Advent devotions: Hope (12/7/2021)

 Tuesday December 7                          Hope                        Jeremiah 29:11-13

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart.

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The context of this verse is Jeremiah’s letter to the Israelites exiled to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar.  Jeremiah shares words of hope in the midst of hardship and suffering reminding them that although they are not where they expected, God has not forgotten them, He will listen when they call Him and pray to Him.  God is reassuring His people that He is with them and that He loves and cares for them. He has plans for them for a bright future going back to the Promised Land.

Today, God has plans for us along with a future full of hope.  His plan isn’t always what we thought it was going to be but the plan is always best even if we don’t understand it. When God shuts a door, He opens another. It requires us to be a faithful follower to God and to live our lives reflecting out faith. When we experience tough and difficult situations, God promises to be there for us. As a Christian it means going to be with Him for eternity.

Let us pray. The Lord knows the plans He has for us and He is waiting for us to come to Him.  Help us God to seek you in prayer so we can know and honor You. Help us to listen and live responsibly and follow those plans. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Joanne Icken

Advent devotions: Hope (12/6/2021)

 Monday December 6                          Hope                                 Psalm 130:5-7

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;

my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem.

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The Oxford Dictionary defines Hope as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.  I realize that often my hope has time limits. If you are more than fifteen minutes late, I will leave.  What might make me extend those limits... until morning... until next week... next year... another decade?  Who do I trust enough to keep waiting? The Psalmist has hope and trusts in God’s steadfast love... God’s grace.  As we approach the celebration of the Nativity, we are reminded of God’s great love for all humanity.  God’s love through Jesus Christ is the ultimate gift that greets us with love, forgiveness and eternal life. And, God has not, does not and will not disappoint.  Truly God’s love and promise are worth the wait. 

 

Pr. Elaine Berg

Advent devotions: Hope (12/5/2021)

Sunday December 5                            Hope                             Romans 8:18-25

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

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The promise of our Savior has been fulfilled and yet we still wait with hope in our hearts. We hope for peace and justice and brotherhood and safety for ourselves, our loved ones and all of God's beloved.

Our gift of today is not guaranteed so we hope and pray.

Our future in this world is uncertain so we hope and pray.

Our final breath on this earth is certain so we hope and pray.

Hope is a gift and I wish it for all of my family - those of blood, spirit, church and the world.

Dear Lord, please grant us the gift of hope-for all of your gifts that we have yet to receive. Instill in us an openness and willingness to hold onto hope. Let this hope become our strength. I pray this for all of my family - those of blood, spirit, church and the world. Amen.

 

Lois Lawerence

Advent devotions: Peace (12/4/2021)

Saturday December 4                         Peace                                 John 20:19-23

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father h as sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

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May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

When I think on peace, I recall that my grandfather, Jesse, was most steadfastly dedicated to peace among family and community above all. Especially, I recall his devotion to Scripture and he often quizzed my mother on it as a child. Generations of devotion have come and gone, and it is my turn to keep the Peace of God in my prayer and meditation. It is especially difficult in today’s stress and rush to “get things over with” before they have barely presented themselves. Thanksgiving begins at Halloween; Christmas begins at Thanksgiving; Valentine’s Day comes on the New Year. The pressures are great. Yet, how must the disciples have worried about their safety, faced with the antagonism toward their faith. Then comes Our Master, the Shepherd of the Sheep, to call them back to recall the faith that assures us all that He is with us, “even to the end of the world.” I am incredibly comforted to remember that Christ is with us, surrounding us with His everlasting love. See how Jesus commands us to spread this Peace and Grace in our daily lives. This is true Christianity for me. I know He is there for comfort, courage, and to uplift from our daily struggles. Forgiveness is paramount in witnessing divine Peace.

Prayer:  Holy Father, King and Comforter of the weary, worried, and struggling, we thank Thee for Thy never-ceasing Peace and Love. We are so grateful for the most precious gift of Your Son and we wait with the greatest anticipation for the Epiphany of Your dear Son to be born anew in our hearts. Amen

Franklyn Commisso

Advent devotions: Peace (12/3/2021)

 

Friday December 3                               Peace                                 James 3:17-18

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.

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The night was quiet.  I sighed as I settled into my chair.  Quiet, but peaceful?  Did I feel at peace?  More than the absence of activity or conflict, peace eluded me.  Nothing was wrong per se, but was I peaceful?  What does that even mean?

“Wisdom from above is…peaceable” the author declares.  Am I not wise enough to find peace?  My thoughts too muddled and filled?  If I try to rely purely on myself to achieve some semblance of peace, I find myself sorely lacking.

Wisdom comes when we see our own limitations and see that peace that surpasses all understanding comes from Christ.  Peace is more than quietness or a lack of conflict.  Peace – particularly in the biblical sense – is about wholeness (Hebrew: shalom).  It is seeing and experiencing the fullness of life that God intends for each one of us as well as the whole of creation.

This first week of Advent, we focus on “peace” and we find that we cannot conjure it on our own.  Peace is that which God created as his Spirit brought life from the chaos.  God breathed peace into our lungs, filling us with that sense of purpose and meaning, of completeness.

Wisdom invites us back to that peace, back to the moment of creation when God’s Spirit breathed peace upon the world.  

Pray: Take a moment, pausing to take a deep breath in, reflecting on the words “the peace of the Lord be with you always”.  Breathe in those words; be filled with God’s breath that brings peace, that brings wholeness.  And as you release your breath – “and also with you” – release that peace back out into the world, praying that the peace of Christ may again dwell within all people.   Repeat now…and later… and whenever you wisely seek a true sense of peace for yourself and the world.

Pastor Jen Boyd

Advent devotions: Peace (12/2/2021)

 

Thursday December 2                         Peace                                 Psalm 85:8-13

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.

Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.

Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.

Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky.

The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.

Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps.

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PEACE

Peace is something we always think about when we are stressed out and in a position of not knowing what will happen next. Being at Peace within ourselves is the best and only way to go. For our family this will be the first time in a few years that we will be together for Thanksgiving and I am so looking forward to our family gathering. It is Righteousness that will keep us together as a family forever and ever. Praise to the Lord.

Prayer: Dear Lord, May the Peace of our Lord and Savior be with us each and every day. During these times we are going through we shout to the Lord to watch over us each and every day. So many things have affected us during this past few years and we are so glad that the Lord is with us and helping us through these times. We should never give up and keep the Lord in our hearts and minds. In Jesus Name we pray. Amen

 

Ken Mongold

Advent Devotions: Peace (12/1/2021)

 

Wednesday December 1                   Peace                           Philippians 4:7-9

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

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“As a man thinketh!” he said to me. I must have had a puzzled look on my face because he said to me, “It’s in the Bible. As a man thinketh, so is he.*” He was explaining to me how important it is to think the right way and how the way we think determines the way we behave. Now that was an idea I could understand! I had often heard and expressed the same idea myself. The sentiment is not quite the same as, “Look on the bright side.” It’s more about developing a consistent habit of taking a balanced and hopeful view that is also grounded in reality. My friend Deacon Bill Bello would express it this way, “Every challenge is an opportunity.” This way of looking at life and its challenges… I mean, opportunities, has helped me greatly. Especially in what we as God’s people throughout the world have experienced recently, attitude and outlook are so important to embracing the future with faith, determination, and courage.

It seems like St. Paul was on to much the same thing in our passage from the Bible for today. “Whatever is true, honorable, just, etc. … think about these things.” St. Paul encouraged the Philippian Christians with these words not as a philosophical exercise but to help them live more hopeful, faithful lives as disciples of Jesus. He was encouraging them not just to think but to live like Christ in their communities. After all, he wanted them to follow his example and “do the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me” which Paul, in turn, learned from Jesus, the perfect example.

In this season of Advent, we are presented again with the opportunity to “thinketh” and reflect on Christ’s presence in our hearts and spirits and what that means for daily living. For as we think, so we are more likely to do.

 

Let us pray. Loving God, in this season you invite us again to prepare our hearts and minds to recognize your holy presence in our world, a presence which turns challenges into opportunities. Remind us that thoughts matter. Help us to keep our thoughts focused on your love and transformative grace that we might live like Christ more and more each day and know that you, the God of peace, are with us. In the precious name of Jesus, Amen.

 

*For those Bible scholars among you, I looked up the verse. It’s Proverbs 23:7 which reads, in the New Revised Standard Version, “like a hair in the throat, so are they.” Hardly the same! But the footnote says, “meaning of Heb[rew] uncertain.” The translators of the King James Version opted for “as a man thinketh” to clear up the uncertainty.

 

Bishop Paul Egensteiner