Hope
Nov. 30 Beth Solie
Dec. 1 Stella Sieber
2 Ann Stuntz
3 Lowrie Beacham
4 Abby Demarest
5 Steve Hinkle
6 Janise Smith
Preparation
7 Beth Solie
8 JD Bartkovich
9 Karl Umble
10 Griff Gatewood
11 John Inazu
12 Lauren Holahan
13 Paul Immanuel
Joy
14 Beth Solie
15 Scott Hawkins
16 Margot Hausmann
17 Gannon & Carey Sims
18 Ann Stuntz
19 Griff Gatewood
20 Dave Stuntz
Incarnation
21 Beth Solie
22 Andy Rowell
23 Doug Dunderdale
24 Ed Henegar
25 Allan Poole
AN INTRODUCTION AND INVITATION
TO ADVENT
Advent is a season of waiting. When I was a child, I knew that meant we were waiting for Christmas to come so we could open our presents. Now that I am older, I realize it is about waiting for Jesus to come into my life more fully. It is about waiting for Jesus to come again, finally.
As I have gotten older, I have also come to treasure that we wait together. I am excited about Christmas coming because we will be together, in our families, and also together as a congregation.
This Advent booklet is written by us. It is written by Blacknall. It is written to be shared together, so that we can wait together. Whether you use this booklet each night with family gathered around or if you use it all alone, we share these thoughts and prayers together. May it provoke conversation among us. May it encourage us to share our hearts with one another.
The booklet is organized according to the themes of Hope, Preparation, Joy, and Incarnation. Each day has a suggested scripture reading, a devotional thought, and a prayer. Each Sunday in Advent has a devotion by Beth Solie that is based on the Godly Play lesson that our children will be doing in church that day. It is our desire that we will be sharing this Advent, together.
Feel free to use this devotional in whatever way that fits for you. Here is a suggestion of how you can use the devotional in a time of worship each day.
Opening Prayer
Light the appropriate candle(s) on the Advent Wreath
Sing a favorite Advent hymn or carol
Read the scripture lesson for the day
Read the day’s devotion
Sing a favorite Advent hymn or carol
Closing Prayer
If you are interested in an alternative way to celebrate Christmas that includes less buying stuff and more of a focus on Christ then consider checking out this website: www.AdventConspiracy.org and click on the short video on the homepage. Together we can do Advent differently.
David Dunderdale
Hope – Sunday, November 30 25 days to Christmas
Opening Prayer: Almighty God, who came to us long ago in the birth of Jesus Christ, be born in us anew today by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Light the first candle
Read: Isaiah 11:1-9
It is now the time, in the calendar of the church year, for the color purple. Purple is the color of kings. Purple is a serious color, and something serious is about to happen. A King is coming, but he is not the kind of king that people thought was coming. This King had no army, no great house, and no riches. This King was a baby who was born in a barn.
The King who was coming is still coming. This is full of hope. This is full of mystery. You know, a mystery is hard to enter sometimes. That is why this time of Advent is so important. Sometimes people can walk right through a mystery and not even know it is there. This time of year you will see people hurrying in the malls buying things and doing this and that, but they will miss the Mystery. They don’t know how to get ready or maybe they just forgot.
The Church learned a long time ago that people need a way to get ready to enter or even come close to a mystery like Christmas. The Church set aside four weeks to get ready. This is such a great Mystery that it takes that long to get ready. During this time, we are all on the way to Bethlehem. We are all making the journey. We are all getting ready to enter the Mystery of Christmas. It was not just back then. It is also now.
Prophets are people who come so close to God, and God comes so close to them, that they know what is most important. They pointed the way to Bethlehem. They didn’t know exactly what was going to happen there, but they knew this was the place. “Stop. Watch. Pay attention. Something incredible is going to happen in Bethlehem!” The prophets told us to Hope, to Hope that the King was coming. He did come, and He is still coming. When we light this candle, we remember to Hope. Take time to wonder together about Hope, about the Prophets, about the Mystery, about the King!
Prayer: Father God, our Hope is in You! Thank You for the Prophets who pointed the way so long ago. Thank You for the King who has come, and who is still coming. Please help us to prepare with Hope to greet that King. What a wonderful, hopeful Mystery! Amen. Beth Solie
Hope – Monday, December 1 24 days to Christmas
Opening Prayer: God help us, we pray, to make a way for you in our busy lives. Help us to see your light and love in our world. Amen
Light the first candle
Read: Isaiah 11 and Luke 10: 21-29 (The Message)
This is the first week of Advent. We have gathered here to think about Jesus and His coming into our world. Jesus is like a light that shines on us and shows us the way out of darkness. Jesus’ teachings are like a light to show us the way to live. We want to get ourselves ready for Jesus to come into our lives, into our hearts this Christmas. [Ask family members] What are some special things we can do to get ready this Christmas? Or, How can we be a light to others?
I am looking forward to a different mood and focus this Christmas season. I am hoping that the changes in our economy and the wars raging elsewhere will trigger an overflow of our Thanksgiving holiday...carrying the mind-set of thankfulness into the Christmas season. One where we will be grateful and let peace permeate our thoughts and actions. Instead of worrying about money or gifts or filling our schedule to the brim with every imaginable holiday activity, ask the Lord to rule in our hearts this holiday season. Ask him to act on our Missional Church emphasis. May we allow God to use us to bless someone in need this year.
If it is a clear night, go out and look at the stars. Begin to talk about this special light that led the way to the place of Jesus’ birth.
Prayer: Dear God, we ask you to be with us as we prepare for Christmas. Help us to enjoy this time of waiting. Help us to care for others as you care for us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Stella Sieber
Hope – Tuesday, December 2 23 days to Christmas
Opening Prayer: Almighty God, who came to us long ago in the birth of Jesus Christ, be born in us anew today by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Light the first candle
Read: Romans 4:18 and Hebrews 6:19
There was a time in my life when the word “hope” stirred anxiety, insecurity, and sorrow. My belief system was being eroded and what I thought to be foundational was crumbling. That in which I had placed my hope was proving to be false. I had been standing on sinking sand. I was depending on my own understanding and led by my own desires and expectations. I had created a life that could not satisfy that for which I deeply longed. But, God so loved me that He sent His Son into my world, not unlike how He sent Him into the world more than 2000 years ago. Quietly, hidden away from the drama of the world’s demands, Christ entered through the door of rejection, poverty, and humility. He was born a baby, dependent and powerless. Nine months prior he had been dancing in the glory of the Triune God, but He put off His glory and in humility became one of us so that we might discover true hope. He was born for us and in us, into our utter dependence, through our poverty, becoming our weakness. Christ became like us so that we might become like Him. Because He came and made His dwelling place with us, “we now have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.” (Hebrews 6:19) Through the revelation of God in the life of His Son and our lives, His confidence can crowd out anxiety, His assurance can transform our insecurity, and His comfort can soothe our sorrow. In this world that we are passing through, we can live empowered, encouraged, and defined by the living Hope. Though we must wait, we do so expectantly. Now we live in this not yet fully redeemed place, yearning for, watching for, and confidently expecting our hope against all hope to be realized.
Prayer:
Come thou long expected Jesus.
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s Strength and Consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear Desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.
Ann Stuntz
Hope – Wednesday, December 3 22 days to Christmas
Opening Prayer: Almighty God, who came to us long ago in the birth of Jesus Christ, be born in us anew today by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Light the first candle
Read: Psalm 62:5-6; 1 Corinthians 15:19-20
Hope continually springs forth within us. Humans cling to hope – belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one’s life. We hope our next health reports will be good; please, don’t be cancer. We hope the stock market will rise; just, please, don’t keep falling. We hope for justice, especially for ourselves.
Our lives are like roller coasters. There are times of personal happiness and joy and other times of despair and torment. In good times, we hope they continue. In bad times, we hope they end soon if not right now.
When do we feel the need for hope most desperately? In times of despair, want, suffering or persecution. We strive to believe that a better or positive outcome is possible even when all the evidence is against it. The need for hope seems to be incorporated in the human DNA.
Thomas Fuller, a 17th century British scholar and preacher wrote: “If it were not for hopes, the heart would break.” Emily Dickinson concluded that “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tunes without the words and never stops at all.”
We see that hope is a necessity; it is central to the soul. But hope is only wishful thinking, unless it has a firm foundation. That is why we can have genuine hope. God has promised hope to all humankind. In fact, hope has already been delivered. The psalmist recognized this thousands of years ago. “For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.” (Psalm 62:5-6) He needed the hope of God for all eternity and was convinced that God would provide.
God delivered hope in the form of his Son. Paul almost shouts, “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.” (1 Corinthians 15:19-20) With the resurrection of Jesus, we have authentic hope to overcome sin, suffering and injustice. We have the hope of God’s justice and mercy.
Prayer: O God, breathe hope into our hearts, and enable us to welcome you again, this Christmas, with new joy and expectation.
Harry Underwood (an old friend of Lowrie Beacham)
Hope – Thursday, December 4 21 days to Christmas
Opening Prayer: Almighty God, who came to us long ago in the birth of Jesus Christ, be born in us anew today by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Light the first candle
Read: Joshua 1:1-9 (especially v. 9)
This past May, my little brother walked into the surgical wing of Duke Children’s Hospital ready to undergo the second major reconstructive surgery on his head. His first surgery had been when he was only a few months old, and he was carried in by my mother and father. Now, at the age of twelve, things were much different. As he waited in the lobby waiting to be called in, he had a smile on his face that I will never forget; he seemed to have no worries.
The surgery lasted only about an hour or so, opposed to the fifteen hours of his first surgery. As I walked into the recovery room to see him, I found myself trying to hold back the tears as he lay there without a worry. The next time that I would see him would be two days later and all I can remember is watching him trying to play Guitar Hero through barely a millimeter of sight—his eyes were so swollen over from the surgery that he could only see through a sliver of his right eye. He played better that day than I ever have.
I still have not gotten over the first sight of him after his surgery or how perfectly the doctors have shaped his head, but one thing that I will always remember is how strong and courageous he was while I was sitting in the waiting room terrified and discouraged.
In seeing all of this that my little brother has gone through God has shown me to have hope for the future. Hope that I will be able to be like my little brother and be strong and courageous when something comes to tear me down. It is clear that God had a hand on him in the workings of the surgery. It also gave me hope everyday that God has a plan for me just like he has a plan for you.
In this Advent season remember Joshua 1:9 and look on the season as a way to be strong and courageous. When you do not get the new iPhone or you get into an argument with your sister at the table, keep on going even when things just do not turn out the way you plan. Hold close to you the hope that God has a plan for you.