Advent Devotionals 2022

Read along with our community this Advent Season.

As you read, let the Holy Spirit speak through the words of our community members. Try your best to complete the action at the end of each reading.

Don’t stress if you miss a day. God will speak to you if you keep an open heart.

Week 1 Devotionals

Week 2 Devotionals

Week 3 Devotionals

Day 22 - Fear Not

Maybe it’s because of what I do for a living, but when I look at the birth of Jesus, I see anxiety. A young girl tells an angel that she is willing to follow God’ plan. We sho her in our nativity plays as a serene, peaceful teen. She had just seen an angel! And agreed to have a baby! I imagine her as a teenager, anxiety stricken, wondering, “What did I just do?” How did she get from there to being a woman who visits her aunt and rejoices? A young man makes plans to divorce his fiancée quietly until an angel visits him. And then, later, wonders, “What will people think of us?” “How do I explain this to my family?”
The young couple traveling a 90 mile journey by donkey, working, “What if she goes into labor on the road?” We look at people in the Bible and assume that they never struggle with their thoughts and feeling because we see the outcome, not the process. I read the Bethlehem story and have to think that Mary and Joseph, the shepherd and wise men all had thoughts and feelings about their situations, and that those thoughts and feeling were not always peaceful and serene.
The Bible says “fear not” 365 times. Because even folks who saw God in burning bushes were spoken to by angels, and who walked with Jesus himself had to be reminded not to learn on their own understanding, thoughts, and emotions, but to trust the one who created the earth and everything on it.

This has been a scary year. There are lots of unknowns and lots of reasons to be afraid. How do you find your inner peace? The same way that God has been reminding us since the OT. Trust in the Lord, lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him (pray, follow His leading) and He will make your paths straight. Keep reminding yourself of this. When dot wants to creep in. When you think you need to have its ll figured out. When you’re scared and your he’d just wants to remind you of all the things that could go wrong. You don’t have to know what to do. You don’t have to have the answers. All you have to do with be willing to trust and follow, just like Mary, just like Joseph.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

“Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.” Luke 1:29, 30
—Sue Lovelette

What does peace look like to you?

Day 23 - Peace Be With You

Shalom aleichem (Judaism)

As-salamu alaykum (Islam)

Pax Vobiscum (Latin)

Not one verse but many, the beginning of so many New Testament books share with us:“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:2, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Ephesians 1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3, … and more.)

In the traditional Mediterranean greeting, the people would wish peace upon one another. This was likely meant not only to hope for a peaceful life, but to also bring the hope that we each should strive for peace amongst one another. As St. Francis of Assisi prayed, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace…”

We live in a world where true peace seems hard to come by. This holiday season I encourage you to reflect on the idea that we, as followers of Jesus Christ, have access to the One who can fully surround us with a peace that surpasses all understanding. No matter what circumstances you find yourself in, you can know that the God of Peace is with you. Peace… with you.

Our God brings us a quiet confidence. He will guide us through challenges and if we let Him, He will shoulder our anxieties, anger, or fear. Our challenges can be with others or with ourselves. Look in the mirror and offer yourself peace for the day.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you you John 14:27

Action: Try greeting those around you with words similar to “Peace be with you.” See how it makes you feel, how it makes them feel, and what conversation it might start.

—Sarah Grant

Day 24 - The Prince of Peace

It seems that for me, Christmas has always been a time of extra business. It’s hard for me to be calm in the chaos of Christmas. Whether it’s buying one more gift, attending one more social event, one more person to see or anything else that takes extra time and energy. Don’t get me wrong, I love to be with people and I love to have things to do (especially if they’re fun and enjoyable).

But the peace that Jesus offers us is something more than just a physical relaxation or a feeling of tranquility.

Jesus is called the Prince of Peace for an important reason. “Prince" means commander, ruler, leader, or captain. And Jesus is the only one who can not only help us to overcome all obstacles, but can give our lives real meaning and purpose. He is a leader - a ruler - that not only understands us, but has the wisdom, resources, and words that can lead us to true peace. As we spend more and more time with the Lord, we realize that He has everything under control and He’s working everything out for our good.

So, this Christmas, instead of fretting about presents you must purchase, people you must please, and parties you must plan, think of the One you need most: focus on the Prince of Peace.
—Pastor Bruce

Action: Choose one thing that causes you a lack of peace during this season. How can you let Jesus be the true Prince of Peace in this area of your life this season?

Day 26 - The disruptive peace of Jesus

In Israel's story, we see God's shalom as a direct alternative to the order of Pharaoh in the Exodus stories and to the progress of Babylon in the exile stories. As we enter the Jesus stories in the gospels, we see God's shalom as a direct alternative to the order of Rome. The Pax Romana was an oxymoron of Orwellian proportions. So when we hear the word "peace" in the New Testament, we should see the big vision of God's good and beautiful world that is fiercely subversive to the human political systems. When Jesus uses the word "peace," it's not because he's kind or conflict-avoidant. It's because he's the rightful king and he's asserting his authority and reign in enemy territory.

The writer of Luke particularly likes the word "peace." When Jesus sends the 72, the sermon he tells them to give is "May God's peace be on this house!" Jesus laments the Palm Sunday parade with the words, "How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace." When the risen Jesus first reveals himself to all the disciples, he says, "Peace be with you!"

The word peace features most prominently in Luke at the beginning of the events of Holy Week, after the resurrection, and at the very beginning of the story: the stories involving Jesus' birth. Zechariah concludes his song of praise with, "to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace." And then, when the angels disrupt the quiet night of the shepherds, they gloriously proclaim, "Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” That is indeed extraordinary good news.

God is coming with a peace that will finally make everything right. Where there are pain and suffering, God's peace is coming. Where there are desperate cries for freedom from oppression, God's peace is coming. Where there are loneliness and sadness, God's peace is coming.

And so during Advent, we boldly recognize all of the places that our world is not peaceful. We light a flame to remember, that along with God's hope, God's faith, and God's joy, God's peace is on the way to disrupt all of the un-shalom we see around us.

It's almost here. Are you ready?

—Peter White

https://www.thesabbathlife.com/mission-church/disruptive-peace-advent

Question: How do you see the peace that Jesus offers differing from the idea of “peace” in this culture?

Day 25 - Dirt Creatures

Psalm 8:3-5
When I consider your heavens,

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,

human beings that you care for them?
You have made them a little lower than the angels

and crowned them with glory and honor.

We are dirt creatures. That might not have been the point of the lesson, but it was the takeaway. In the Garden, God formed us out of the dust of the ground. Basically, we are mud pies. Dirt creatures.

Yet, He made us to be a little lower than the angels. He made us to live eternally with Him. To be citizens of Heaven. That should impact how we live our lives. But does it? Heaven isn’t in our future. It is our present. Jesus showed us, physically, that heaven is on earth. Not just when he was living in a human body, but always.

This fact should permeate us with great and abiding peace. The fact that we, created from the dust of the earth, and yet are creatures created by God to steward his creation. People who have an everlasting soul, and are invited by the Creator of the Universe to join in his plans. When we get lost in the pressures and trials of our day-to-day life, how wonderful to know I can choose to stop Take a breath. And breathe in the peace that passes understanding as a child of the living God, and as a sibling to God incarnate - Jesus.
—Sally Eilersen

Action: Today, be conscious of peace that waits us if we only look. Remember you are a “dirt creature,” but because of God, you are so very much more. Reflect on how that makes you feel in a journal

Day 20 & 21 - Selah

No matter what you go through we can whisper this simple truth: "Jesus is with me." Think about it. He is with you in your greatest victories and your most humiliating defeats. Jesus is with you at all times in all things.

How to Choose Peace Today

Share: Invite each family member to share one thing that they're trusting God to handle.

Encourage: Write a note to someone who is experiencing fear and worry. Let them know you're praying that God will give them the courage they need.

Evaluate: Make an inventory of the things that trouble your heart.

Express: Journal, share, pray, call out to God about these things. Use the following verses (and many others) to hear how God promises peace in the midst of our troubling times.

Philippians 4: 6, 7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Isaiah 12: 2 “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense ; he has become my salvation.”

Colossians 3:15 “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”

Romans 8:6 “The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.”

Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”

Prayer:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is discord, union.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
Where there is injury, pardon.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

— Prayer for Peace of St. Francis of Assisi

Hymns of Peace:

“I head the bells on Christmas Day”

“Silent Night”

“In the Bleak Midwinter”

“The First Noel”

How or when do you feel at peace? As we approach Christmas on Sunday, what ways can you share those actions of peace with those closest to you this year?

Week 4