December 1 Devotion

Read Micah 2:1-13

Hey, listen I have a little secret to tell you!! There is going to be a birth real soon, it will be a boy. He'll be very special to all of us and we all know his father. Keep it under your hat; his father is GOD!!!!

It has also been said, that his son is to be the long awaited Messiah. The one that will save us from our sins, shows us how to LOVE one another. To care for the sick, help the lost and needy.

There'll be one catch. We will have to open our hearts and give all of ourselves to him and allow the Holy Spirit to flow into every inch of our being. Then we will be like him letting his LIGHT shine through us to all we care for so that they too may see him.

Oh!! What is his name?? Well, you know it!! It's Jesus.

Prayer; Heavenly Father, thank you for all you have given us, for sending your heavenly son to live among us here on earth. That He would show us the way, the truth and the light. For your forgiveness of our sins through your son Jesus. And now I ask for the Holy Spirit to flow into my soul so that I too can share the light with all who I touch. So they too will see Jesus. In Christ Jesus' name, Amen

All God's Blessings
Fred Herr

November 30 Devotion

Lectionary Reading: Matthew 24: 15-31

Verse 30: Then the sign of the son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

One of the comedians I enjoy listening to is Bill Engvall. He has several routines that revolve around "Here's Your Sign." The premise of the humor is that people ask questions of others regarding very obvious circumstances and thus expose themselves to their own inadequacy. For example: you are parked along the side of the road and one of your tires is flat. A passing motorist stops and asks: "Did your tire go flat?" You reply sarcastically: "No, the other three tires just swelled up." ("Here's Your Sign") The unspoken part of "Here's Your Sign" is that the passing motorist who asked about the flat tire is not observant of the obvious details of the scene.

One of my main responsibilities as a nurse is to make observations of my patient's signs and symptoms. A fever, a fast heart rate, a red eardrum, all could mean that there is a disease process at work that needs attention. It takes practice to be observant of these signs and to ask the right questions to gain more precise information about how the signs are interconnected. Sometimes my observation skills are just not what they should be. I have missed key and sometimes obvious signs.
The lectionary reading today speaks of a mysterious future and prophetic descriptions of false Messiahs and great suffering. But in the end there will be a sign of the Son of Man in the heavens -- A trumpet call will send angels to gather all the elect. One might call these signs of a second coming of The Messiah. There will be signs -- but will we be able to recognize them? Will we miss the obvious and the significant?

The shepherds received a message from the angels: "And this will be a sign for you: You will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." (Luke 2:12)

The wise men followed the sign of a star in the east to guide them to Bethlehem. We have been given numerous signs of the coming of Christmas Day: decorations, carols, concerts, shop displays, advertisements, and on and on. These signs are obvious about the day itself, but are we missing something more significant to us and our relationship with God?

What are the signs of this Advent Season? What message is meant to be revealed to us as we travel through these days waiting for the "Main Event?" We keep our traditions; we sing the same carols; we hear the same scriptures year after year -- what is the message or sign God is sending directly to you this year? Only you can answer. But in order to receive, you have to keep your heart, your mind and your soul open for God to fill you with the "Sign" that is meant for you. Stay Alert. Be Ready. God is sending you a Sign.

Prayer: Direct our thoughts, O Lord, to your message this Advent. Open our hearts and minds to receive your gifts. Quiet the clamoring of the world and the busyness of our lives so that we may clearly define the signs of Your Love meant for us this season. AMEN.

Chyrl Budd

November 29 Devotion

Lectionary Reading: Zechariah 14:1-9

GOD'S MUSICAL TOUCH

I love music. I mean I really, really love music. All kinds, too. Bluegrass, Country, Lullabies, Ballads and even Opera. My favorites are probably Hymns and Anthems. I can't sing worth a darn. Years ago I had polyps removed from my throat and that was pretty much that concerning my singing voice. Most of the time though it really doesn't bother me at all. That's because you see, most of the time I would rather cry than sing anyway. My poor husband has had to put up with my emotional weeping for years. When a large gathering sings the "Star Spangled Banner," I don't sing - I sob. Ditto "America The Beautiful". Ditto "God Bless America". I don't even try to sing them anymore. I just prepare myself by grabbing a handful of Kleenex from my purse and clutch them ready to wipe my face. It's almost pitiful.

JM's beautiful music on Sunday morning is a real challenge for me. Most of the time when we begin our truly beautiful hymns I sing the first stanza and weep the last four or five. No surprises here. One exception is "Let There Be Peace On Earth." I can't sing this hymn at all. In fact I usually start tearing up by just turning to page No: 431. While everyone else sings their hearts out it's all I can do to stifle myself. I simply want to bawl out loud. Sometimes I feel the presence of God there with us so intensely I have to hold on to the back of the pew in front of me to keep my feet on the floor. I almost feel like I'm rising up in the air. Want a one word description for that? "WOW". No other way to say it. Just plain "WOW". All those tears, all that water, all that cleansing. I've learned to rejoice in those tears and let them flow down my face, and I pray through my heart and my soul.

Now, however I should explain there are some songs I must sing. I must sing them because I can't cry with them. Let me hear the first notes of "Lord Of The Dance," and I'm all puffed up and ready to sing all five verses with great gusto. My husband smiles. He knows me so well. Bad voice forgotten, I sing of a joyful Lord and how much He loves me and how much I love Him in return. No tears here. Toe tapping maybe, smiling and joyful faces for sure. No I can't cry with that hymn. I've figured out it's really simple. If I can't sing it, I cry. If I can't cry, I sing it. And how about this: I don't ever have to try and remember which to do when the music starts. He decides all that for me because I believe in Him. How blessed is that? Amen.

Carol Lee Bolling

November 28 Devotion

The Present of Presence

God sent a present into the world, the gift of a loving presence named Jesus. The gospel stories indicate that Jesus gave few material things to people. What he gave most was his personal presence, gifts that were treasures of the heart: belief in self, inner healing, peace of mind, compassion, forgiveness, dignity, and justice. This loving presence lives on in us and is the central focus of Christmas gift-giving.

Sharing the gift of personal presence means that we see ourselves as a gift holding the goodness of Jesus who is Emmanuel, God-with-us. Like Jesus, we can give from our inner abundance, gifts from the heart. Moments lovingly spent with another through prayer or through personal presence carry more beauty and have more endurance than anything material we could give. What greater gifts could we share than ones that reflect the one Great Love we have known in the person of Jesus: our care and concern, our hope, our joy, our understanding and forgiveness, our kindness, our patience?

When I think of my hurried pace of life, I see myself as deeply entrenched in my western culture. I look at how Advent gets lost in "the Christmas rush". The messages are all around me: "Buy this and you will be happy; buy that and you will prove your love." Sharing presence is hard to do in a culture that keeps promoting material things as a sign of how much we love others. Sharing presence is difficult in an environment that encourages us to be as busy as possible so that we will be rich, successful, and important---and able to buy more things.
When we are busy, rushed, and pressed it is easy to miss awareness and union with those around us and with those in our larger world. Advent is a good season to be more deliberate in sharing the present of our presence every day. It may be through a phone call, a letter, a visit, or through the bonding of prayer as we focus love and attention toward those who need the strength of God to be with them.

The following are suggestions for "being with" others during Advent, one for each of the twenty-five days before Christmas. You may think of other ways to share your presence in order to deliberately choose "being" over "doing". When the feast of Christmas arrives may you be more aware of the power of Emmanuel's presence within you and your ability to warm the lives of others because of the Gift of Love.

Taken from Out of the Ordinary, copyright 2000, by Joyce Rupp. Used by Permission of Ave Maria Press. All rights reserved.

Suggestions for Giving the Present of Presence

Here are two possible ways to be with someone: (a) be physically present with another or (b) be present "in spirit" by deliberately sending prayer, compassionate thoughts, and kind feelings toward another person or group. Either approach could be appropriate for each of the following suggestions.

Be with someone who needs you.
Be with a person who gives you hope
Be with those who live in terror and fear.
Be with an older person.
Be with someone who has helped you to grow.
Be with one who is in pain.
Be with a war-torn country.
Be with yourself.
Be with someone who has written to you.
Be with a child.
Be with a refugee who is fleeing from harm.
Be with an enemy or someone you dislike.
Be with a farmer losing his or her land.
Be with someone who has terminal illness.
Be with the homeless.
Be with those who suffer from substance abuse.
Be with hungry children.
Be with a coworker.
Be with those whose hope is faint.
Be with world leaders.
Be with someone in your family.
Be with men and women in prison.

Be with someone working for justice.
Be with those who are abused and neglected.
Be with your loved ones.

Taken from Out of the Ordinary, copyright 2000, by Joyce Rupp. Used by Permission of Ave Maria Press. All rights reserved.

Submitted by Vicky Shreve

November 27 Devotion

Light in a Bulb

The God who said, "Out of darkness the light shall shine!" is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts, to bring us the knowledge of God's glory shining in the face of Christ."
--II Corinthians 4:6

"I have something I need you to help me with," I said to the E.T. Jones Sunday School Class, which I was teaching, one late winter morning. It is always a little daunting for me to attempt to teach this class which includes my parents and a number of men and women who were my Sunday School teachers and church leaders as I grew up in Johnson Memorial; people I have looked up to and respected my whole life.

I produced a flower pot with a stalk protruding out of a large bulb. "I have several amaryllis bulbs," I continued. "I grow them in the winter, then put the bulbs into the ground over the summer to nourish them. When fall comes I take them out of the ground, put them in a paper bag and store them in the basement. This year I completely forgot to take them back out and plant and water them and put them in a sunny window. The other day I was in my laundry room when I noticed a stalk with a large bud growing out of the paper bag. When I looked in the bag, all of the bulbs, which had been in complete darkness with no water were sprouting. I know there's a moral in this, but I can't come up with it. What do you think?"

Karleen Warnock, a lovely lady of my mother's generation, replied, "The light was in the bulb all the time."

Wow! What a thought. The light was in the bulb all the time. That was so simple and deep at the same time. I have thought a lot about her words. Is God's light in all of us; in all of creation? I John 1:5 states, "Now the message that we have heard from his Son and announce is this: God is light and there is no darkness at all in him."

While I can readily see the light in many people, I also ponder if there is light in a child molester or a terrorist? Jesus saw the light in the thief next to him on the cross. The light, just as the amaryllis bulbs, needs to be encouraged and nourished. What should we, as Christians, do to nurture the light in others?

During this Advent season, as we await the "light of the world," I suggest we (1) look for the light in others, (2) help to nurture the light of those around us, and (3) let our "light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:16).
I also suggest you get an amaryllis bulb! They're fun to grow, pleasant to see, and a reminder of God's light. The beautiful flower growing out of an ugly bulb is also a reminder of resurrection.

"I am the light of the world," He said. "Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness."
--John 8:12
Anita Gardner Farrell

Sunday Evening

For Today, Oh Lord, hear our prayer. For Today apply thy strength and wisdom to our weary grasp, and pull us from the clutches of evil. Deliver thy children from the devastation and loss and open the gates of thy heart and allow the love you hold for each of us, to drown us in thy goodness. Today, Oh Lord, my neighbor reached out for me. Beyond the murk and the mud, beyond the smell of death that floated between my heart and theirs, beyond the miles that once separated us, and they wrapped me, oh Lord, in the comfort and loving grace of your family. They welcomed us all with open arms like a soldier returning from a defeated battle. I was broken, weary, and lost. My soul could not be lifted, because the pain weighed so great on my heart. I was broken, beaten, and placed in a hell that will not soon be forgotten. Yet, in the mist of the last rains to fall, I looked up and my family walked towards me and my face, Oh Lord, began to shine again. The Lord of hosts has gathered unto me my household. From every walk of life they have returned to gather the lost sheep and bring them home to their father. For today, oh Lord, my face will forever shine for the mercy and brotherly love my nation poured onto me and my family. Give ear, O shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock: thou that dwellest between the cherubims, SHINE FORTH! To every soul lost or found in the flooded ravages of Mississippi….. you are loved! Go forth unto all the corners of the Earth and bless God for he has delivered you and called you by name to LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Stephanie Geneseo

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Have a blessed Advent season!

Kim