First Week of Advent Sunday, November 29, 2020 Scripture: Romans 13:11-14 Besides this you know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed; the night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. Insight: Upon reading this passage, my mind flashed back to those childhood, eternal- esque moments in bed, when I begged sleep to come. Creatures that were non- existent during the daylight hours, mysteriously sprang to life, revealing every phobia in my heart. Looking over my shoulder to find a pillow instead of a monster brought little, albeit some relief. It took years to shake the night-time shivers. What a relief that we do not have to live our entire lives in fear of things that go bump in the dark. “The night is far gone, the day is at hand.” As Christians, we have the opportunity to live bright, clean lives despite all the year 2020 has dealt. As we devote ourselves to the Scriptures this Advent, I pray Jesus will come, awaken us, and guide us into a bright future of hope and healing. May the Lord bring all of us closer to heaven and further from darkness as we prepare for the birth of Christ our Savior. Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for being the God who is with us. Wake us from our sleep, fill us with a desire for You, and courage to put on the armor of light. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, amen. Betsy Sutherland First Week of Advent Monday, November 30, 2020 Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Insight: “As you wait” seemed to jump off the page when I read the scripture. I flashed back to when I was a little kid. Only once did I ever send in a cereal box top to get a prize. My Mom said I had to eat all the cereal first, and that took several days. Then she helped me fill out the Rice Krispies coupon and mail it in. That’s when I discovered that waiting is not my best thing, really. The prize was supposed to be a “Woody Woodpecker Stamp Set.” Every afternoon for many weeks, I would stretch my little arm out the front door to lift up the mailbox lid. Then I’d peek in to see if our mailman, Mr. Culp, had delivered the Kellogg’s package. Then I would drop the lid back down with an impatient whack. But one magic afternoon, there it was. I couldn’t believe it. For maybe a couple of days, I stamped images of Woody on everything in my room in several brilliant colors. Then, I just lost interest in Woody and moved on to something else. Maybe you can see why my childhood introduction to waiting… was a bit of a letdown. As an adult, I know that Advent is about waiting too, but maybe it’s a different kind of waiting. This time we wait for the revealing of our Lord, Jesus Christ. After that kind of waiting… we move deeper into faith. He may be found in our hearts when we least expect it… as we prepare for the coming observance of his birth. I was listening as the Apostle Paul patted the church folk in Corinth on the back, encouraging them to use everything they had been given by God… to wait faithfully until our Lord Jesus Christ wraps everything up at the end. He mentioned God’s enrichment, knowledge, sustenance and faithfulness as blessings for their waiting. Those same blessings are there for our Advent waiting too. Prayer: Oh God, we wait for your son to fill our hearts on the journey to the manger this year. May his love cast out our worries about the things of earth and prepare us welcome him once again. Amen. Bob Luton First Week of Advent Tuesday, December 1, 2020 Scripture: Mark 13:33-37 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. “Therefore, keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’” Insight: This passage is emotional. It hollered at me right off the bat. It starts out with two exclamations. “Be on guard! Be alert!” Later it states “Watch!” It’s like an action movie that starts out with loud music and a crazy car chase. It grabs me by the shoulders and shakes me out of whatever distraction I may have had and says, “LISTEN to what I’m about to say to you.” So, what does this passage say to me? It tells me don’t get sucked into a state of complacency regardless of what is going on around you. Keep your eyes on Christ in the midst of intense worldly distractions. Do not allow yourself to become spiritually fatigued during times of isolation. Wake up and watch out! Refuse to allow yourself to be shackled by depression, stay busy, there is a lot of work to do. Jesus is coming - this is good news to dwell on and share with others, in both word and deed. It tells me to wake up! It makes me want to pray more, both for others and myself, and allow God to speak to me in new ways as the world changes. It reminds me that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Be on guard! Do not fall asleep. Do good whenever possible. Do no harm, as John Wesley instructed. Constantly look for opportunities to serve others in new and meaningful ways while we adapt to our new normal, whatever that looks like. Keep watch! Jesus is Lord! And he reigns forever and ever, Amen. Prayer: Lord, you are God of the Universe. You are our Rock on which we stand. Help us all to stay spiritually awake. Forgive us when we forget to love and help others the way you have taught us. Guard our souls from the deception of life’s distractions every second of every day. In Jesus Holy Name we pray, amen. Jay Sutherland First Week of Advent Tuesday, December 2, 2020 Scripture: John1:1-5 How blessed we are to be able to know the One who was, and is, and evermore shall be! Insight: In our world these days there seems to be a lot of darkness around us, but we know that Jesus is the light of the world and light overcomes the darkness. We can know that we have eternal life with Christ who came to the world as a little baby in a manger. He grew up and taught us how to live, then willingly and painfully gave His life on the cross for our sins. We can be a light in the world to others if we just accept Christ as our personal Savior and live for Him. Each person must make that decision for themselves. God doesn’t have grandchildren. We are all His children and must make that commitment for ourselves. Prayer: Lord, help us to be a light in the world to draw others to you. You said, “If I be lifted up from the world, I will draw all men unto me.” Barbara Armstrong First Week of Advent Thursday, December 3, 2020 Scripture: John 1:6-9 God sent his messenger, a man named John, who came to tell people about the light so that all should hear the message and believe. He himself was not the light, but he came to tell about the light, the real light that comes into the world and shines on all people. Insight: In the Bible text, God had sent his messenger John the Baptist to bear witness about Christ. Although John was the first to bear witness to Christ, he was not to be the last. We as Christians have the responsibility to testify about him and to declare the truth of Jesus Christ so that all might believe in him. That is the foundation of our evangelism and mission on earth.