose to be humble, but cannot choose to be joyful? Mary seems to suggest that in the opening of her song in Luke 1:46-47. “My soul glorifies the Lord and Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-2201643205609406952016-12-11T00:00:00.000-08:002016-12-11T00:00:10.910-08:00Sunday December 11 (Third Week)Lighting the candles:
As we light the first candle, we are reminded, that Christ is our Hope. We also “wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:13)
The second candle we light reminds of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Let us “make every effort to live in peace with all men and be holy.” (Hebrews 12:14)
The third candle represents a Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-54453247864875028852016-12-10T00:00:00.000-08:002016-12-10T00:00:16.090-08:00December 10Scripture:
Isaiah 9:2-7
Luke 2:8-20
“To Whom is Peace?”
“Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” These are the familiar words of the angelic chorus in Luke 2:14, rendered in the New Living Translation.
Contrary to what perhaps most of are used to thinking, God’s peace comes with a condition attached to it. Peace comes to the person who pleases Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-20042264769422866562016-12-09T00:00:00.000-08:002016-12-09T00:00:15.092-08:00December 9 Prayer:[1]
Help us God to be ready for the coming of your kingdom, help us to live each day according to your word to seek justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with you.
Help us each day to confess our weakness, to reach out to those around us who are in need, to forgive others as you forgive us, to serve others as Christ has served us.
Help us each day to first praise you and thank you Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-31692870246368920952016-12-08T00:00:00.000-08:002016-12-08T00:00:10.250-08:00December 8Prayer:
Prayer: From the very beginning, O God, you have asked us to call you upon, to obey your gracious law, and to turn to you in times of trouble. We have often failed in this. Yet you, O God, have not failed us. We thank you, God, for continuing to reach out to us - for sending to us, in the fullness of time, Jesus Christ, your only Son, to intercede for us, and for pouring out upon us the Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-22734234145614447802016-12-07T00:00:00.000-08:002016-12-07T00:00:15.036-08:00December 7Scripture:
1 Kings 19:11-12, Philippians 4:5-9
“The Lord is Near”
Few of us would experience the upheavals the prophet Elijah went through in his life of service to God and to the people of Israel. Elijah stood up boldly for God in a time when idolatry had swept his land. He pronounced God’s curse of famine on the land. He came face to face with the false prophets of Baal and Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-68031189755970504592016-12-06T00:00:00.000-08:002016-12-06T00:00:29.531-08:00December 6Scripture:
John 14:27, 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
“Garlands and the Cross”
What make our lives as followers of Christ different? People from countries that follow Eastern religions may comment that the peace their Christian neighbours have within them is what makes them stand out among others who frequent shrines and temples.
Garlands are offered, incense is burned, and libations are poured Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-63308911239506983142016-12-05T00:00:00.000-08:002016-12-05T00:00:06.113-08:00December 5Prayer:[1]
Holy God, we look for You, we long for You.
Let us see that You come among us.
Make us aware of Your presence and help us to turn toward you and so come to glimpse your glory and your power and experience your grace and your love.
Loving God, prepare us to celebrate the first coming of our Lord Jesus and to do Your work in expectation of His Second Coming in power and great glory.
As Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-12018877002745163602016-12-04T00:00:00.000-08:002016-12-04T00:00:05.360-08:00Sunday December 4 (Second Week of Advent)Prayer:
Gracious God, we give thanks to you for the peace you give unto us and for the peace that you promise to us and to our whole world. Help us, dear God, to be a people who continue to imagine this time and who trust in its coming. Pour out your Spirit upon us in the time of waiting that we might live as people who are already citizens of the new heaven and the new earth that you willAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-70307327586522894102016-12-03T00:00:00.000-08:002016-12-03T00:00:25.611-08:00December 3Prayer:
Our times are in your hands:
But we count our times for us;
we count our days and fill them with us;
we count our weeks and fill them with our busyness;
we count our years and fill them with our fears.
And then caught up short with your claim,
Our times are in your hands!
Take our times, times of love and times of weariness,
Take them all, bless them and break them,
give them to usAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-65848803364008561132016-12-02T00:00:00.000-08:002016-12-02T00:00:27.819-08:00December 2Prayer:
Loving God, who created us in your image: Grant us grace fearlessly to contend against evil and to make no peace with oppression; and, that we may reverently use our freedom, help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our communities and among the nations, to the glory of your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-81071009223203338442016-12-01T00:00:00.000-08:002016-12-01T00:00:03.237-08:00December 1Prayer:
Lord, when we strive after healing in the world and nourishment for those who hunger, we find you at our side. Whenever we long to see your face, help us not avoid the corners of our communities where you most often dwell. Stir our hearts that we might seek and find you today in those places where you have promised to be. Amen.[1]
Reading: Isaiah 54:1-10
Reflection: Pause to Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4935630484828238236.post-60654133622194781502016-11-30T00:00:00.000-08:002016-11-30T00:00:37.592-08:00November 30Prayer:
Creator God,
Create in us a desire to hope,
A hope that sees the doors of our lives opened
Opened to you,
Opened to our neighbours,
Opened to strangers.
A hope that sees us all in the image of your Son,
Even in those places where our pride obscures that which has always been there in the other, You.
Remind us as we hope for you,
that our hope is in you.
In all of you, in all the Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17294294409287656949noreply@blogger.com0