2015 Advent Devotions (12/4/15)

12/4/2015 Friday

Psalm 119      A Psalm About God’s Faithfulness

We are all on the path of spiritual journey. Sometimes we stumble, sometimes we stray. Yet God is always with us with his steadfast love; always welcoming us back to the path. Each one of us is beloved and unique: “Your hands have made and fashioned me.” (v. 73). The psalmist asks for understanding and writes that “your teaching is my delight” (v. 77). The word “delight” resonates because God’s word is the light guiding us through the darkness and the perils of the journey. Bible study thus becomes more than a critical reading for meaning. It is the recognition of God’s love for us and his desire for a deepening relationship with us, and a call for our undivided loyalty to him. We desire to follow the path of righteous living.

With my whole heart I seek you;

do not let me stray from your commandments. (v. 10)

Give me understanding, that I may keep your law

and observe it with my whole heart (v. 34)

Joan Bradley

2015 Advent Devotions (12/3/15)

12/3/2015 Thursday

Daniel 6      Daniel’s Life is Threatened

This chapter lifts up the familiar image and story about Daniel in the lion’s den. Yet, while this story is very familiar, it is not often that we read the entire episode and what led up to it. The story’s focus is on Daniel’s disobedience to the law of the land (only paying homage to the Persian king) as he obeyed the law of his faith. Through jealousy and trickery, King Darius is set up so that Daniel is punished, though Darius had great respect for him.

What I found interesting in re-reading this story is actually the role and faith of Darius. Though he is “forced” by the law to punish Daniel, he does all he can to forestall this act. Then when that doesn’t work, he offers words of blessing before the den is sealed, “May your God, whom you faithfully serve, deliver you!” After the den is closed, Darius spends a sleepless night fasting. Darius, though a foreign king, prayerfully intercedes for Daniel. He is a different model of faith than one would expect.

So often in scripture, we find that God works in the least likely people and in the most unlikely places. While we may see many of these biblical figures as heroes, they are still less than perfect and very human. Yet God works in wonderful and marvelous ways where we least expect it.

Who have been unexpected examples of faith in your life?

  Where have you seen God at work in unexpected places?

Prayer: O come, though long expected Jesus in unexpected ways. Open our hearts and eyes to see you in new ways. Move our lives in ways beyond the conventions of the day so that Your gracious love may rise unexpectedly through your people. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.

Pastor Jennifer Boyd

2015 Advent Devotions (12/2/15)

12/2/2015 Wednesday

Daniel 3      A Command to Worship a False God

Our God is amazing and what He teaches us NEVER goes to waste. He wants us to share the “AH HA” moments–when the Holy Spirit reveals something we hadn’t “seen” before–with each other thus encouraging each other as well as helping our faith become “Furnace Ready.”

I say this with full assurance. I had just returned a couple weeks ago from a Women’s Retreat where the Pastor and his wife both spoke re: this particular Bible passage. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego lived a life of “CHOOSING GOD.” Because it was evident in both who they were as well as their actions, they were persecuted (like millions still today). However, they stayed the course. When given the option, they CHOSE GOD, knowing full well the consequences of said choice. They had “FURNACE READY FAITH.”

Now, there’s another part that was especially profound. It’s Daniel 3:17-18, especially verse 18. In verse 17, they extol God saying that He’s able to deliver them. The eye-opener, so to speak, came in 2 words in verse 18, “…even if…”God’s able to deliver them, but “EVEN IF” He didn’t, they still CHOSE GOD!

So, what’s our “EVEN IF”–family, finances, employment, health, etc.? There are many “EVEN Ifs”, but only ONE GOD! Will we, like the friends in Daniel 3, have “FURNACE READY FAITH?” Will we CHOOSE GOD “EVEN IF” (whatever our personal “Even If” might be)?

Dear God, I pray as we study Your Word and read the story of these friends in Daniel 3, that our spirits become encouraged. May we stand firm like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in whatever our “furnace” may be and CHOOSE YOU! May our hearts be at peace as we come to the place of KNOWING You can deliver us, but “EVEN IF” You do not, we STILL CHOOSE YOU! Thank You, O God, for the testimony of these men of faith.

In Jesus’ Holy and Mighty Name, we pray. AMEN!

Deb Lyon

2015 Advent Devotions (12/1/15)

12/1/2015 Tuesday

Daniel 2      A Harsh King’s Dream

Daniel went back to tell his friends that he had been granted time by King Nebuchadnezzar to determine the king’s dream and its interpretation. At once they began to “desire mercies of the God of heaven.” That’s a long way of saying that they began to pray. Daniel’s confidence was in God, so he immediately sought communion with the Lord. God’s special servants are people of prayer. Daniel could have depended on his righteous character and his gift of interpreting dreams and visions, but he depended on God. He didn’t expect to receive what he needed without prayer. He depended on God’s mercy. He didn’t look to men’s wisdom or in dream books; he got on his knees. God’s men and women in a crisis don’t take their troubles to other people; they take them to God. We may ask other people to pray with us as Daniel did, but we know God is the source.

And when God revealed His secret to Daniel in the middle of that night of prayer, Daniel praised God. Daniel thanked God.

Let us pray:

God of heaven, you rule over all creation. You are wise and powerful, and you are the source of all wisdom and understanding. I will praise and honor you forever and ever. Amen

Lynn Byrnes

2015 Advent Devotions (11/30/15)

11/30/2015 Monday

Daniel 1      Daniel, a Man of Faith

The book of Daniel opens with the besieging of Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 597BC. Ten years later he destroyed the city and exiled many of its inhabitants to Babylon. Daniel was one of a number of young men chosen to serve in the King’s palace. They were to be taught the literature and language the Chaldeans (ruling social class) and educated for 3 years. In short, they were to be assimilated into the culture of which they were now a part. Daniel was renamed Belteshazzar, and you may recall his companions Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo. This is what conquering nations have done for centuries. Taken the best from the conquered lands and assimilated them into their own society. It’s even the stuff of science fiction. Remember the Borg in Star Trek? “Your culture will adapt to serve us. Resistance is futile.”

But Daniel and his companions would not adapt. We read in chapter 1, “Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal rations of food and wine…” Remember, these guys were kosher. They considered some of the foods that they were being fed unclean. So Daniel asked his guard, “Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink.” Maybe these guys were the first vegetarians. But in any case, they chose to follow their traditions rather than conform, and they thrived! Later we read that, “In every matter of wisdom and understanding … the king found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.”

Daniel and his companions took their chances. Later in chapter 6 Daniel is thrown into the lion’s den and in chapter 3, his buddies, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo are thrown into the fiery furnace. Following God can be dangerous.

What does it mean to be assimilated into the American culture of the 21st century? It can be argued that “contemporary Christianity” has become complacent and that “moralistic therapeutic deism” has replaced Christianity as the dominant religion. Moralistic because it says we’re supposed to be “good”; therapeutic because it says that God just wants us to be happy; and deistic because it does believe in a god, although it be one that demands little of us. But there have always been those who refuse to be assimilated. Resistance is not futile, but neither is it easy. Sometimes we don’t like those who resist because they make us uncomfortable. Sometimes we see them as heroes or special people. But much more often they are just ordinary people like us, who put their trust in God and so can do extraordinary things.

Deacon Charlie Germain

2015 Advent Devotions (11/29/15)

11/29/2015 Sunday

2 Kings 22:1-20, 23:1-3      A Forgotten Bible Found

Josiah, King of Judah, leads a people who have fallen away from the knowledge of the scriptures that form the basis of Judaism. He takes on the task of repairing the temple in Jerusalem that had been damaged during the siege by Assyria several generations earlier. During the repairs, the royal secretary delivers a “book” that the high priest had found as the carpenters and masons did their work. Reading the book, he discovered that it was a book of the Law, most likely a part of the Torah, or what we know now as the first five books of the Old Testament that formed the basis of Judaic law. On hearing this book read to him, Josiah is moved to a spiritual reformation, as indicated by the tearing of his clothes, and is committed to re-forming the worship life of his people around the scripture. The people of God were not familiar with their story because it had been “locked up” behind the temple doors – it had not been taught to the people or preached to the people and they had remained ignorant of it.

Making scripture known has been essential to the growth of faith in many ages. St Jerome translated the bible into Latin in the 4^th century with the hope that it could then be read by the ordinary Christian, but by Luther’s time only the educated could read Latin and in many dioceses, the very act of owning the Bible in a language the common person could read was a crime. A century before Luther, John Wycliffe had been declared a heretic for translating the Bible into English. He escaped the hangman in life, but after he died, his bones were found, burned, and the ashes strewn in the river.

Why all the fuss about reading the Bible? Because those opposed to it know that the Bible is dangerous – it starts revolutions, offers an alternative social imagery that doesn’t take the status quo as adequate or inevitable, and presents a God who wants something better for us and, even more destabilizing, wants something better for our neighbor.

Which brings us to today. While the Bible is no longer gathering dust hidden away in some back room of the temple or church, it may be gathering dust in our own houses! We should not be afraid that we are not competent to read and understand scripture. The Word of God belongs in our hands, not just those of the clergy or experts. And it is still dangerously powerful-when the Holy Spirit gets hold of the Word and the people who read it, walls can come tumbling down, stones can be rolled away, the heavens can be torn asunder, the powerful can be cast down from their thrones and the poor can be fed and the prisoner set free. Sinners can die to themselves and have Christ reborn in them.

Father of the Word, inspire us to read and know our story in the scriptures and use its power to guide our lives to do as you would will. Amen.

(Adapted from the commentary of Pr. Rolf Jacobson, Professor of Old Testament, Luther Seminary, St Paul, MN)

2015 Advent Devotions: An Invitation

This Sunday begins the Season of Advent, the "beginning" of a new Church year.

Using the Narrative Lectionary (www.workingpreacher.org) as our guide for our scripture readings, we will be sharing daily reflections on the suggested Bible readings for the day.

A link will be posted on our Facebook page each day to that day's devotions.  Or if you would like to receive it via email, please contact Pastor Jen.  Paper copies will also be provided in the narthex and in the church office.

We thank all who have shared their faith-filled reflections this year (in order of their deovtions):

Deacon Charlie Germain
Lynn Byrnes
Deb Lyon
Pastor Jen Boyd
Joan Bradley
Ken Mongold
Irene Germain
Franklyn Commisso
Deacon Dorothy Kafalas
Don Icken
Joanne Icken
Mary Beth Commisso
Michael Boyd
Urusala Merolla
Dawn Morello
Arnold Schuff
Jean Schuff