Saturday 12/24/2022 Ephesians 3:14-19 A Prayer for the Ephesians 14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Paul’s letters included prayers he prayed for the Christian converts in the little house churches he raised up in Asia and Europe. In this passage sent to Christians at Ephesus, he asked lyrically that the Holy Spirit, dwelling in their hearts, would give all believers “the power to grasp love’s width and length, height and depth.” He used those geometric, almost architectural terms to express his belief that God’s love is enormous, bigger ultimately than any love we can imagine. Yet he believed that it was spiritually vital that we do all we can to grasp and experience that awesome love. There is nothing you can do to make God love you more and nothing you can do to make God love you less. May knowing that you are completely loved fill you with joy this Christmas Eve.
Friday 12/23/2022 Romans 5:1-8 Peace and Hope 5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. For many Christians, the salvation God’s grace offers us produces times of awesome joy and peace. But human emotions are volatile and erratic. At times of pain or doubt, even the strongest, most confident Christ-follower may struggle to feel that “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts.” That’s why Paul based our ultimate security not in how we feel at any given moment, but in an event. Jesus valued and loved us so much that he died for us.
Thursday 12/22/2022 1 John 4:7-16 God’s Love and Ours 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. In this passage John repeated that “God IS love.” All of us love someone or something at times (some of us more than others!). But John’s thought reached beyond that to say that the very essence of God’s being is love. “And how do you know that?” someone might have asked John. Advent pointed to the answer. We know God is love, John said, because God sent his only Son into the world on a saving mission.
Wednesday 12/21/2022 John 5:9-13 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” 11 But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ” 12 So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?” 13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. Jesus spoke these yearning words to his disciples the night before he was crucified. He wanted them to understand that the cross was not an accident, a sad mistake that got him into trouble with the authorities. Giving himself on the cross expressed his deep love for them. Mark 14:26 said Jesus and the disciples ended their Passover supper by singing together. If they followed the usual practice, they sang Psalm 118, in which the first four verses, like Psalm 136, repeated that God’s love endures forever.
Tuesday 12/20/2022 John 3:16-17 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. This is perhaps the most well-known text in the entire Bible. We do not often think of it, however, as a passage that talked about the meaning of Advent and Christmas. Yet that’s precisely what it did: it said that in Jesus, God expressed in a personal, redeeming way the depth of God’s love for the whole world. God’s love did not mean wishing the world well from afar. Instead, God’s love led him to become one of us in the person of Jesus.
Monday 12/19/2022 Isaiah 63:7-9 Praise and Prayer 7 I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the Lord has done for us— yes, the many good things he has done for Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses. 8 He said, “Surely they are my people, children who will be true to me”; and so he became their Savior. 9 In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. Isaiah 63 used the Hebrew word hesed to express God’s steadfast, covenant love, and the Hebrew ahav (also used in Song of Songs 8:6 of human love) to show God’s deeply-felt affection for God’s people. Human feelings come and go, so in human love the more central the emotional, feeling aspect, the more changeable it tends to be. But God’s love is strongly felt (ahav) yet also utterly dependable—it “endures forever” (cf. Psalm 136).
Saturday 12/17/2022 Romans 14:13-18 13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. 14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. 15 If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval. James 2:5-9 5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? 8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,”[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=james+2%3a5-9&version=niv#fen-niv-30302a] you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. Paul wrote to Roman Christians about disputes over proper religious practice, urging “the strong” to care about and encourage “the weak,” rather than mocking or discouraging them. James wrote about the all-too-human tendency to show favoritism to wealthy people over the poor, even in a relatively small matter like whom you seat where in church. Both apostles were convinced that life in God’s Kingdom is “about righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Advent is about joy—not just the joy of decorations and presents, but the joy of joining in God’s work of lifting up the lowly. Paul wrote that when Christians focus their spiritual walk on “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit,” they have unity with one another. James underscored that, in the words of scholar William Barclay, “there can be no distinctions of rank and prestige when men meet in the presence of the King of glory.” How easy or hard do you find it to lay aside a value system built on status, title or wealth to live a life devoted to lifting up the lowly, and finding joy in that kind of life? What helps you see whatever riches you have in time, talent or money as gifts meant to bless others, not just to cling to for your own sake? Prayer: Lord, remind me that “this is my father’s world,” that I am a steward of some of your world rather than the owner of any of it. Help me to find your joy as I keep my values aligned with yours. Amen.
Friday 12/16/2022 Luke 13:10-17 Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath 10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. 14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” 15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?” 17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing. Few people in Jesus’ day could have been lowlier than this woman, crippled for 18 years. On top of the low social and legal status of women in general, and the limitations of her physical disability, most Hebrews at that time understood physical problems as a sign of God’s displeasure. When Jesus decisively set her free, he lifted a huge burden from her. No wonder Luke recorded that people “rejoiced at all the extraordinary things he was doing.” Use your imagination to try to feel the freedom and almost disbelieving joy the woman must have had when she was able to stand upright for the first time in 18 years! Has God ever worked, either directly or through a human agent, to free you from something that had bound you for a long time? Has God ever given you the privilege of being part of the process of freeing someone else from a long-standing burden? As at other times in Jesus’ ministry, in this story his healing power met guarded laws and traditions. Luke said the synagogue leader was “incensed that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath.” With which are you more comfortable: established procedures and order, or God breaking into 21st-century lives in sometimes surprising, “disorderly,” joy-producing ways? Prayer: Lord Jesus, your healing, freeing work brought joy, and often met opposition. Give me the wisdom to stay attuned to the ways you choose to work, even if that stretches my comfort zone. Amen.
Thursday 12/15/2022 Isaiah 7:1-4 The Sign of Immanuel 7 When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it. 2 Now the house of David was told, “Aram has allied itself with Ephraim”; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind. 3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub, to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field. 4 Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood—because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah. Isaiah 7:10-16 10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, 11 “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.” 13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. 15 He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, 16 for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. Matthew 1:18-24 Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son 18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. Three kings were plotting to attack Judah, and King Ahaz was frightened. The prophet Isaiah told the king that, as a sign from God, a young woman (possibly Isaiah’s wife) would give birth to a son. Before the boy reached bar mitzvah age (age 13), the plotting kingdoms would lose their power (and they did). Centuries later, Matthew recognized that Jesus was the ultimate Immanuel (“God with us”) sign. Did you know? According to the online Oxford Dictionaries, either Immanuel or Emmanuel is a correct English spelling of the Hebrew word. It is defined as “The name given to Christ as the deliverer of Judah prophesied by Isaiah (Isa. 7:14, 8:8; Matt. 1:23).” (http://http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us) Scholar William Barclay summed up Matthew’s message: “Jesus is the one person who can tell us what God is like, and what God means us to be. In him alone we see what God is and what man ought to be.” In what ways is Jesus central to your understanding of what God is like? Has that helped you to avoid some of the negative, frightening images of God that limit too many people’s willingness to relate to God? If so, how? Matthew 18:20 quoted the adult Jesus as saying, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I’m there with them.” And the gospel’s final verse, Matthew 28:20, carried the promise that “I myself will be with you every day until the end of this present age.” What settings or practices help to make God’s presence real to you? What makes it as important for you (and each one of us) to trust “Immanuel”—God with us--as it was for King Ahaz? Prayer: Lord Jesus, during Advent I remember that when you came into our world, you were human, but you were also fully divine. Give me insight and humility as I internalize the mystery that you are Immanuel, “God with us.” Amen.
Wednesday 12/14/2022 Luke 1:46-55 Mary’s Song 46 And Mary said:“My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. 50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.” In Mary’s culture, women were second-class citizens. No male leader of her day (let alone an angel) would have greeted this woman of almost no status by calling her “favored one.” When Mary sang that God lifts up the lowly, she did so as a living example of that. No wonder she rejoiced in God’s inversion of human values: “He has pulled the powerful down… and lifted up the lowly.” God valued who she really was, no matter what her social status! Mary began her song with words of gratitude and praise: “With all my heart I glorify the Lord.” As we move through this season remembering the promises that were a part of the Christmas event, who or what in your life are you thankful for? Which of the promises of Christmas lead you to glorify the Lord with all your heart? Mary rejoiced that her child would fulfill God’s promise to bring justice to an unjust world. Her song was full of allusions to Old Testament promises that God would one day deliver Israel from oppressors. She believed that, in Jesus, God would care for the lowly, hungry and oppressed. In what ways are you “rich”? How willing are you to use your God-given ability to lift the burdens of those who are lowly in parts of life where you are strong? Prayer: Lord Jesus, when Mary grasped that you would be her child, she celebrated with a song of gratitude. Help me to truly celebrate you this Advent season, to glorify you with all my heart. Amen.
Mary was a poor teenager in the obscure town of Nazareth. She had no reason to expect to lead an exceptional life. So when God’s angel said, “Rejoice, favored one! God is honoring you,” Luke said the words confused her. But with eyes that saw things human eyes could not, God chose her to become the mother who would miraculously bear the Messiah. The one all Israel was waiting to see. People in Mary’s day understood the basic human reproduction process as well or as poorly as we do. A virgin could NOT be pregnant. Yet Gabriel promised exactly that (verse 31). Of course, Mary was confused and puzzled at first. She didn’t try to hide her questions (verse 34), but she did listen trustingly to the angel’s answer. What doubts or struggles do you face today? Be open about them. Make them a subject to talk about honestly with God in prayer, and perhaps also with a pastor or other trusted person. Mary gave the angel a simple, powerful response: "I am the Lord's servant. Let it be with me just as you have said" (verse 38). Mary’s obedient humility, as a teenager with unanswered, unanswerable questions, was a compelling model of what it means to trust God in faith. What helps you to trust in God’s love and care in the midst of confusing or scary circumstances? When have you seen signs that "nothing is impossible with God" (verse 37)? Prayer: Lord of all, many things I wish for are impossible on a human scale. Teach me how to trust your eternal power, which operates on an eternal scale and makes even the impossible possible. Amen.
A heritage of joy! Israel’s long history included incredibly low times of misery at the hands of tyrants (notably slavery in Egypt—cf. Exodus 1:8-11, and exile in Babylon—cf. 2 Kings 24:13-14, 25:11). But it also included God’s action to deliver them in the Exodus and in the return from exile. Psalm 126 poetically recalled the joy of the times when God lifted them up from their humble status and prayed that God would again allow them to live in the joy of God’s deliverance. The first half of this psalm was a journey in memory. The Israelites never forgot the Exodus from Egypt—their “defining story”—nor the jubilation of being set free from exile. “Yes, the Lord has done great things for us,” the psalmist affirmed God lifting them up from their humble status was a permanent part of their history. What do you remember as a time when God did “great things” in your life? How do you keep that memory alive? The second half of the psalm became a prayer, based in the confidence that the same God who did great things in the past would do them again. Are there parts of your life in which you echo the prayer, “Let those who plant with tears reap the harvest with joyful shouts”? In what ways can this Advent season nourish your confidence that, in the words of Psalm 30:5, “Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning! Prayer: Lord God, thank you for the times—like the birth of Jesus—when you did great things for your people. Help me to live in the confidence that you always lift us up and give us joy. Amen.
Pastor Kathy talks and shows us how God lifts up the lowly.
Saturday: 12/10/2022 Matthew 2:19-21 The Return to Nazareth 19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” 21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. Isaiah 26:3 3 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. After King Herod died, an angel in a dream revealed to Joseph that it was safe to leave Egypt and return to Israel. God purposely spoke to Joseph through dreams and gave him directions on which town they were to live in. Notice that when God revealed something to Joseph he didn’t question or procrastinate. Matthew tells us that Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and returned to Israel. Joseph had peace in his decisions because he obeyed God. Sometimes our peace is taken because we spend way too much time questioning God and leaning on our own understanding. It becomes easier to worry instead of to pray and ask for guidance. Sometimes we don’t like the answer and our peace is taken from not doing what God asks us to do. God cares about every detail of our life. He will direct us and show us the next steps we are to take. It is when we trust and obey the Rock of our Salvation that we will have perfect peace. Prayer: Lord Jesus, you came to be the Prince of Peace. You will guide and direct me but I must be willing to trust you. Help me to keep my mind focused on you and not the circumstances. Let me rest in the truth that you have a plan for my life. Amen
Joseph did a lot more than stand by the manger while the shepherds worshipped the baby. God placed Joseph as Mary and Jesus’ protector. King Herod killed some of his own sons who were potential rivals for his throne. He certainly didn’t flinch from murdering all boys age 2 and under in Bethlehem to try to wipe out the promised Messiah. But Matthew said God worked through Joseph to keep Mary and baby Jesus safe from Herod’s murderous paranoia. In Jesus’ day, the population of Alexandria, Egypt was probably about one-third Jewish. There were also other Jewish communities in Egypt. This made Egypt a safer refuge for Joseph, Mary and Jesus than it would be in today’s conditions. What people or places have given you safety or comfort in times of trouble in your life? Are you open to letting God guide you in helping hurting or endangered people today to find places of safety? Prayer: Lord Jesus, you learned early that this broken world is often a dangerous place. Help me to be one of your instruments to work, wherever and however I can, to protect your children who find themselves in danger. Amen
