LONGING | HOPE | PREPARATION For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ADVENT & CHRISTMASTIDE 2019Devotional JOY | MISSION ADVENT & CHRISTMASTIDE FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY ADVENT & CHRISTMASTIDE A DEVOTIONAL FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY ADVENT: CHRISTMASTIDE: This devotional is designed for us While many celebrate Christmas for to walk through the Advent and one or two days before quickly shift- Christmastide season together, in ing their focus to the new year, the community. By definition, Advent church has traditionally spent twelve means the arrival of something— days in a season known as Christ- or someone—important. It is fitting, mastide. Following the preparation therefore, that we spend ample of Advent, Christmastide is a time time to prepare our entire being of joyfully praising God for sending for the coming of the Lord Jesus his Son to earth. As people who live Christ. While God created the world in a fast-paced, hyper-scheduled and humanity, and declared them society, spending an extended time both very good, the willful rebellion celebrating the coming of Jesus of Adam and Eve brought sin and might seem strange to us. That is destruction. This sin devastates the exactly why this season is so import- entire world and impacts everyone. ant. By taking time to ponder God’s While many in our culture will try to amazing work and praising God for numb themselves to the devastation his steadfast love and grace, we will of sin with the lure of material gifts, realize that worship should be the this season is really about God’s undergirding theme of our lives. The faithful work to redeem his creation. weekly themes for Christmastide are It is also about embracing the JOY and MISSION: leading us to tension we experience as redeemed praise God with unbridled joy, and people in a fallen world, looking then going into the world to pro- forward to the day when Jesus claim the work of Jesus, the Savior comes again! The weekly themes of that world! for Advent will engage the biblical story, honing in on our LONGING for God’s saving work, the HOPE found in God’s promises, and our PREPARATION for the coming of Jesus. www.trinitychurchseattle.org HOW TO USE THIS DEVOTIONAL Read through this brief guide so you are familiar with how to use each part of this devotional as we walk through Advent and Christmastide together. Invitation / Blessing: Confessional Prayers: This is a short segment of Scripture that These prayers are based on historic con- coincides with each of the weekly themes. fessions of the church and were written by Use it as a prayerful introduction to prepare members of our congregation. The intent of your heart for time in God’s Word, and as a these prayers is for you to engage with the word of hope and blessing as you go into church—both past and present—as we antic- your day. ipate and celebrate the coming of our Lord and Savior. The confessions and catechisms Daily Scripture Readings: used in this guide are: The passages selected for each day follow • BGC – Belgic Confession the redemptive narrative in Scripture, which • BHC – Belhar Confession anticipates the coming of Jesus. Read these • CD – Canons of Dort once, then look to the Dwelling for further • HC – Heidelberg Catechism meditation. • NCC – New City Catechism • WSC – Westminster Shorter Catechism Dwelling: • WLC – Westminster Larger Catechism Follow these rotating instructions to slow down, engaging with the daily Scripture We offer our thanks to those who contrib- reading in a way that drives you to the Lord uted to these confessional prayers: in prayer. Rachel Beatty, Steve Beatty, Judy Davis, Elisabeth Haggard, Morgan Knighton, Mat- Guided Prayers: thew Lanser, Tim Mesikepp, Andrew Perkins, These prompts flow from the weekly themes Jessica Ribera, Emily Rose, Kevin Timmons, and daily Scripture readings. They can be and Anna Van Wechel. used for both private and corporate prayer in your homes. Sundays: Since our journey through Advent and Christmastide is both a communal and individual experience, there are no daily devotionals assigned for Sundays. Corporate worship with your local church serves as the devotional for the day. While at church, con- All Scripture passages taken from sider striking up a conversation with some- the English Standard Version® (ESV®). one about what God has been teaching you Copyright © 2001 by Crossway. during this season. Please note that the very first day of Advent is a Sunday, so there will All design and layout by Steve Hardin. not be a devotional for that day. www.checksteveout.com ADVENT & CHRISTMASTIDE FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY WEEK 1: LONGING WEEK 2: HOPE WEEK 3: PREPARATION CHRISTMASTIDE WEEK 1: JOY CHRISTMASTIDE WEEK 2: MISSION Week 1: Longing ADVENT DAY 2: MON Invitation - PSALM 130:5 Dwelling I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope. Humble yourself before God. Read again, out loud if possible. Which words or phrases are particularly Scripture Reading - GENESIS 1:1, 26–2:1a striking? What do they reveal about God? What do In the beginning, God created the heavens and the they reveal about us? Respond to God accordingly, earth. resting in him. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after Guided Prayer our likeness. And let them have dominion over the • Praise God for the goodness of all creation. fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and • Confess how you might not care for God’s over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” creation. So God created man in his own image, in the image • Ask God for eyes to see the inherent goodness of God he created him; male and female he created in all that he has made. them. - WSC 9 & 10 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be Confessional Prayer fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, Lord, it is an amazing—even inconceivable—reality and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over that you created all things out of nothing. We praise the birds of the heavens and over every living thing you for your infinite power and your abundant care that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I in creating a world that is not only complex, but is have given you every plant yielding seed that is on truly beautiful. Our hearts delight in how you have the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in made us in your image and likeness! Restore us its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every to the goodness that you intended for all creation. beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens —Amen. and to everything that creeps on the earth, every- thing that has the breath of life, I have given every Blessing - PSALM 130:7–8 green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there everything that he had made, and behold, it was is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemp- very good. And there was evening and there was tion. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. morning, the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. WEEK 1: LONGING WEEK 2: HOPE WEEK 3: PREPARATION CHRISTMASTIDE WEEK 1: JOY CHRISTMASTIDE WEEK 2: MISSION ADVENT DAY 3: TUE Invitation - PSALM 130:5 Guided Prayer I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope. • Grieve over our willful rebellion against God and the shame it has brought into our lives. - GENESIS 3:1–7 Scripture Reading • Confess how we continually fall into the Now the serpent was more crafty than any other temptation to take matters into our own hands. beast of the field that the Lord God had made. • Ask for God’s mercy and forgiveness. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’” And the Confessional Prayer - WSC 16 & 17 woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit Righteous and Holy Lord, though you made all of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall creation good, the sin of our forebearers, Adam and not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst Eve, brought death, destruction, and misery. And of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you we are not innocent in this, but stand guilty of this die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will transgression. We are faithless, but you are forever not surely die. For God knows that when you eat faithful. Grant us your forgiveness for the sake of of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like Christ and his blood. —Amen. God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was Blessing - PSALM 130:7–8 a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there ate, and she also gave some to her husband who is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemp- was with her, and he ate.