Advent 2025

Below, you will find a variety of ways to reflect on the message for this week. Since God speaks to each of us in different ways, you, your family, or even your small group may wish to mix and match a number of the spiritual disciplines listed. Open in Prayer Prayerfully look back through this week’s readings and devotionals. Ask God to speak to you freshly as you consider them again. Key Verses Review the key verses for the week,…

Read Ephesians 3:14-19 I decided to get married when I was 32 years old.  I had a stable career, nice car, owned my home and was just feeling good about what God was doing in my life. So what else was there to do, but to get married and have a family. At least that’s what I was told. After a few years of stress, continual arguments, a drug-using husband and unfaithfulness in my marriage, my world was destroyed. What…

Read Philippians 2:1-11 There’s a wonderful line in The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis that has stuck with me: “In our world too, a Stable once had something inside it that was bigger than our whole world.” It’s amazing to think of a humble stable holding something bigger than the world. How can such a thing be possible? How is omnipotence encompassed in an infant? How can divinity exist in the contents of an earthy feeding trough? Jesus had equal…

Read 1 John 3:16-18 The invitation to write this devotion came while I was in a meeting as Lamar Garer of New Orleans was presenting his study titled On Thriving and Love. He discussed the daunting statistics and profound challenges involved in bringing families out of poverty in his city. After reviewing Milwaukee’s similar statistics, Lamar presented a simple slide that caught me by surprise. It read: “When you approach an issue with love, solutions don’t seem impossible because the…

Read 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 We have several friends that are suffering right now. A widower told us people assume that his grief should be easier because he’s a pastor. A girlfriend on chemo is dismayed by the many diet and treatment ideas people send her. Recently, our granddaughter was bitten by a pit bull and received multiple injections that EMLA cream only helped superficially. Many others are facing losses and diminishings invisible to us.  Do you ever feel overwhelmed, not…

Read John 15:9-17 When I first met my husband, I could only hear his voice. It was during the 2020 lockdowns, and I was listening to him on a podcasting app. I had no idea that this humorous host would soon become my closest friend and one day be my spouse. Over the next year, we talked extensively about everything under the sun. He offered a shoulder to cry on and jokes to brighten my days. Finally, the day had…

Read Acts 27-28 How do you know when love is real?  That was what Ed Keefer and John Hawley tried to figure out in the 1930s when, as engineering students at the University of Toledo in Ohio, they invented the Cupidoscope. The goal of this device was to reveal whether a couple was really in love with scientific accuracy. As you might expect, the Cupidoscope seemed more like a gimmick than anything else. It only perhaps revealed just how hard…

Below, you will find a variety of ways to reflect on the message for this week. Since God speaks to each of us in different ways, you, your family, or even your small group may wish to mix and match a number of the spiritual disciplines listed. Open in Prayer Prayerfully look back through this week’s readings and devotionals. Ask God to speak to you freshly as you consider them again. Key Verses Review the key verses for the week,…

Read Psalm 47 When I saw today’s scripture passage I thought to myself, this will be hard to do. I am a joyful person but I can also be a pessimistic person at times.  Psalm 47 is a bold celebration: “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy!” Sometimes joy feels like a distant memory. Life doesn’t always give us reasons to clap. The world feels broken, and God’s promises seem delayed. We read about…

Read Psalm 16 As a child, you probably sought solace and protection in your parents after a nightmare. Maybe as a teen going through high school, you went to your parents to seek advice or gain comfort after a rejection or failed test. As an adult, you might find yourself seeking advice for life in this world from a parent or mentor. We often seek protection and security from those that we trust. Sometimes I think about a nightmare I…

Read Luke 2:10-20 Have you gone tent camping? Things tend to get a little quieter after dark. Sometimes a log crackles on a campfire  or an owl hoots in the distance. Take a moment to read Luke 2:8-20, thinking about the shepherds as they were “camping” outside. Imagine what they saw, heard, and felt. That night in the Judean countyside was likely quite ordinary until suddenly, heaven’s glory ripped through the stillness. First an angel appeared to the shepherds, and…

Read Zephaniah 3:14-17 “Joy” is not a feeling invoked by the first two-and-a-half chapters of the book of Zephaniah. The prophet uses some pretty apocalyptic imagery to warn the nation of Israel about God’s impending judgment of their sin, evil and violence. Then, in the passage we read today, he offers a glimmer of the hope that lies on the other side of purification and repentance for blessing and restoration in God’s presence. The people are called to sing, to…