Advent Devotional 12-20-25

Centering Prayer
O God, our God, my God, you are Emmanuel. You are with us. Be with me now, and open my heart to hear your message. Amen.

Please Read
Matthew 1:18-25

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do 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 as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: "Look, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us."  When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Questions to Consider

• When the angel appears to Joseph, the angel says, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.” What do you think Joseph was afraid of?
• As we read this passage, we see that Joseph was a righteous  and considerate man. How hard would it have been for him to do what the angel asked him to do?
• Is God calling you to do something that makes your afraid or that you think would be too hard to do?  How will you respond to God?
• What does it mean to you that the name of the son is to be Emmanuel, meaning “God is with us”?

Closing Prayer
O God, sometimes we are afraid. Help us to respond as Joseph did, with courage in our fear and strength in our worry. In your son’s name, Amen.

Advent Devotional 12-13-25

Centering Prayer 

O God, our God, my God, you are our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Amen. ( inspired by Psalm 46)

Please Read

Luke 1:46b-55

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowly state of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name; indeed, his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.  He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. He has come to the aid of his child Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

Isaiah 35:3-7

Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees.  Say to those who are of a fearful heart, "Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you."  Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be opened; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp; the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

Questions to Consider

• The passage from Luke is known as Mary’s Magnificat. Imagine Mary singing it as she realizes what is happening in her life. What reality of the world around her does she declare needs the intervention of God?
• What does this tell us that God values in her world (and our world)?
• In a world with people desperate for the presence of God, as described in Isaiah 35, how can we say to the fearful, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God.”

Closing Prayer

O God, if you are with us, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Thank you for surrounding us with your love. Amen.    (inspired by Psalm 46)

Advent Devotional 12-6-25

Saturday in Scripture

Centering Prayer

O God, our God, my God, I have calmed and quieted myself. Open my spirit to hear your Word. Amen.  (Inspired by Psalm 131)

Please Read
Isaiah 11:6-10
The wolf shall live with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion will feed together, and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.
They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

Matthew 3:1-3
In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'"

Questions to Consider

1. The kingdom described in Isaiah 6-10 sounds beautiful – the very description of peace. If  the Kingdom of God is now and not yet, do you believe the kingdom as described is possible?
2. Slowly reread Isaiah 6-10 again. Imagine what is described. What gets in the way of this kind of peace?
3. In Matthew, John the Baptist is calling for repentance. He says that the one coming is the one Isaiah described as the voice of one crying out to prepare the way of the Lord.” How can you prepare the way of the Lord so that the peace described in Isaiah 11 can come to be?

Closing Prayer
O God, it is hard for me to imagine peace. Forgive me when I am an obstacle to your work in the world, and help me to prepare a way for you. In your son’s name, Amen.