Category: Advent Devotionals 2015

Luke 3:1-6 (CEB)In the fifteenth year of the rule of the emperor Tiberius—when Pontius Pilate was governor over Judea and Herod was ruler[a] over Galilee, his brother Philip was ruler over Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was ruler over Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas—God’s word came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. John went throughout the region of the Jordan River, calling for people to be baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and lives and wanted God to forgive their sins. This is just as it was written in the scroll of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
A voice crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way for the Lord;
make his paths straight.
Every valley will be filled,
and every mountain and hill will be leveled.
The crooked will be made straight
and the rough places made smooth.
All humanity will see God’s salvation.”

1. Take a few moments in silence to center yourself. Consider what you desire from this encounter with God. 
2. Read the scripture passage twice, slowly, so the details become familiar.
3. Close your eyes and imagine what is going on. What do you see? Hear? Smell? Taste? Touch?*
4. What emotions rise up for you? Does anything in particular cause a reaction for you?*
5. Where do you see yourself in the scripture?*
6. What questions or thoughts bubble up?
7. Close this time by talking honestly to God about your experience.

*If you are practicing this with children, offering them crayons and paper to draw the scripture is a good way for them engage with the scripture.

Mark 13:31-32Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

My father-in-law counted cars. He counted cars when he was waiting for someone to come to his house. In the days before cell phones there was no way to know the exact time when a guest would arrive for a visit. So Jug Palmer counted cars and hoped that the next car would bring the anxiously awaited visitor. 

Now when Jug counted, he counted with hope. My father-in-law counted cars when a family member or friends promised to come. He lived in the hope that the visitor would arrive. What he did not know, however, was the precise moment of arrival. Jug counted cars and hoped that the next car was the promised one.

I remember going to Marie’s home feeling the welcome of someone waiting for us whit hope fulfilled. It was always a blessing to know that he was waiting and expecting us. In the car Marie and I would often smile when we thought of someone prepared, ready, and waiting to receive us with open arms and an open heart.During this season of Advent we are encouraged to live in hope and expectation that Jesus is coming. He came long ago to Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem. Let us count the moments and hours as we wait with eager expectation for Christ to come again in our hearts.

And you might want to try counting cars as you wait for your guests this Advent and Christmas Season. It helps the excitement build.

Prayer: God of all times, give us faith to live in hope of your coming into our lives this Christmas season. Give us patience to wait with eager expectation of your coming. Amen.

Rev. John Williams
Advent 2008

Isaiah 40:31But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Heather: So now that Halloween is over and we’re getting ready for Thanksgiving, what will be the next holiday we look forward to?

Evie: Christmas!

Heather: And do you know what this time is called, the time that we’re waiting for Christmas to come?

Evie: What?

Heather: Advent! It’s the season that we celebrate the coming of Christmas. Now, remind me what Christmas is really about:

Evie: It’s not about teddy bears and candy and toys; it’s about Jesus’ birthday!

Heather: Right! And can you tell me about the days leading up to Jesus’ birth? What were Joseph and Mary doing? 

Evie: Well, they had to get married. Because they were about to get a baby. And they were going on a journey with camels.

Heather: Well…. You’re close. They were going on a journey to Bethlehem, which would take a long time. 

Evie: Like 100 years?

Heather: It might’ve felt like that! But probably, it took several weeks. According to the story, Mary rode a donkey much of the journey because she was very large and about to have Baby Jesus. And Joseph probably had to walk a good bit. If you were going on a long journey, what would you take with you?

Evie: I’d take food and water. And probably some toys. And hopefully Daddy could take his truck so we didn’t have to ride on an old donkey! 

Heather: Well what would you do while we journeyed? What would you do while you were waiting to get where we were going? 

Evie: I don’t know. Waiting is really hard.

Prayer: Dear God, help us learn to be good at waiting, so that we will be ready to receive all of your good gifts, especially your Son, Jesus. Amen.

Evie Durham, 5
Interviewed by her mother, 
Heather Johnston-Durham

Luke 2:4-5Since Joseph belonged to David’s house and family line, he went up from the city of Nazareth in Galilee to David’s city, called Bethlehem, in Judea. He went to be enrolled together with Mary, who was promised to him in marriage and who was pregnant. 

When I first read the theme for this year’s Advent devotional book a song started looping in my head. Trisha Yearwood, one of my favorite artists, released The Sweetest Gift, a Christmas album, in 1994, and it includes the song “Take a Walk through Bethlehem.” I love the song in its entirety, but the chorus and part of one verse particularly echo in my brain as I think about the walk to Bethlehem.

Take a walk through Bethlehem
Come and kneel before the lamb
Good news for every man
Walk through Bethlehem
…
‘Cause every heart longs for more than tinsel
Something more than just a holiday
Come and celebrate the baby King
Let’s take a walk

Through our walking we also need to stop and kneel to pray – in praise, confession, supplication and thanksgiving. It’s so easy to become swept up in the manufactured magic of the broader holiday season and miss, forget or downplay the core message of God’s great love for us expressed through the birth of His son.

Prayer: Dear God, we praise you for all you have done and are doing for us. We ask you to lead us on this journey through Advent. Show us again and anew the depth of your love for us and your whole creation. Equip us to share that love in new and exciting ways as we feed people spiritually and physically. Amen.

Mari Walker

Psalm 148:7-10

Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,lightening and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding,you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars,wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds.

I had left my athletic shoes just outside the kitchen door overnight. Their bottoms had been wet and covered with leaves blown around by the sudden storm. I retrieved the shoes, preparing to take my dog Gracie for her morning walk. Gracie was hesitant because it wasn’t quite daylight yet.
It had been a rough night – one of those dark nights filled with worry and self-doubt. I had felt spiritually dry as I tried to do my morning devotionals. Everything was out of synch and I was struggling, on the verge of tears, praying for help and comfort.

As I picked up a shoe, I heard a soft creak, almost sonorous. I wondered if one of my tired joints had made a noise. As I raised the shoe to my foot, that sweet little creak sounded again. I stopped all movement to listen, and when the sound came one more time I realized it was coming from my shoe. I reached inside and held in my hand a precious little toad which had found shelter and warmth in the shoe overnight.

My whole being melted at the sight. My heart opened and tears flowed. I had been given a gift – a precious reminder of the beauty and wonder of God’s creation sitting peacefully in my hand, a reminder of God’s presence and never-ending care.

Prayer: Gracious God, you send answers to our prayers in such amazingly simple ways. Help us open our eyes to see the luminous moments in our lives and to live in gratitude for your gifts, large and small. Amen.

Betty Schroeder

Matthew 11:15“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Few people noticed her. She was a tiny thing, so quiet that she could sit in our classes day after day without being seen. Few people noticed when she began to wear a jacket even on warm days. We assumed she was expecting a child. We were right. So when she missed a few days of school, again we made the correct assumption that her baby had arrived. This young girl, in her junior year of high school, returned a different person. She told us she had a baby girl, and although she was still very quiet, she smiled often. Her story was not different from many a high school girl who becomes a mother too soon. Desperately searching for love from the boy who fathers her child, she is left with a child who becomes the focus of her life. Not long after her delivery my young mother came to school without smiling. I asked her if she wanted to talk. She did. On that day I listened to one of the most heartbreaking stories I had heard in my years of teaching. Her baby had died and her heart was broken. However, her family was relieved because the additional financial stress this baby had placed on the family was removed. She was told to get on with her life, and she was not allowed to grieve the loss of her child. We cried together that day. All this young mother wanted was to talk about how much she had loved her baby. All she needed was for someone to listen.

I had already become aware of the need high school students had for someone to listen. 

A recommended assignment for students in my psychology classes was to write a brief paper on the one most important person or event affecting their lives. Was I in for a shock! Stories and events flowed onto these pages from young people who needed desperately to tell their stories. Broken families, divorces, abusive parents, feelings of being unloved . . . the list went on and on. They wanted unlimited space to answer, and most importantly they wanted someone to listen. Their papers were not graded, they were not mandatory nor were they shared with anyone. I heard the good, the bad, and the ugly. I was not there to judge. I was there to listen.

My faith journey has many a bump in the road. I struggle constantly with the need to talk less and listen more. In a world that prides itself on the speed and range of communication we rarely take time to listen to one another. School shootings and violent crime sprees have become all too common today. Maybe if someone had listened to these troubled youths the tragedies could have been avoided. Listening is often the only thing needed to help someone who is trapped in what they believe is a hopeless existence. Why are we so unwilling to listen? As we enter this Advent season I pray that God will help all of us become better listeners.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, in the midst of this holiday rush and noise keep us reminded of the need to listen more and to talk less. Give us patience and understanding as we learn to listen with our hearts as well as our ears, and the grace needed to love unconditionally. Amen.

Bobbi Marino

Luke 21:28So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

Exterior design is changing all around us this season of Advent. There are signs everywhere, though Wal-Mart is already “looking a lot like” Halloween! The Christmas decorations have been on the shelves so long that they have cobwebs. The Ghost of Christmas Past?

The exterior designs and signs of the season are exciting. We all love this wonderful season of brightness and glisten, but the signs do us no ultimate good because in the end it is the interior design that counts. And new interior design will not be the result of something we do, not something we put on or hang from our human limbs, but something we allow to have happen within us. 

God desires to do something new inside us. God desires for something in the interior of our lives to be made new in this season. And, as our scripture warns this first day of Advent, there is always the possibility that we might miss that opportunity. Jesus, here at the end of his ministry warns us to observe, watch, and get ready. We should guard our hearts against waste and worry. This is the soundest advice that we can get as we enter this season.

I was fuming as I watched a lady dump her car ashtray in the intersection while stopped at a light on Airline Drive. I said aloud to my passenger “That makes me very unhappy!” To which she responded by laughingly instructing me to observe the sign on the same lady’s rear window: HAPPINESS IS AN INSIDE JOB.

Advent is an inside job too. What happens on the exterior is cosmetic and delightful but it has its limitations. What happens on the interior will occur when we choose to allow God to do something within us. That something has eternal value. The signs will be everywhere but we must observe, watch and get ready to receive them. This IS Advent. We may enjoy our exterior decorations but we must also prepare and anticipate and notice the signs of His desired coming within us.

God is coming to make us new in this Advent season by interior design. Our job is to show up. God will do the rest. Peace to you as we together begin the long journey in darkness toward the marvelous light of Jesus birth.

Prayer: Open our eyes Lord, we want to see Jesus. Open our ears Lord, and help us to listen. Open our hearts Lord and fill us with the new you bring to our lives. Amen.

Rev. Larry Norman

Lighting of the Advent Wreath for the Home – Week 1 

HOPE
Once again, we greet the season of Advent. Our Advent Wreath reminds us that we have begun a solemn time of waiting which will end in a time of great rejoicing. Soon a child will be born who will change the world forever. He will teach us of God’s love and show us how to live. 
Long years ago, during a period of bleak despair, the prophets of Israel told us this Messiah would come. They kindled hope in the people of Israel. One of them, Micah, wrote that the Savior would be born in Bethlehem, a little town only a few miles from the great city of Jerusalem. It’s a long way to Bethlehem from here, but in our thoughts we can make that trip. We’ll walk there, just as we would have done two thousand years ago. 
There are four candles in our Advent Wreath. This morning we light the first, the candle of HOPE. 
Full of hope, we begin our walk to Bethlehem, following in the footsteps of the prophets.

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Welcome to the 2015 Advent Devotional by the people of St. John’s United Methodist Church. Our theme this year is The Walk to Bethlehem. We invite you to join us. Download the devotional as a PDF, pick up a printed copy at church (we have a limited number) and/or sign up to receive the devotions as a daily email during the season of Advent using the form below (you can unsubscribe at any time).

Once again, our Advent Devotional Book will be used as a small group study. If you would like to join a small group study of our Advent Devotional book “The Walk to Bethlehem,” there are a number of Sunday School classes who will be participating , or you can join the Weeknight Group in the Parlor on Wednesdays at 6 p.m., beginning December 2. For information on joining one of these small group studies, please contact Deacon Sarah.

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