Advent Devotions: The Manger vs. The Mall

For the Third Sunday of Advent our Devotional is "Encountering God in the Checkout Aisle: Finding the Manger Amidst the Madness of the Mall." An excerpt:

Every year around this time, I have a familiar experience. I'm out shopping, and I'll go through the checkout line, and pay for my stuff. When the cashier hands me back the change, they'll say "Happy holidays," or perhaps even "Merry Christmas." I'm aware that they may be saying this because they've been told to, and suspicious of the whole business. But at least once every year, I have a cashier who looks me in the eye and says "Merry Christmas," and really means it. And it changes my whole day.

Read the rest at our Advent Devotions pages. We're featuring a different Advent Devotional on each Sunday of Advent, closing the series on Dec. 23. We hope these meditations will be a blessing to you!

 Posted by RichM at 03:25 PM | Link to this article | Get Posts by Email

Advent Devotions: The Messiah's Mom

There was plenty in the Old Testament about the Messiah, but not a word about being the Messiah's Mom. So when Gabriel appears to Mary to deliver the news about her role in God's plan, the young girl has no Scriptural or historical playbook to work from. We can try to imagine ourselves in Mary's shoes, but I don't expect we can ever really grasp the enormity of her situation. Mary must have known there could be problems. But rather than focusing on the size of her problems, she chose to trust in the size of her God. You can read our entire Advent Devotional on Mary for additional reflection.

We're featuring a different Advent Devotional on each of the next five Sundays, closing the series on Dec. 23. Our first devotional focused on Zechariah and his visit from Gabriel. We hope these meditations will be a blessing to you!

 Posted by RichM at 10:54 PM | Link to this article | Get Posts by Email

Advent Devotions: Zechariah

What would happen if one morning, during the middle of your daily routine, an angel appeared and told you that God had a plan that would completely change your life?

Zechariah's dilemma is recounted by Luke in Chapter 1 of his Gospel. How would you respond? That's the subject of the first of our Advent Devotions, titled simply "Zechariah." We hope these meditations will be a blessing to you!

 Posted by RichM at 09:08 PM | Link to this article | Get Posts by Email

Advent Devotions: Is God Your Co-Pilot

For the Second Sunday of Advent our Devotional is "Switch Seats." An excerpt:

There's a company that makes T-shirts with spiritual themes. One of them shows an airplane being flown by a frantic pilot. The shirt says "If God is your co-pilot, switch seats." That's a statement that's simple, but sort of sums up our struggle. We often talk about how faith is hard. But I believe a certain amount of faith is really not difficult at all. It's not hard to acknowledge God. And I don't think it's hard for me to make God my co-pilot. Like this: "God, you keep an eye on the horizon and the dials and gauges while I fly the plane. But you be ready in case a storm comes up or we lose an engine or the wing falls off, because then I'm gonna need you to save the day."

Read the rest at our Advent Devotions pages. We're featuring a different Advent Devotional on each Sunday of Advent, closing the series on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24. We hope these meditations will be a blessing to you!

 Posted by RichM at 09:00 PM | Link to this article | Get Posts by Email