Below is the final entry of my Advent Journal. May your Christmas be filled with Light! The True Story of Christmas A Compilation of the Christ-story as Recorded in God’s Word Based upon the translation of New Revised Standard Version published by Thomas Nelson, Inc; copyright 1989. Compilation/Arrangement by Pastor Kate Meyer, Advent 2005 Revised Advent 2006 (Luke 1:5-79) In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly ord

For you alone my soul in stillness waits, truly my hope is in you. Soul in stillness. Silent night. Many of us, myself included, often default to an image of this night as calm, bright, peaceful, still; but how could it have been? A teenage mother nearing the end of her pregnancy forced to leave her home, and her community of women, for a census. A young father trying to focus on the travel ahead, his mind filled with the words his friends have thrown at him about his bride.

What follows is the Christmas Eve entry in the aforementioned Advent Journal; I hope as you read it the Spirit will stir anew within you. If you read this and are wanting more, then join me at Hope Reformed Church in Sheboygan, WI tonight at six. You might even hear a brand new reflection. None of us can know what that night was like. I’ve always imagined it like most of the paintings and hymns do: calm, clear, and peaceful. An ordinary night in which very few had any idea wh

The True Story of Christmas: A Compilation of the Christ-story as Recorded in God’s Word Based upon the translation of New Revised Standard Version published by Thomas Nelson, Inc; copyright 1989. Compilation/Arrangement by Pastor Kate Meyer, Advent 2005-Revised Advent 2006 (Luke 1:5-79) In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both of t

Can you feel it? The time is coming fast! The stories we love will be told through song, children’s plays, home decorations, and family traditions. As you take the time to remember the most familiar parts of the story, may you be reawakened to the awe-inspiring quality they hold and may your heart be filled with an awakening to the joy of this season, Christmas Day, and our daily life of active expectation! Use the remainder of this space to record any thoughts from the worsh

'This is it. It’s time; I hope they are ready. Do you think they understand what is happening? A manger; he’s going to be born in a stable and placed in a manger! Will they understand it? Will they see that his birth in a manger is a symbol of the rule he will have? He is there to turn things around so that they will finally understand the way they are treating each other is not what I want for them. I want them to see and understand that this is not how I wanted it to be. I

The movie The Nativity Story does what I consider to be a wonderful job depicting this part of the story. Luke doesn’t give us much information and perhaps that is because in the grand scheme of things it is not that grand of an event; and yet, would Jesus have been born in that stable in Bethlehem without this difficult journey? Probably not! Until news of the census arrived in Nazareth, I’m sure Mary and Joseph were content to wait out the remainder of Mary’s pregnancy in t

When a baby is born, does he realize all that will be required of him? Does he realize that his birth fulfills a prophecy and that he will one day baptize the one born to save the world? Think about all of the promises that were made to Zechariah that day in the Temple and all of the thoughts that must have gone through Zechariah’s mind as he heard the first cries of his son. Since Zechariah was still unable to speak, Elizabeth tried to convince those around her that she knew

Joseph is a man about whom we know a relatively small amount. These verses of Scripture, however, reveal some important parts of Joseph’s character. Walk with me backwards through these verses to understand the man who would be the earthly father to his Savior. In verse twenty-four we are told that when Joseph awoke from his dream he did exactly what Gabriel told him to do. Regardless of thoughts of hesitation that may have gone through his mind, Joseph awoke and was positive

Once Gabriel left Mary, I imagine reality began to come into focus. What would Joseph say? How would she explain this to her parents…would they ever believer her? Did she even fully believe the full impact of what she had just heard? Then she remembered the last part of Gabriel’s message to her: Elizabeth was also going to have a baby! Well, she thought, if anyone is going to understand what I am experiencing and the questions I have, it is Elizabeth. Perhaps it’s time for a

Have you ever paused to consider what a great act of setting down power the birth of Christ truly is? It is bravery; it is letting go of all comfort and relying on a corrupted humanity to care for and raise God’s self from a baby to a man. I cannot begin to imagine how difficult it must have been! In coming to this earth, God laid down all power to become a dependent baby—imagine what the heavenly host must have been thinking… Angel 1: Have you heard what is going to happen?

In this third week of Advent, the journal will begin to focus on those stories commonly associated with the Christmas season. My challenge is that the stories would be allowed to come alive once again, that the meaning and awe-inspiring quality of them would ring true, and that hearts would be full of the glory and anticipation of Christ’s eventual return. Briefly reflect on what stories you most look forward to reading again and why they hold so much importance to you. Share

There seems to be no better way to end a week focused on how to live in this time of already and not yet, than to read this passage from John. It sums up that while we did not have the gift of living when Jesus walked this earth, we do have the gift of the Counselor sent to guide us in Truth. It reminds us that though Jesus has returned to God in heaven, he will return to us again. It convicts us to live our lives attuned to the Spirit so that we can learn what we need to lea

The image in this passage is so beautiful, that I want to leave it up to you to use this day as a day of creativity. Draw the images in your mind’s eye. Write a poem, a song, or a prayer. Choreograph a dance. Get back in touch with your childhood joy of crayons and let the Spirit move! (Note: the above is original content written by this author in 2004. I suggest having a journal and Bible on-hand when you sit down with this devotional in order to complete the full aspects of

This passage tells us that Christ will return soon and in order to prepare we must dress ourselves in the armor of light (for more information on that, read Ephesians 6:10-20). Given that we are reading those same words, I have to ask: what does soon mean? Though it would be nice to have an answer to that question, it is a human question asked from a human perspective. I think the better question would be, once dressed in the armor of light what am I supposed to do? To me, th

John 3:16 is perhaps the most familiar verse in Scripture and I wonder if that is the problem. Perhaps it is so familiar that we have lost sight of what a true sacrifice Christ’s coming was; when this verse is compared with John 15:12, however, the importance of this expression of love cannot go unnoticed. Again, the command is so simple and we insist on making it complicated. As we await Christ’s return, we must love as he loves us. Do you want to know the best part? We have

I can’t even begin to imagine what this time must have been like for Jesus’ friends and disciples. They invested the last three years of their lives observing his ministry, sharing in it, and learning all they could—well, at the very least trying to learn all they could! I would guess they weren’t feeling all that secure in their knowledge or ability on this particular day. After all, Jesus had tried to tell them ahead of time that he would die and rise again, and yet they gr

In the grand scheme of things, how often do we truly relate Christmas to Good Friday and Easter? Sure, we understand that the three are connected because one could not occur without the other two; but I think it is so much more than that. There seems to be some sort of stigma around the idea of speaking of the crucifixion when celebrating the birth of Christ, but I’m not so sure that stigma is necessary. I do believe that the Christmas story should be told on Christmas and th

Last week centered on a few of the Old Testament prophecies of Christ, as well as the specific foretelling of John the Baptist and Jesus. This week will break the flow a bit to look at Scripture verses which remind us that we still live in waiting as we prepare for the second coming of Christ. It is important in this season not to lose sight of the fact that the first time of advent (awaiting the first coming of the Messiah) resulted in this second duration of advent. The Scr

These words must have left a significant impact on Isaiah; the prayer which follows is an imagining of one that Isaiah may have uttered to God after hearing these words: Lord let it be true! I know you would not send a word for me to speak if it would not one day be true, but I know you have longed for your children to grasp this concept since you created this world and I know that we continue to get it wrong. We have continued to disregard the masses in order to raise a few