Advent Collaborative 2020 Are you tired? Already tired and it’s just the beginning of “The Holidays.” It’s been an altogether different kind of year. Masks, isolation, divisions in our nation, fear of the future… It makes us weary. The following pages are a journey of faith, hope, love, peace and grace. These are some of the gifts God gives us – especially at Christmas time. A week at a time, we’ll examine these blessings from above and how a baby in a manger makes the applicable every day in our lives. We’ll look at: Faith – because it’s hard to know what to believe in. Are the election results true – some say not. Is Covid as bad as they say or not – it’s hard to know who to trust. Christmas is a fulfilled promise from God. He can be trusted. Hope – where has it gone? The future can look dark and dim. Our jobs, income, and family life have been disrupted. Will having hope lead to more disappointment? Not the Christmas kind of hope. Love – There’s so much division in the world. Race, politics, philosophy… no one seems to get along. Where is the love? It’s found in humble baby who would later die on a cross for our sins. Peace – Who wouldn’t want some of that. Anxiety, depression, and fear grip us, and the stress of the season makes it worse. But there is a peace that comes from God, and it’s different from any other kind of peace. Grace – It’s Christmas! That’s what it’s all about! Receiving what we don’t deserve, such as God’s love, forgiveness, provision, and blessings. Thank you to the many friends who have contributed to this year’s Advent “Collaborative.” We pray the words on the following pages bring your weary soul some joy. Because of Jesus, The YCM team, 2020 November 29 day one “The point is, before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ’s Word is preached, there’s nothing to listen to.” -Romans 10:17 (The Message) In our culture today, we look for “important” things and people. We follow the major events on television and other media outlets. We think all the significant things that are happening will appear on the media. A baby born to a poor couple in a stable in an insignificant part of the world would not gain today’s media attention, but it was the most significant event of all history. We can plant small seeds that can grow into large trees. In that small stable, God planted a seed that forever changed the world. There was a time when I thought I needed to become more involved in the “important” things of this world to help bring about world peace. Then one night after the Christmas Eve candle lighting service, I was putting out the remaining candles. One would not snuff out with the snuffer and kept relighting. Finally, I wet my fingers, squeezed it and put it out. The thought then went through my mind that if all the nuclear bombs in the world went off at the same time, it would be easier for God to snuff them out than for me to snuff out that one candle. I thought that maybe I should spend my life planting seeds of God’s Word and see what He grows from them. If God has the power to snuff out an explosion of all the nuclear bombs in the world, why doesn’t He just come in and fix all that is wrong with the world? One day He will and everyone will see Him and His power. He will be as visible as the sun. But in our era, He has come as a baby born in a stable. He doesn’t force Himself into our world. Rev. 3:20 (MSG) says, “Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I’ll come right in and sit down to supper with you.” We only see His power through personal invitation and by faith. An instant type of faith can come when God does something spectacular, but that will usually fade soon after it comes and you keep looking for more and more spectacular events. However, deep faith comes by regularly listening to God’s Word, taking it in like a seed planted in the earth and letting God grow His faith in you. I never went to church when I was growing up and accepted Christ just before I left for college. That’s when I learned that Jesus died for my sin and because of what He did I was completely forgiven before God. God also sent the Holy Spirit to change my life. I then wondered what was left for me to do. The first chapter of I John tells us to walk in the light as He is in the light. By that chapter, I learned I needed to be honest about my life before God. I then learned that we often make up a Jesus that is the way we want Him to be. From that I realized that I needed to read the Bible so that I would come to know the real Jesus better and love Him more. Over the years I have tried to do my part and God has grown my faith. Questions: 1. What do you have faith in and how did you get it? Faith in money? Faith in the media? In celebrities? 2. Who has helped you know God’s Word better? Say thank you to God for him/her. 3. What do you fear? Do you fear the God who deeply loves you and can snuff out all the nuclear bombs in the world? PRAYER: Lord our Heavenly Father, thank You for revealing yourself truly in Jesus Christ. During this Advent season, I pray that your Holy Spirit will help me to see Christ more clearly and love Him more deeply. I pray that I would come to a new understanding of Your love and power. In Christ’s name I pray, Amen. Bill Serjak is a retired Presbyterian pastor who served a small church in a small town in the mountains of Western North Carolina for more than thirty years. During that time, he helped lead about thirty-five mission trips, mostly for Son Servants. He also served on the Son Servants planning team for several years. Bill and his family now live in Chattanooga, TN, and now he is mainly a husband, father, and grandfather. Praise- for God’s faithfulness! This summer we had to adapt our approach to ministry. As you are aware the current global crisis of Covid19 resulted in canceled camps, conferences and mission trips this past summer. Our team of amazing volunteers and staff created a “Camp in Box” as well as a “Virtual Son Servants” experience for groups to have YCM camp at home- wherever they were! We heard of several youth groups who successfully implemented some version of “camp.” In the midst of trying to plan our “normal” summer, we hoped for it to look differently. But God, as always, was faithful and showed up in ways we couldn’t expect. Join us in praising God for allowing YCM to be a part of students’ summer of 2020. Check out what one leader had to say: "Our students were so bummed about not being able to attend The Great Escape, Rockies this year! It is one of the things that every one of our students is excited about when they enter into middle school. But we loved YCM camp in a box! We chose to use all of the materials to provide our students with a week of “camp” experience. We sent each of our students a mailer with a printed copy of the devotional, a sticker, and all of our “camp” information. We posted worship and a message each night on Vimeo and Instagram for our students to follow along. We ended the week with an in-person, outdoor worship experience. As a youth pastor, I am beyond thankful for the resources provided to help give our students a camp experience this summer." -- Nicole Brown, First Presbyterian Church, Midland, TX November 30 day two “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20 For those of you who, as I, are not very familiar with the mustard tree, here are some facts. The mustard tree begins as a seed about 1-2 mm in size. It then grows upwards of 20 feet tall and 20 feet wide – that’s 6,000 times the size of the original seed! These trees are drought tolerant, and when you cut a mustard tree down to the trunk, it can grow back again. In Matthew 17, Jesus says that with faith the size of a mustard seed, nothing is impossible. This is a faith that grows even in the dry seasons, it’s a faith that’s able to withstand being cut down by the trials of this life, it’s a faith that grows to be the largest and the strongest – where nothing is impossible. John Calvin comments on this parable that “the Lord opens his reign with a feeble and despicable commencement, for the express purpose, that his power may be more fully illustrated by its unexpected progress.” God often uses the small, and the seemingly insignificant, to display His power & might.