Advent-Christmastide Devotional 2014.pdf

8/10/2019 Advent-Christmastide Devotional 2014.pdf

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A D V E N T 2 0 1 4

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this dazzling creation, this astonishing salvation, this cascade of blessings ! is allbeing worked out in and under the conditions of our humanity: at picnics andaround dinner tables, in conversations and while walking along roads, in puzzledquestions and homely stories, with blind beggars and suppurating lepers, atweddings and funerals. Everything that Jesus does and says takes place within thelimits and conditions of our humanity. No reworks. No special e ff ects. Yes, thereare miracles, plenty of them. But because for the most part they are so much a partof the fabric of everyday life, very few notice. T e miraculousness of miracle isobscured by the familiarity of the setting, the ordinariness of the people involved.

-Eugene Peterson, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places

You would think that believing that Jesus is God among us would be the hardest

thing. It is not. It turns out that the hardest thing is to believe that God's work !


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I M M A N U E L : G O D W I T H U S

An angel uttered these profound words to Joseph, the man engaged to Mary, who became themother of Jesus. Joseph was a run-of-the-mill Jewish tradesman, who had just gotten engaged toMary, a young woman probably early in her teenage years. What is striking about them as acouple is how incredibly ordinary they were. T ey werent rich. T ey werent powerful. T eywerent even necessarily very religious.

However, it is to this couple that Jesus came. T at is the marvel of Gods grace. In Jesus Christ,God has come to dwell with us in the midst of our very ordinary lives.

During this Advent and Christmas season, we will be considering the many ways in which Goddwells with his people. God is with us; working in us and among us in the midst of our ordinary,day-to-day lives. Yet, we are of en blind to his presence. T is will be a great opportunity to pauseand re-orient our vision to the reality of Gods presence.

H O W T O U S E T H I S B O O K L E T 1T e days leading up to Christmas are lled with distractions. T ere are presents to buy, parties toattend, dinners to plan, cards to send, family to see, songs to sing, movies to watch, and traditionsto follow. We need help to cut through the many distractions this time of year if we are to focusour attention on Jesus.

T is booklet is designed to help you do that. We have created this booklet to be used byindividuals, community groups, couples, small gatherings of friends, and families with children.

Each week will have a couple of scripture passages along with a short meditation. Re ectionquestions will take you deeper into the texts and your own story. In addition, there will becreative activities that will help others, particularly children, to engage in considering and

experiencing Gods presence. Feel free to pick the activities that would be most meaningful foryou and your children. Finally, there will be a song and a prayer for the week.

It is our hope that God will use this booklet to draw you closer to him.

1Adapted from Born a Child and Yet a King from Christ the King Presbyterian Church.

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,and they shall call his name Immanuel

(which means, God with us).

- Matthew 1:20-23


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T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

A D V E N T W E E K O N E

1 A D V E N T W E E K T W O 8

A D V E N T W E E K T H R E E 1 6

A D V E N T W E E K F O U R 2 4

C H R I S T M A S E V E 3 2

C H R I S T M A S T I D E W E E K O N E 3 6

C H R I S T M A S T I D E W E E K T W O 4 4

A C E L E B R AT I O N O F T H E M I D D L E S P A C E 5 2

A D V E N T P L A Y L I S T

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A D V E N T W E E K 1


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F I R S T W E E K I N A D V E N T : G O D W I T H U S I N C R E A T I O N

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. - Genesis 1:31

When it comes to the sordid squalor of the raw material involved in being human, God issurely going to keep his distance from that. We have deep aspirations native to our soulsthat abhor this business of diapers and debts, government taxes and domestic trivia. Weimagine that we were created for higher things, that there is a world of subtle ideas and

ne feelings and exquisite ecstasies for us to cultivate.

Somewhere along the way some of us become convinced that our souls are di ff erent ! acut above the masses, the common herd of philistines that trample the courts of the Lord.We become connoisseurs of the sublime. - Eugene Peterson, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places

'Ordinary' has to be one of the loneliest words in our vocabulary. Who wants a bumpersticker that announces to the neighborhood, 'My child is an ordinary student at BubblingBrook Elementary'? Who wants to be that ordinary person who lives in an ordinary town,is a member of an ordinary church, and has ordinary friends and works an ordinary job?Our life has to count! We have to leave our mark, have a legacy, and make a di ff erence.And all of this should be something that can be managed, measured, and maintained. Wehave to live up to our Facebook pro le. It's one of the newer versions of salvation byworks. - Michael Horton, Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World

NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6TEXT: GENESIS 1 , JOHN 1:14


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Its a profound gift to live in the Northwest and be surrounded by so much beauty. Being in Seattle, we are only minutes away from bodies of water, and the phenomenal views of the Cascades are juston the horizon.

But do you ever think of experiencing the wonder of God's creation with escape in mind? Do you

ever want to get away from the difficulties and drudgery of everyday life? Going east to themountains or heading west to the water is an opportunity to leave an ordinary and trouble-filled lifebehind. In this way, enjoying creation is subtly removed from the grind of daily life.

To be a Christian is to know that God works in his creation. But somehow we believe we have todrive an hour out of town and get into nature to feel his presence.

Though retreats from our ordinary labors and commitments are a significant gift to be enjoyed, whatif we believed that God is at work in all of creation? What if, in addition to being at work in some ofthe more spectacular places to which we escape, God was also at work in creation right under ournoses! in our neighborhoods, apartments, homes, schools and workplaces. What if God waspowerfully at work in the life of your housemate or next-door-neighbor? What if God was at work inthe heart of your co-workers or fellow students?

Consider this section of the creation story (see Horton, pp. 141-2): And God said, Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth. And it was so.(Genesis 1:11)

The creation story tells us how God filled the world with fruits, vegetables, trees, and a wide array ofplant life. Instead of doing this in a spectacular way, he did it in an ordinary way. God used plantsand trees that grew with seeds in them. At the proper time, these seeds would fall to the ground, andgrow over time into more plants and trees that contained even more seeds. God filled the earth witha wide variety of plant life over time, but through a very mundane process. And, it is important tonote that he is still using the same processes to sustain plant life on earth.

This process is all incredibly ordinary. But, if we have eyes of faith, it is all very divine. God is withus in creation, even the very ordinary parts. He is not only at work in a majestic waterfall, but also inthe lives of the people who live in your apartment building or sit in the next cubicle over.

M E D I TAT I O N


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1. Whats the rst thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word ordinary? How mightHortons quote about our discomfort with ordinary impact our ability to encounter God withus in creation?

2. Where have you experienced the wonder of Gods creation? Do you relate to the thoughts aboutescaping to encounter creation? What are the things that tend to distract or obstruct your viewof Gods presence on ordinary days?

3. What do you observe about the process of growth in a tree or ower? How much eff ort isinvolved on the part of the tree or ower to grow? What similarities do you see between growthin creation and our growth as children of God?

4. Ask God to open your eyes and heart to his presence all around you. As you commute to workor walk in your neighborhood or go to the grocery store or put children to bed this week, be on

the lookout for glimpses of Gods presence and beauty. If you can, jot them down each day tore ect on at the end of the week.

Q U E S T I O N S F O R F U R T H E R R E F L E C T I O N


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Supplies needed Advent candles (can be 3 purple, one pink, one white) Basic art and craf supplies Spare cloth or fabrics for costumes

Week 1 Light rst purple hope candle and read bible passages. Af er lighting the rst candle of advent, take two minutes of silence to meditate on Gods work

in creation.

Engaging Creation A walk in the worldtake a walk and name the beauty you encounter. Collect natural things to make collages, mobiles, or wreaths for advent candles.

Take photos of your creation walk and take time to look at them in slideshow form with musicas a group.

Engaging Others Share one thing you love about each person in your group, family, or friends that God has made

them to be.

Engaging Self Adults, write a list of the attributes of yourself you are grateful for.

Children, God Made Me From Love collage: Print a person silhouette and ll it with what youlove about yourself as one of Gods creations.

Engaging T e Story Adults, in the Genesis reading, pick one phrase that speaks to you and repeat in your heart for a

few minutes. Children, read the creation story and supply interpretive action: land, water, plants that grow,

animals that move, people being shaped, God celebrating his works.

Engaging Your Story: Name some things about yourself, your family, or friends that you enjoyed this week. Someones

smile, or laugh, the gif of someones time with you, a body able to run, and play, or o ff ered tocomfort others?

Tell your children stories of their births and how you felt about them coming into the world aspart of your family. Ask your children why God saw Adam and Eve living their lives in the gardenas a good thing. Ask them how they think or feel about how God sees them living in their world?Accept their answers openly and generously.

W O R K I N G T O G E T H E R

Rituals and Engagement activities for individuals, groups, and families.


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O heavenly Father, who has lled the world with beauty:Open our eyes to behold your gracious hand in all your works;that, rejoicing in your whole creation, we may learn to serve you with gladness;for the sake of him through whom all things were made,your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

P R AY E R


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S E C O N D W E E K I N A D V E N T : G O D W I T H U S I N T I M E

DECEMBER 7-13TEXT: GENESIS 2 :1-3 , EXODUS 20:8-1 1 , HEBREWS 4:1-13

Most of the things we need to be most fully alive never come in busyness. T ey grow in

rest. - Mark Buchanan, The Holy Wild: Trusting in the Character of God

'Well, in our country, said Alice, still panting a little, 'you'd generally get to somewhereelseif you run very fast for a long time, as we've been doing.'

'A slow sort of country!' said the Queen. 'Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you

can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at leasttwice as fast as that!'

- Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

T e Lord's Day is not another treadmill, but a day of resting from our works as we bask inhis marvelous grace for our provision and our temporal needs (Hebrews 4:1-5)....On thisholy day, we rest in God's care for our temporal welfare. But even more than that, we rest

in him alone for everlasting life. It is the opportunity to receive a kingdom rather thanbuild one; to be bene ciaries rather than benefactors; to be heirs rather than employees;to be on the receiving end once again of 'the Son of Man [who] came not to be served butto serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many' (Matthew 20:28). We can be still andknow that Yahweh is God (Psalm 46:10).

- Michael Horton, Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World


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Do you have young people in your life? Maybe youre a parent, aunt, uncle or grandparent. Maybeyou just remember what its like to be a kid.

Whats one of the most o f en-repeated phrases to be uttered by kids around the averagehousehold?

Im bored.

Children loathe boredom. Its surfacing in their lives triggers a mild sense of panic.

T e truth is, their parents are afraid of boredom as well. T ey have just developed many skills foravoiding boredom before it happens, and they vaporize it should this unwelcome intruder makeits way into their lives. We have, at our ready disposal, a multi-faceted carnival of distractions.Long hours at work, social media, movies, television, and that ever-faithful friend, the smart

phone.

Yes, these are all good things. But our chronic dependence upon them can betray a deeper, moresinister problem. We have no idea how to rest. We have a dysfunctional relationship with time.When we look to the biblical story, we see a far more appealing relationship with time. Instead ofracing against the clock as we try to "make something" of ourselves in the world, or killing time aswe seek to nd some tiny piece of escape from our lives, God's story gives us a very diff erent vision. Instead of viewing time as an enemy or a foe, we are invited to see time as the context forliving in God's presence. T ere is to be a sacred rhythm to our days and weeks and years. T ere isa holy melody to our days and weeks and years.

T e major components of time's sacred rhythm are work and rest. "Six days you shall labor," Godtells us. T ere is plenty of time in the week for God-honoring work and attending to our God-given responsibilities. But the seventh day, we are to put our labors down. We are to rest.

T is rest is called the "Sabbath". It is special, or sacred, time. Time for God and time for us. It is atime when we stop producing, re ning, planning, and worrying. It is a time for play, for feasting,for worship, and for space. It is a time to enjoy the fruit of God's labors in creation, to linger overmeals and one another to celebrate how he has cared for us throughout the week. It is also a timeto enjoy the fruit of God's labors in salvation, to gather together as his people, to celebrate what hehas done and gather together around his table.

In short, the Sabbath is sacred time. It is time set apart to "cease striving, and know that the Lordis God." (Psalm 46).

M E D I TAT I O N


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1. Whats the rst thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word rest? What aboutSabbath? What messages have you taken in over the years about rest and Sabbath, both fromthe culture as well as the church?

2. How does Buchanans quote impact you? Do you nd yourself longing for more rest in your life

or resisting it? How are you engaging with your longing or resistance?

3. What do you think it means to receive our lives from God? Whats it like for you to receive agif , compliment, help, etc.? How does your posture toward receiving these ordinary thingsimpact your posture toward receiving from God?

4. Ask God for the grace to orient your heart to a posture of receiving your life from him. Noticewhat kind of things trigger you to switch into overdrive or striving mode. Talk with him aboutwhatever fears or anxieties arise when you contemplate the posture of receiving life from him.



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Week 2 Light second purple love candle and read bible passages. Turn o ff all electronics, maybe even all electricity for an hour, and do something di ff erent with

your time.

Engaging Creation Rather than errands, or chores, or a little extra work, plan to take time out this week to enjoy

creation. Plan a local hike. Visit a museum: Seattle Art Museum, Frye Art Museum, Burke Museum. Cook or bake something from scratch. Mess around with art and cra f s supplies and see what you come up with that speaks of your

place and pleasure in creation.

Engaging Others Help provide a sense of rest or simple celebration for someone in your life by inviting them into

yours. Tell one another your go-to distractions from true rest and why you use them. What can you

imagine yourself doing instead? How can others in your life help you experience godly rest?

Engaging Self If you havent already, try to nd one day a week to put all work aside, or minimize the daily labor

you take on. Consider doing one of the following: Do something particularly fun for you. Support your childrens desires for their own ways of

rest. Play with children without directing it, enter their world of imaginary or silly play, feel yourself

reengaging in the joy of play. Find ve minutes each day to fully breathe and relax your body, to be aware to Gods presence.

Engaging T e Story Take turns reading this weeks bible passages, ask any questions you have, discuss ideas. What are your ideas of why God desires us to rest along with him? Have older children do research on the events around the birth of John the Baptist, and have

them put together a short play. Interview the characters or actors to explore their parts further.

Engaging Your Story Share with your children what busyness or restlessness has been like for you in your life. Talk

about how resting brings good things to you, or how you struggle to rest. Help your childrenidentify work and rest in their lives. Is it school work, chores, being directed by a demandingschedule? Invite them to express how they would like to rest.




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Comfort, Comfort You My People Adapted from Isaiah 40:1-5

Smith, Alldredge 2012 Grace Church Seattle


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P R AY E RLord of Creation,create in us a new rhythm of lifecomposed of hours that sustain rather than stress,of days that deliver rather than destroy,of time that trickles rather than tackles.

Lord of LiberationBy the rhythm of your truth, set us freefrom the bondage and baggage that break us,from the Pharaohs and fellows who fail us,from the plans and pursuits that prey upon us.

Lord of Resurrection,May we be raised into the rhythm of your new life,

dead to deceitful calendars,dead to eeting friend requests,dead to the empty peace of our accomplishments.

To our packed-full planners, we bid, "Peace!"To our over-ca ff einated consciences, we say, "Cease!"To our su ff ocating selves, Lord grant release.

Drowning in a sea of deadlines and death chimes, we rest in you our lifeline.By your ever-restful grace,allow us to enter your Sabbath restas your Sabbath rest enters into us.In the name of our Creator, our Liberator our Resurrection and life we pray. Amen

- Shane Claiborne & Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals


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T H I R D W E E K I N A D V E N T : G O D W I T H U S I N O U R L A B O R S

DECEMBER 14-20TEXT: GENESIS 1 :26-31, COLOSSIANS 3 :23-24, LUKE 2:8-14

I stand in the same spot, about two- or three-feet area, all night. T e only time a person

stops is when the line stops. We do about thirty-two jobs per car, per unit. Forty-eightunits an hour. Eight hours a day. T irty-two times forty-eight times eight. Figure it out.T at's how many times I push the button. - Phil Stallings, welder in an automobile factory, quoted by Studs Terkel, Working:

People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do

one hour or one day or one month, who knows!

there was a perfect t between a manand a woman and the work they did. But ever a f er there's been a mis t. Now, doing ourwork is of en like trying to build something with the wrong tool: sawing wood with ahammer, turning screws with a tape measure, pulling nails with a crescent wrench.Frustration is coded into the very structure of the fallen creation (see Romans 8:18-21).

- Mark Buchanan, The Rest of God: Restoring your Soul by Restoring Sabbath

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for humanmasters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. Itis the Lord Christ you are serving.

- Colossians 3:23-24

Work doesn't work. It's broken. T e Fall skewed what God created for good. Once ! for


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Every week, at the close of our worship, the congregation hears these words: Let us go forth and serve the world as those who love our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

And, we respond with a hearty: T anks be to God!

T is exhortation comes at the end of our worship, and we can get to the point where we do it onauto-pilot. T ough these end-of-worship phrases may be an automatic cue to transition fromworship to go get a cup of coff ee or go to lunch, this small liturgical practice is actually our ttingresponse to worship.

We worship each week on the Sabbath. Or, as the New Testament writers called it " T e Lord'sDay". T e Sabbath is a wonderful time to rest, to play, to feast, and to enjoy God's labors for us inboth creation and redemption. In our Sunday worship each week, our services reach their summit

Af er feasting with God and with one another, God sends us out into the world with his blessingto do his work. You see, our gathered worship on Sunday is not an escape from the world. Instead,our worship each week re-centers and re-orients us with the Lord and with one another so thatwere empowered to go back out into the world and join God there in his work.

It is important to know that "doing the Lord's work", isnt labor that we primarily classify as"spiritual work". Instead, we go out with the con dence that wherever God has sent us to work, hegoes with us. So whether the labor God has placed in front of you is so f ware development, sellingoffice supplies, hanging drywall, or cleaning up food shrapnel for your toddlers, it makes nodiff erence. God has gone before you and is there, inviting you to open your eyes and join him inthe labor he has already engaged in.

Eugene Peterson, in his book Christ Plays in Ten T ousand Places, puts it wonderfully:

When we walk out of the place of worship, we walk with fresh, recognizingeyes and a recreated obedient heart into the work in which we are God's imageparticipating in God's creation work. Everything we see, touch, feel, and tastecarries within it the rhythms of 'And God said...and it was so...and it wasgood...' We are more deeply in at at home in the creation than ever.

M E D I TAT I O N

as we gather around the Lord's table together and are fed by him!

a very profound embodimentof the Sabbath.


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1. How do you view your work each day? Pick all that apply: a) Exhausting; b) Exciting; c) Boring;d) Challenging; e) Meaningful.

2. T ink about the various kinds of work you do in a week paid work, work at home, volunteerwork, etc. Make a list of the gif s that are given to others through your work. Spend a few

minutes thanking God for the privilege of participating with him in his work of loving andrestoring the world.

3. What is the most stressful or di fficult part of work for you during this season of your life?Spend a few minutes talking to God about this stress/di ffi culty and invite him to come to you asImmanuel, God with you.

4. What is one thing you hope changes about your work or your posture toward your work in thecoming year?



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Week 3 Light third pink joy candle and read bible passages. As part of a mundane daily activity, meditatively repeat these words while you work. In this

work, I serve the Lord Christ. (Adapted from Colossians 3:24). Share with someone what itwas like to do this.

Engaging CreationWhat is your area of the garden God has put you in that you are called to work and keep? Home,office, school, neighborhood, sports teams, music lessons, church? T is week, try one of thefollowing activities: Pick a local park or street to do an hour cleanup as a group with friends, family, neighbors. T ank a farmer. Have kids make cards and send to a local farm.

Engaging OthersAcknowledge the labors and e ff orts of those in your life that you are dependent on that wouldotherwise go unnoticed. Who makes food arrive at your house? Who keeps your car running?Who cleans the bathrooms at home, at work, or school? Show your gratitude with a thank you card, or gi f . Write a thank you note to someone you work alongside, or who helps you in your work.

Engaging Self In an area of work you avoid, or avoid doing well, make an e ff ort to do without complaint.

Try something this week youve always wanted to do, but have been afraid to try. Talk about what you have learned this week, and how that happened, and who you were with.

Engaging T e Story Choose one of this weeks scriptures to write out and place around your home. Have kids put on a drama based on Luke 2:8-14. Encourage them to consider the work of the

shepherds, both in the eld, and in Gods big story.

Engaging Your Story Share with one another what you think your work is. What or who has God given you to care

for and do well? Share with your children times of worry, or stress, or ingratitude you haveexperienced in your work. Share some memories of feeling truly connected to your work andGods call to do your work as unto Jesus Christ. Invite them to share their highs and lowsabout their work throughout the week. Tell them what you desire for them in their experience ofwork and rest.




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S O N G

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Heavenly father, as I enter into the work you have given me, I bring your presence with me.I speak your peace, your grace, your mercy, and your perfect order in this place.I acknowledge your power over all that will be spoken, thought, decided, and done within these walls.

Lord, I thank you for the gi f s you have blessed me with.I commit to using them responsibly in your honor.Give me a fresh supply of strength to do my job.Anoint my projects, ideas, and energy so that even my smallest accomplishment may bring you glory.

Lord, when I am confused guide me.When I am burned out infuse me with the light of the Holy Spirit.May the work that I do and the way I do be a gi f to you and others.

P R AY E R


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1. Did you spend your childhood in one place or did you move once or more? Whatever yourexperience was, did you idealize the other option? (i.e. If you lived in one place, did you idealizewhat it would have been like to move to a new place? If you moved, did you idealize growing upin one place?)

2. How does the place you live now (i.e. city, neighborhood, home, etc.) compare with where youimagined you would live at this point in your life?

3. What is your response to the comment that in Scripture, place is always connected to Godsplacing of us?

4. How have you interacted with God about the issue of place in your life? Are there longings inyour heart you want to express to him? Do you have questions or confusion you want to talk tohim about? Spend some time expressing whatever comes up as you re ect on this aspect of

your life.



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Week 4 Light the fourth purple peace candle and read the bible passages. Pray for your home, neighborhood, city, state, country, world. T ank God for these places and

all the life that happens in them. Pray for the brokenness in them, and ask God to secure andguide your care for these places.

Engaging Creation Draw a map, or build with blocks, or legos, a model of your neighborhood, along with other

areas you go regularly. Mark signi cant place you go and talk about what happens there. Go for a walk, or drive around signi cant places for you in your city. Maybe go to other homes

youve lived in, other schools or offi ces youve worked in. Consider what happened in theseactual places. What brought hurt, growth, joy, or change in these places?

Engaging Others Interview someone in your life you are curious about, e.g. parent, grandparent, teacher, barista,

coworker. Find out what have been the signi cant places for themlike their birthplace, rst job,or favorite home.

Is there a special place you go to for rest or vacation? Who are the people that have helped tomake that happen? T ank them for providing this for you.

T ink of ways you contribute to other peoples experience of places you share. What can you doto improve or bless these people in shared places?

Engaging Self Using the re ection questions, write out some of your thoughts. Are there new thoughts or

connections you hadnt made before? Name several places you would like to go, even imaginary places. What would you expect it to

be like there?

Engaging T e Story Pick a person from the bible passages this month and write a timeline of signi cant places they

went in their life journeys. What happened there? Were the places signi cant in their story?Why or why not?

Engaging Your Story Select some pictures from your life history. Share these with your group, or family. Talk about

what you think God was doing in your life at these times and in these places. Share about a time you felt God leading you somewhere new. Was this a joyful thought, or

fearful? What were your concerns or excitement about? Ask your children to name some favorite places of their own and why they are special to them.

Help them recognize how they are contributing to the beauty and wholeness of these places. Askthem how they feel connected to God in these places.




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Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates! George Weissel, 1642

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S O N G


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P R AY E RAlmighty and everliving God, ruler of all things in heavenand earth, hear our prayers for our city and our neighborhood.Strengthen the faithful, arouse the careless, and restore the penitent.Grant us all things necessary for our common life, and bringus all to be of one heart and mind within your holy Church;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


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C H R I S T M A S E V E


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C H R I S T M A S E V E

DECEMBER 24

Light the white Christ candle. Attend service (Grace service is at 5:00 pm) or share in reading the liturgy from Lessons and

Carols. Anticipation is everything tonight. Take a moment to experience that from a childs view. Are

you that eager to be nearer to God and rejoice in gratitude for his closeness to you?


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C H R I S T M A S T I D E W E E K 1


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F I R S T W E E K I N C H R I S T M A S T I D E : G O D W I T H U S I N H I S W O R D

DECEMBER 28-JANUARY 3TEXT: GENESIS 1 :1-3 , ISAIAH 55 :10-11, EPHESIANS 4:9-16

Because Baby Boomers are obsessed with living in the moment, they insist that everyexperience be a watershed, every meal extraordinary, every friendship epochal, everyconcert superb, every sunset meta-celestial. Life isn't like that. Most meals are okay. Mostfriendships work until they don't work. Most concerts are decent. Sunsets are sunsets. Byturning spectacularly humdrum occurrences into formal rites, Baby Boomers havetransmuted even the most banal activities into "events" requiring re ection, planning,research, underwriting and staggering masses of data. T is has essentially ruinedeverything for everybody because nothing can ever again be exactly what it was in the

rst place: something whose very charm is a direct result of its being accessible, near athand, ordinary.

- Joe Queenan, Balsamic Dreams: A Short but Self-Important History of the

Baby Boomer Generation

To be content with Christ's kingdom is to be satis ed also with his ordinary means ofgrace [his word and the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper]....Just as wewouldn't have expected to nd the Creator of the universe in a feeding trough of a barn insome obscure village, much less hanging, bloody, on a Roman cross, we do not expect to

nd him delivering his extraordinary gi f s in such human places and in such humble waysas human speech, a bath, and a meal. T is can't be right, we reason. We need signs andwonders to know that God is with us. Yet it is only because God has promised to meet usin the humble and ordinary places, to deliver his inheritance, that we are content toreceive him in these ways. If the apostles themselves could only nd God in the mostunlikely of places, how can we imagine that we can nd him naked in glory rather thanmeet him clothed with his gospel, coming in peace.

- Michael Horton, Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom,singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

- Colossians 3:16


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Have you noticed how new Christians are o f en drawn to the idea of revival? Revival is awonderful thing, and something Christians do well to pray for. But if we think that revival is theimprovement we need to the seemingly up and down spiritual life, well miss the point. T eexpectation of the spectacular in our spiritual growth is well intentioned, but its an approach thatis simply wrong.

When we consider some of the biblical story's dominant metaphors for spiritual growth, we don'tsee regular bursts of the spectacular. Instead, we encounter allusions to the growth of crops in the

eld or the development of a human body.

Taking cues from these metaphors, we get a picture of development that is slow and steady. If youwere to plant a garden, dont expect miraculous growth in a day or in a week. Instead, you wouldorient yourself to a long growing season. To facilitate growth, you give yourself to repetitivepractices that o f en yielded no immediate perceptible results. You water plants and pull weeds one

week with no measurable diff

erence in your garden. If you were an unwise gardener, you'dsurmise "What's the point?" and stop watering and weeding. But a wise farmer keeps up these veryordinary practices of weeding and watering week a f er week af er week, until nally results start toemerge. Gardening takes patience.

Our spiritual formation works the same way. God grows us slowly and surely over time, and heuses some very ordinary "means" to do so. T eologians refer to these avenues through which Godworks as the "means of grace". One of the primary means of grace God uses in our lives is hisword, the Bible.

Availing ourselves to God's word can be a lot like watering a garden early in the growing season. Itcan all seem so incredibly ordinary and o f en even non-productive. We can read a text on ourown and come away cold. Or we hear a sermon preached by a very ordinary person and wereunmoved. Or we discuss Scripture with our very ordinary friends in a very ordinary small groupand notice no discernible di ff erence in our lives af erward.

But, here is the beautiful thing about how God works through his word. Certainly, there are"breakthrough" moments akin to the owering of a bud in the garden analogy. But God o f en useshis word to grow us silently and seemingly imperceptibly.

How very ordinary. How very glorious.

M E D I TAT I O N


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1. How would you describe the work of spiritual formation? What is the purpose?

2. Do you ever feel impatient with the process of growing in relationship with God? What do youtypically do when you feel impatient?

3. How does Gods Word nourish your life?

4. Re ect on the past year of your life. Can you identify one way your relationship with God hasgrown/deepened since this time last year as a result of nourishment from his Word?

5. Read Isaiah 58:11 three or four times out loud. Pay attention to any words or phrases that standout to you and meditate on those for 5-10 minutes. Listen for what God is speaking to yourheart and your life circumstances through his word.



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Read the bible passages for the week

Engaging Creation Which parts of the natural world have inspired your thoughts of God most? What activities do you do in the natural world that encourage your connection to God? How

have you been shaped as a whole person by these activities? Children, name your senses. What are ways you experience Gods creation through your senses? Plant a few marigold seeds in cups and leave in a sunny window. Express the analogy to children

of the slow growth as a similar way God grows us over time. (Takes about two weeks to seegreen sprouting).

Engaging Others Name the people who have had the most in uence on you spiritually, for better or worse. Pray

for these people this week.

Who are 5 people you have in uence on? Pray for the 5 people you named each day this week. Name several ways you can be a part of others experience of Gods love, forgiveness, and grace. What spiritual or religious activities do you participate in with others? How do you contribute

to these things?

Engaging Self What are some of your passions, hobbies, interests, or gi f s? How have doing or avoiding these

things shaped you, spiritually? How do they exemplify who God is and his commitment toreveal himself to you in ordinary ways?

T is week notice if you feel connected to God when you do your favorite things?

Try doing something you havent done for a while.

Engaging T e Story Read John 21:1-14. Identify all the ordinary parts of this story. Identify the miraculous. Talk about the di ff erent

people and how they reacted to the situation. What would you have done had you been there?What do you think the disciples thought about Jesus a f er this?

Create a storybook based on this bible passage for young children and read it to them (ask MissHeidi for a younger buddy if you need one to read to on a Sunday at church).

Engaging Your Story Share some of the more extreme things youve done in an attempt to be closer to God. Talk

about if they worked out the way you thought they would. Share some of your answers to the re ection questions. Ask your children to share when or where they feel the most safe to encounter God, to talk to

and be heard by God, to feel near to God. Ask them how they have grown in faith over therecent past and ask what you could do to help them.




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S O N G

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O Come, All Ye Faithful James Montgomery 1816, Henry Smart 1867


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P R AY E RAlmighty God,to whom all hearts are open,all desires known,and from whom no secrets are hidden;cleanse the thoughts of our heartsby your word working through your Holy Spirit,so that we may truly love youand worthily praise your holy name:through our Saviour Jesus Christ.Amen.

Adapted from A New Zealand Prayer Book


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C H R I S T M A S T I D E W E E K 2


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S E C O N D W E E K I N C H R I S T M A S T I D E : G O D W I T H U S I N T H E

L O R D S S U P P E RJANUARY 4-10TEXT: GENESIS 1 :29-31, MARK 14:12-2 5, I CORINTHIANS 11:23-26

Bread of the world in mercy broken,

Wine of the soul in mercy shed,By whom the words of life were spoken,And in whose death our sins are dead.

Look on the heart by sorrow broken,Look on the tears by sinners shed;And be T y feast to us the tokenT at by T y grace our souls are fed.

- Reginald Heber, Bread of the World in Mercy Broken

Salvation is a way of life in which what we cannot do for ourselves is done for us by Jesuson the cross. At the Supper we renew our understanding and obedience in this salvationreality and receive over and over again what we cannot take or perform for ourselves butonly receive....Just as Sabbath-keeping protects creation from the sacrilege of being takenover by us, so Eucharist protects salvation from being dominated by our feelings andprojects. Whatever we do in this world of salvation has to be rooted and grounded in thedeath of Christ on the cross. Receiving the Eucharist is the de nitive practice the focalpractice that keeps us attentive and responsive to Jesus as present and saving...Receivingthe Eucharist, like other aspects of fear-of-the Lord, is rooted deep in the soil of not-doing.

- Eugene Peterson, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places

For ancient Mesopotamians, human beings exist to feed the gods; in the Bible, Godcreates human beings and then o ff ers them food. In fact, God's gi f of food is the climaxof the six days of creation. Day six does not end with our creation as the image of God orwith God's command that Adam & Eve rule the earth, its oxen and its beasts. Genesis 1ends, rather, with a menu.

- Peter Leithart, Blessed Are the Hungry


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What am I going to have for lunch?

It's the question that won't go away. You may answer this question today, only to have it appearagain tomorrow. Eating is incredibly commonplace. In fact, having a meal is something that we doroughly 1,000 times a year. It is easy to fall into ruts because meals are so, well, ordinary.

On top of this, the labor and ritual that goes around eating is ordinary as well. T ere are potatoesto be peeled, greens to be washed, garlic to be sauted, meat to be grilled, or le f overs to bemicrowaved. T en we ll our plates, pass the cauli ower, and ll the glasses. When everything isready and before us, we bow our heads, pray a prayer very similar to the last time we prayedbefore a meal, and dig in. And, a f er the meal, the dishes. Ugh, the dishes. Who wants to do thedishes?

Eating is so incredibly mundane.

Yet, we cannot transcend our hunger. We must eat to live. T ere is a certain intractability to ourcreatureliness.

One of the primary practices Jesus gave to his people is a meal. And, the meal he gave us is not anelaborate one, it consists solely of bread and wine. T ese are not hard to come by components of ameal. We nd these in all of our apartments and homes. So very ordinary.

And, the context of the meal Jesus gave us is almost intentionally run-of-the-mill. An ordinarymeal with ordinary people (a handful of very average disciples) in an ordinary place (a rentedroom). T e rst Eucharist 2 was not an elaborate feast far-removed from the grind of daily life.

week, he invites us to come to his table, just as we are! not as spiritual giants who are learning tobe self-reliant. But instead, we are to come forward hungry and empty-handed.

Jesus wants us to learn how to become grateful receivers.

2Eucharist, Lords Supper, and Communion are all terms describing the sacramental meal that Jesus gave hisfollowers.

M E D I TAT I O N

So, in all of its ordinariness, Jesus gives us this meal in the midst of our ordinariness. Week a f er


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1. What is one of your favorite places to eat? What is it about it that makes it a favorite?

2. What is one of your favorite things about receiving the Eucharist each week?

3. Re-read the Eugene Peterson quote listed for this week. What does he say is one of the primary

purposes of the Eucharist? How is this similar or di ff erent from how you have viewed theEucharist?

4. Read Mark 14:12-25 two or three times out loud and slowly. Close your eyes and imagine thescene described in these verses. Imagine yourself in the scenewhere do you see yourself?Listen as Jesus speaks these words. What questions or feelings arise in your heart? Share themwith Jesus and enter into a conversation with him about his desires and hopes for this mealwith you.



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Read this weeks bible passages

Engaging Creation What are your favorite foods? What have been your favorite meals with others? What is the

weirdest thing youve ever eaten? Christmastide is o f en a time to visit friends or neighbors, and drop o ff treats. Do this for

someone near you this week.

Engaging Others When you partake in communion, are you aware of those around you? What is your hope for

them as they share in this family meal of Christians? How have you joined others in communion in meaningful ways?

Engaging Self In a quiet moment of anxiety or need, close your eyes and imagine yourself going through the

steps of the Lords supper. From seeing the elements supplied for you resting on a table, toconsuming the bread and drink and feeling them being used in your body to sustain you. Doesthis relieve your anxiety?

If you are in a position to, o ff er to serve communion in your community.

Engaging T e Story For families or groups, create a tableau vivant, or living picture, based on DaVincis Last Supper.

Take a picture and share it with friends. Dont have enough people? Use stu ff ed animals anddolls!

Engaging Your Story Share stories about your baptism and rst memories of sharing in the Lords Supper. Tell the children in your life about their baptisms that you witnessed. Tell them what this meant

to you and your community. As Christmastide comes to an end, share your hopes and dreams for your spiritual growth in

the coming year. Where in your lives do you need Gods provision of love, hope, joy, and peaceto become resonant?




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P R AY E RLoving God,we celebrate our redemption with the bread of lifeand the cup of salvation.

Fill us with your Holy Spiritthat these gi f s of bread and wine which we receivemay be to us the body and blood of Christ,and that we, lled with the Spirits grace and power,may be renewed for the service of your kingdom. Amen.

Adapted from A New Zealand Prayer Book


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A D V E N T: A C E L E B R A T I O N O F T H E M I D D L E S P A C E

T e articulation of this idea is manifested in a series of works and installations for the purpose ofre ection and meditation for the season of Advent. Working from the concept of ImmanuelGod with us

my creative project attempts to utilize symbolic shapes and colors for the purposes of emphasizing theimportance of witnessing to the season of Advent through the lens of Holy Saturday and of witnessing tobeauty through the Spirit in times of waiting, or unknowing.

T e image I began with was the motif I wanted to use for the purposes of worship in the sanctuary. T etriangle shape, three-pointed, is reminiscent of the Trinitarian motif of the three-in-one. T e shape of itsconstruction has symbolic signi cance for its capacity to be a reminder of the relational aspect of theTrinity. T e banner for the sanctuary takes on the motif of ag bunting ags strung together repetitivelyas a garland used for such things as celebrations. T e repetitive triangle, when detached from the overallmeaning of celebratory bunting, has symbolic signi cance as the persistence of our longing and waiting inthe middle space. T e idea of celebration should not be overlooked in the bunting theme itself, for part ofthe intentional use of this symbolic image is to celebrate the coming of the Incarnate and ResurrectedChrist (Christmas Day, Easter Sunday). While we have hope for this celebration, we are still present in thewaiting of the now and not-yet.

T e aspect of color is also symbolic of the unsettledness of the in-between space of waiting thatconstitutes the season of Advent and Holy Saturday. T e ags/bunting/triangles are painted a dark graysymbolizing a neutral absence of color that has no emotion or feeling assigned to it except for a dullgroaninga longing for arrival at either white or black, yet a resistance to be categorized as a color at all. Itis the mixture of black and white in equal parts that reveals the absence of arriving at something solid,something pure and determined. It is the symbolic color of the place of in-between.

As the weeks of Advent continue, the gray ags will slowly be replaced by colored ags; each week asingular ag will be changed to ignite an interest and, perhaps, a hope of something brighter, somethingmore fully de ned into a the brightness and variety of color. While the gray ags will remain dominant,there will be small evidences of hope amidst the waiting in the middle, the promises of a coming, anarriving (Advent). Finally, as the Advent season comes to a close, there will be an arrival of a full motif ofcolor bunting. While our hope is ful lled in the Incarnation, there will also be an awareness that ashumans we are still in waiting in the in-between times. T is will be communicated by juxtaposing agarland of colored bunting with a garland of gray bunting as both are witness to the propheticproclamation of hope that calls out of the middle space. T is hope looks forward to the Resurrection.

Te ag bunting is a prophetic sign pointing to the coming celebration, and yet because of its continuedexpression as dull and gray, it resonates with the groan of the muddled waiting space of the middle. And

yet, as long as the bunting remains hung, its deepest expression cannot be hidden: Immanuel, the Godwho is present among His people, is coming.

Booklet Artwork: Allyson Arendsee


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Documents

Advent-Christmastide Devotional 2014.pdf