Use this devo as you are able, in whole or in part. Don’t feel compelled to read it all. Simply read and meditate upon whatever catches your attention. The goal is enjoying time with God through His Word and in prayer. Questions about the devotional elements?
What is Advent?
Advent is the four-week season of preparation to celebrate the coming of Jesus at Christmas. This year we will prepare room for Christ in our hearts and lives through daily readings in from Philip Reinder’s Seeking God’s Face and the occasional work of art: a song, a painting, or a poem. Something that will sneak past our usual barriers of noise, hustle and busyness to help cultivate a discerning eye for both our sin and the hope Christ carries with him.
Our hope is that this season of expectant waiting will help us to tap into both our sense that the world is not as it should be AND (a glorious and!) that God in Christ has come down to bring healing and consolation to our broken world and hearts. Advent is a season, then, where we say: All shall be well! Because the true King has come!
Call to Prayer
“The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?” (Ps. 27:1)
Scripture Reading
Read the following passages and then spend a moment in quiet stillness before God.
Readings: Psalm 72:1-2, 8-11 and Luke 3:1-6
Dwelling
Read again slowly…find a word or phrase that catches your eye or moves your heart…slowly repeat it…pray your thoughts, desires, needs, and feelings from your meditation…enjoy the presence of your Lord and Savior.
Free Prayer
- Pray for the wonder of creation
- Pray for the care of creation
Prayer
Father, I am weary of all that is wrong with the world—murder of the innocents, a smeared and wrecked creation, tyrant-oppressed poor, hunger-withered children, exploited women, forgotten elderly, invisible homeless. I long to see that all these enemies—yours and mine—will be, once and for all, condemned, and all things crooked made straight. Set me to making way for your justice with renewed vigor. In Jesus our Deliverer’s name we pray, amen. (prayer based on the Heidelberg Catechism, question 52).
*Prayer borrowed from Philip Reinders’ Seeking God’s Face: Praying with the Bible through the Year
Wonder
Advent begins in the dark. Literally. It is the darkest time of the year. Advent, which begins our church calendar, begins facing this darkness. Advent comes to us as a gift of darkness, emptiness, and says – will you enter this period of waiting with me? Will you pause to remember and recognize your own emptiness and darkness – and practice longing for the light? These works of art invite us to enter into the wonder and waiting for the Light of the World to dawn on Christmas morn.
Behold the Lamb of God by Andrew Peterson
2 ways to hear today’s “Wonder of Advent”
- Listen to Andrew’s album Behold the Lamb of God. It’s hard to encompass exactly what kind of album Andrew has put together. The album covers the wide swath of story and history from God’s creation and covenant promise to Abraham all the way to the birth of Jesus. It’s poetic, at times humorous, and one of my favorite ways to start the Advent season.
- Watch Andrew and friends perform the album LIVE!
This year I want to encourage you to not only take a listen but to also join in as part of the audience! The Behold the Lamb of God concert is being live-streamed TONIGHT from the historic Roman Auditorium in Nashville (if you’ve never been, it’s a dream concert venue and well worth the tour!)This has become a yearly tradition in our home as Laura and I pop some popcorn with the kids and cuddle up on the couch to hear that, once again, the true tall tale of the coming of Christ.
CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO GET ACCESS TO THE LIVESTREAM.
Benediction
“Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” (Ps. 27:14)
