Get Into the Crib with Jesus This Christmas
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Table of Contents Welcome to Devotions for Advent Mandy Cloninger Art by Logan Kijanski and Hannah Torres First Week in Advent Nov. 27 From Dark to Light Tommy Isel Nov. 28 Hope for Hard Times United Methodist Volunteers in Mission Nov. 29 A Light in the Darkness Florida United Methodist Children’s Home Nov. 30 My Soul Cried Out Mandy Cloninger Dec. 1 Turning Darkness into Light Hillsborough House of Hope Dec. 2 He Walked in the Light Habitat for Humanity Dec. 3 A Chance Jason Lee Render Art by Jackson Davis Second Week in Advent Dec. 4 Patient Smiles Mission Smiles Dec. 5 The Grace of God Metropolitan Ministries Dec. 6 She Forgave Paul Phaneuf Dec. 7 Watch What God Will Do Elio Muller Jr. Dec. 8 Wandering Toward the Light Abe Brown Ministries Dec. 9 Dorothy Meals on Wheels Dec. 10 I Can Do All Things Leslie McCabe-Holm Art by Ean and Quinn Nichols Third Week in Advent Dec. 11 Etch-A-Sketch Salvation Army Dec. 12 Building on Faith Stephanie Johnson Dec. 13 A Great Light Society of St. Andrew Dec. 14 Delivering Good News The Upper Room Dec. 15 Faith Trail Run Seth Mokotimi Seminary Dec. 16 Our New Neighbors Refugee Mission Volunteers Dec. 17 Immersed in Hospitality Phakamisa Art by Katie Townley Fourth Week in Advent Dec. 18 Powerful Heart of a Child Elio Muller Jr. Dec. 19 A Cheerful Giver Good Samaritan Mission Dec. 20 Who is Watching? Heifer International Dec. 21 A New Pair of Socks Manna Ministry Dec. 22 Medicine and Miracles Trish Krider Dec. 23 My Soul Magnifies the Lord The Rev. Michelle Shrader Dec. 24 Ministry of Presence Susan Northcutt Dec. 25 Get into the Crib Roland Rink Art by Megan Combee To get involved, please visit hydeparkumc.org Welcome to Devotions for Advent A New Day Dawning When I think of a new day dawning, I think of the morning dew, a sunrise, brilliant colors spreading across the sky’s canvas. I think of a fresh start, a cup of coffee and an open mind. One of my favorite new day’s dawning this year occurred in South Africa, and Leslie and I took a sunrise hike around the nature preserve where Peter and Jill reside. Dew was on the fresh foliage. The morning sky was peeking through the dense landscape. We paused for a scripture and prayer by the pond, and we walked mostly in silence, but still together. Then we had coffee, breakfast and hula hooped and laughed, enjoying the new day dawning with our hosts. I think that’s how God wants us to embrace this Advent season, with an open mind like we’re approaching a brand-new day. The hurts, sorrows and pains of the past are forgiven. The darkness is settled into the night. A new day awaits us full of light, opportunity and hope. As we journey through our lives and even our Advent season, we will experience times of darkness, sadness and sorrow. We will wait on the Lord. But, even in the darkness, we know Jesus is coming. God is with us. The morning light, the birth of Jesus, is bursting onto the scene. My prayer is this devotional will shine a bright light as you wander through the Advent season, and a new day will dawn in your own heart. Fill each day with love, joy, opportunities to serve and be filled with Jesus’ joyous coming! Shout for joy, lift your voice, sing your praise, all the Earth! Mandy Cloninger [email protected] 2016 Editor, Devotions for Advent: A New Day Dawning Art by Logan Kijanski and Hannah Torres. Logan is in fifth grade and is active in Sunday School and Club 45. Hannah is in fourth grade and is active in Sunday School, Club 45, Celebration Choir and Celebration Chime Choir. The First Week of Advent Nov. 27-Dec. 3 Family Devotion: With You Start the conversation: When somebody is “with you” what does that mean to you? Emmanuel means “God with us.” What do you think that means? Scripture Reflection: Isaiah 7:10-16; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19, Romans 1:1-7, 18-19; Matthew 1: 18-25 Talk About It: When somebody is “with you” it can mean literally, they are beside you, in the same room or space with you. It also is a way of saying that someone is “on your side,” they “have your back,” they are “for you.” It’s a way to show trust, love and friendship. “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel,” (Matthew 1:23.) Emmanuel means, “God with us.” God is with us. That means God is with you. He is on your side. He has your back. He is for you. It’s proof of His love, His trust and His friendship with you. The God and Creator of this whole universe is with you. Isn’t that incredible? Even in bad times, He is there. When you are going through a difficult time, He is the light that still shines through. Take comfort knowing that you are never alone, that He loves you and that together you can handle anything! Pray: Thank God for sending Jesus to be with you and your family. Ask him to help you trust his promises in the Bible and to remember that He is always right beside you, waiting and wanting to talk to you, to help you and to guide you. Things to try this week: • Give the gift of your presence to someone. Do you have a loved one or friend who you haven’t seen in a while? Go be with them. Invite them over, meet them somewhere or go visit them. • Bake a birthday cake for Jesus this week and invite your neighbors and friends over to share together! For older kids, do this activity at nighttime and put large, tall candles on the cake. Turn out all of the lights and blow out the candles. Talk about how it feels to be in complete darkness. Relight one candle. How much brighter does the candle seem when it is surrounded by darkness? Talk about Jesus being the light even when you are surrounded by darkness. November 27 From Dark to Light Even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. Psalm 139:12 (ESV) Everyone experiences the dark. I have been in darkness. The three years before I went to Nicaragua, my Grandma, my Uncle Richard, my Aunt Lee and my Uncle Jeff passed away. For awhile, I literally became afraid of the dark. I had nightmares. Whenever I thought of anything bad, I got scared. I was afraid of what was going to happen next. Then I went to Nicaragua with my family. We had never flown on a plane together. I was excited about the new adventure. We planned a lot about what we were going to do for the people. What I did not plan was what they were going to do for me. I found out that the people in Mt. Sinai had so much less than me. They didn’t have electricity, which means they couldn’t use a night light. But they were joyful, hopeful and at peace. They trusted God. Sometimes, I still get anxious in the dark. But I think of my friends in Nicaragua, and I can feel the light, even when I can’t see it. Help us to see the light even in the dark, O God. Tommy Isel, age 12, was a member of the Nicaragua Family Mission Team in 2015 and 2016. For information about Family Mission Trips see hydeparkumc. org/the-world. November 28 Hope for Hard Times All praise to the God and Father of our master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. 2 Corinthians: 1-4 (MSG) I wish I’d never met Ms. Patty. I told her so, too. We met only because of her great loss. The tornado that ripped through Evergreen, Virginia, on February 24, took her home and her greenhouse. But it took so much more. Her daddy died in the storm. They didn’t find his body until after nightfall, three football fields from where the tornado engulfed his home. Five months after the tornado, I asked Ms. Patty how she was doing. “I’m tired,” she said. “I’ve been trying to keep it together because of mamma.” Her mother survived the storm, only because she wasn’t home when it hit the house. She was turning on Highway 460, only a couple miles away, when winds uprooted a tree and slammed it into her car. The impact fractured her back. As for Ms. Patty, she wonders if she would be alive if she hadn’t left for work about an hour earlier than usual – an hour before the tornado hit. Hope is rising on the ground the storm swept clean. In the final days of summer, volunteers from two United Methodist Churches dug the footers on the land where her house once stood. In the first days of fall, volunteers put the concrete block foundation on the land where her house once stood.