Every year, I look forward to the Advent season. While I am not from a “high” church tradition, I enjoy reflecting upon Christ’s first and second coming as Christmas Day approaches. To help, I’ve written a few Advent devotionals. From most thorough and expansive in Scripture to the simplist for memorization of a passage, these devotionals are to help you experience the wonder of the Incarnation – God in flesh. To help you decide which resource you might want to use, here’s a brief description of each:

Isaiah’s Christmas – During 2018, I read through Isaiah and spent time each morning reflecting on the glory of the coming Christ. Spending Advent with Isaiah prepared my heart for Christmas. Isaiah has been called “The Fifth Gospel”, and for good reason. The New Testament use of ‘gospel’ has strong connections to Isaiah 40:9.

The context of Isaiah is that there will be a King of David’s line (1-39), a suffering Servant (40-55), and a Messenger (56-66) who will come to bring salvation to a nation who has disobeyed his commandments, broken his covenant, and deserve judgment. This salvation, however, is more than just the forgiveness of sins; it will include the renewal of all things – sinners and the creation. By looking backwards to the first exodus and forwards to a new exodus, from creation to new creation, from the first Davidic king to the new Davidic king, there is hope!

In 12-15 minutes a day, this devotional will take you through Isaiah’s gospel hope and bring you to Christ time and time again.

The Weary World Rejoices – In the midst of the pandemic, December 2020 was a time of weariness. Two weeks to flatten the curve became endless. In September of 2020 I had started preaching through the entire Bible and was struck by the theme of God’s promised rest to a world wearied by sin.

Taking a chapter from the Old Testament and connecting it to the New gave me a sense of the eternal rest that was needed to sustain me during one of the most uncertain times in my generation. In 10 minutes a day, this devotional will take you from Genesis to Jesus.

Veiled in Flesh – In 2019, I slowed down and reflected on the individual phrases of Hebrews 1. The writer of Hebrews wants us to consider how Jesus is better than anything we could imagine. And he wants us to stop, look, and consider that the glorious Christ. The paradox of the incarnation is that Christ is hidden yet in plain view, glorious and yet humble. Hebrews 1 gives us the opportunity to meditate and memorize, to contemplate and consider the doctrine of the incarnation. This devotional is not a commentary on Hebrews 1, but theological reflections to help us peer through the window of heaven to see what was hidden but now revealed.

This devotional isn’t something to be read through quickly; it’s meant to be like a marinade that soaks in to your soul so that you can memorize this chapter and revel in the glory of the God in flesh who came to rescue you for your salvation.

So consider pouring into your soul this Advent season so that you will know the wonders of his love for you!

~Andrew

Printed copies are available in the foyer this Sunday.

Prepare your heart for Sunday by reading the passage and listening to the songs we’ll sing.