Advent daily devotions
2010
Welcome to 2010 Advent Daily Devotions. On the church calendar today is the First Sunday in Advent. According to a sign I recently saw it is the 27th shopping day before Christmas. We will spend much time in the coming 27 days preparing our homes with copious decorations, completing our gift lists, baking our families’ favorite Christmas delicacies, attending special Christmas parties, programs and activities.
HOWEVER, in the church Advent is a special time of preparation for the coming of our Lord as he comes to us everyday and as he will surely come again. Many of the Advent readings caution us against complacency. Like the people in the Gospel reading for today, we can become so occupied with our daily routine that we fail to attend to the deeper and more profound dimensions of life. Our faith becomes perfunctory. We forget that our Lord will one day return and we fail to see him when he comes to us each day in various ways.
Preparing and posting these daily devotions during Advent is one way I prepare – not for the coming of Christmas, but the coming of Christ as he will surely come again and as he comes to me each day.. I hope you will use them to prepare for his coming and to open your eyes to his coming to you each day.
I will use the readings assigned for that Sunday as the basis of the devotions that week. Read the assigned reading each day – even when the readings are repeated. The first few readings this week come from the Gospel for the 1st Sunday in Advent. Each devotion will end with a short prayer and a “So What?” question. So what does this have to do with me today? I ask only that you answer that question for yourself and share your thoughts with the rest of us. If you choose not to share your thoughts, please respond in some way so I know if the devotions are being read. If you find the devotions helpful in your Advent preparations and want to share them with a friend who may find them helpful, refer them to this site.
Know that each of you who respond will be in my prayers. Blessings to you as you enter this time of preparation. Pastor Evan Houck
Thanks so much for getting this blog set up. Today is the first day I saw that they were up and read each of the 4 readings so far. I hope to continue to follow them throughout the season.
ReplyDelete