Advent Devotions

Luke 2:8-11 Before these words were spoken, Caesar Augustus was known as “the Savior” for all people and praised by poets, historians and politicians for bringing great peace and order after years of war and chaos. To counter this claim with an assertion of another...

Luke 2: 5-7 Today’s three verses make giving birth sound so easy and effortless. There seems to be so much missing from the telling of Mary’s birth experience. We are preparing for our own “first son,” and have found that there is so much to worry about and consider....

Philippians 2:6-11 Am I ready? The big day is almost here. Have I adequately cleaned the house, purchased the presents, prepped the dinner, and spruced up the spare bedroom for Grammy to stay in tonight? Have I hung enough ornaments on the tree, placed candles and...

Luke 2:1-4 (NRSV) Recalling these familiar verses in Luke reminds us of two different ways we often experience scripture as well as life experiences. For example, just like Luke’s verses, I remember the Panama Canal from 3rd grade by rote recall. But then, when I...

Luke 1:39-56 When Mary visited Elizabeth, there was a stirring within the old woman’s womb. “The babe leaped for joy.” Pregnant women feel movements as the unborn turns inside them and expectant fathers watch with awe when they see the ripple of the mother’s layers of...

Matthew 1:18-23 There is a commercial that features a man in a variety of situations in which he is about to do something he will likely regret afterwards. At each critical juncture, a car horn sounds and he retreats. In one scene we see him playing poker and about to...

Luke 1:30-38 These verses focus on Mary, who was probably a teenage girl and apparently a virgin. Considering Mary from a bio psychosocial perspective she is biologically female, probably not much past the age of puberty, naive and is engaged to a man named Joseph....

Luke 1:26-29 In this short passage, the angel Gabriel goes to Mary to foretell the birth of Jesus. Gabriel begins by excitedly telling Mary she is highly favored by the Lord. Instead of rejoicing, Mary is troubled by his words. Instead of hearing the positive greeting...

Matthew 2:1-2 One of my favorite Christmas books is the Miracle of Christmas by John F. MacArthur, Jr. Every year I go back to the chapter entitled “The People Who Missed Christmas,” where MacArthur writes about all the people of the time and why they missed the...

Zephaniah 3:14-20 It has been difficult for me to relate this passage from Zephaniah to the season of Advent. Yes, it is a song of joy about a loving, forgiving, and even singing God, and I especially like the idea of a singing God, but who does God love, forgive, and...

John 1:1-5, 14 I love this passage, because it is such a poetic interpretation of the story of Christ entering the world. It hints at tangled truths larger than we can easily articulate: God is Word and Word is Light and Light is Being and God is coming into the...

Isaiah 9:2, 6-7 If you love Handel's Messiah as I do, you probably cannot read these words without hearing the soaring chorus based on this passage. Though probably written in the 8th century B.C.E., these words have been embraced by the Christian Church and used as...

Micah 5:2, 4-5a Today’s scripture contains prophesy of Micah that God will bring forth a ruler for Israel, who shall come from Bethlehem and the linage of David. The Gospel writers provide the details of Jesus’ arrival on earth some 500 to 600 years later, including...

Jeremiah 31:31, 33-34 Jeremiah, one of the best-known prophets of the Old Testament, was a man who knew great suffering and sorrow. He preached during one of Israel’s darkest times: the fall of Jerusalem. “The word of the Lord came to me” was his consistent message to...

Isaiah 6:1-13 During the period of mourning following the death of King Uzziah, Isaiah goes to the temple and has a vision of being ushered into the throne room of heaven where God sits in elevated glory. The prophet’s response is a feeling of inadequacy and guilt,...

Isaiah 42:1-4 The words found in Isaiah 42:1-4 constitute a poem through which the writer introduces God’s servant. God chose him, and God delights in him. Therefore, God upholds him. Furthermore, God has placed his spirit upon him to equip him for his ministry. The...

Psalm 40:1-17 When I first read this scripture, I immediately began laughing and knew it was a cruel joke on God’s part to teach me to be more patient. I am not a patient person; it is not in my nature. I am especially intolerant of inefficiency and incompetence. I do...

Malachi 3:1-4 Malachi’s message was spoken to people who had been returned by God from exile, but who had not wholly returned to God. Their priests were not truly messengers of God; their offerings were not worthy. Nonetheless, the message of the Lord delivered by...

Psalm 90 I love a chorus from Psalm 90, "Under His Wings." Looking at Psalm 90 though, I realize how we need to look at it even more with reference to our lives. God is everlasting, "even before the hills were created." We must look at His time, for a thousand years...

Luke 20:41-21:4 In today’s scripture, Jesus is teaching the disciples about giving. He wants them to understand the importance of giving with love and compassion. During this time, the scribes were obsessed with following the law including giving to the church. First...

1 Thessalonians 3:1-13 Our scripture today comes from 1 Thessalonians 3: 1-13. In this chapter, the Apostle Paul gives further evidence of his love for the Thessalonians, reminding them that he sent Timothy to spread the Gospel and to encourage them to be faithful...

Psalm 147:1-11 "Those who sing, pray twice." When Mike mentioned St. Augustine’s quote in a sermon recently, it really struck a chord with me. Having joined River Road’s Chancel Choir in January, I feel very privileged to be surrounded each week by wonderful musical...

Luke 20:9-18 If we take our eyes off our computer screens for a moment and look around us, we are absolutely surrounded. Surrounded with the latest 4G smartphones and the biggest flat screen TVs. Surrounded by charming homes filled with souvenirs and furnishings...

Isaiah 40:1-4 (King James Version) 1. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. 2.  Speak you comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all...

Jeremiah 33:14-18 Advent should be the season of renewed preparation. It is a time that provides Christians an alternative to commercialism that ends the celebration of our Savior’s birth on the very day that celebration should begin. As our world prepares months in...

The Advent/Christmas season is the most wonderful time of the year. Excitement and anticipation fill the air as we approach Christmas day. But before we get to Christmas, our lives will be busy with shopping, cooking, buying presents, mailing cards, decorating and a...