Advent Devotions

All are invited as we Make Room this Advent season. 

Waiting

Today’s author is Prince of Peace member, Alyssa Herrig.

My church’s Vacation Bible School growing up included two important things I looked forward to each summer. The first was America’s favorite cookie…the Oreo. We never had them growing up, so I always hoped at VBS that someone had donated them for snack time. The second were Nativity pieces that we painted and completed. We painted a piece each year, so by the completion of our years of VBS, we had a full set plus the stable. 

As I look at the set I completed over 25 years ago, I still remember the excitement of craft time that week during the summer. Each day we did one coat of paint and finished with the antiquing. The joy of creating these masterpieces has thoughtfully made its way back into my CYF teaching and ministry. I have helped children paint their own church keepsakes throughout the years, and I hope that they look back fondly on the time they created them.

Like God’s people that were told of the coming Good Shepherd, we too wait in anticipation of Immanuel. As we read through the story of Luke, we remember that God’s people were told by the prophets of a coming Messiah many generations prior to Jesus’ arrival. The Nativity pieces I created through the years taught me patience and the excitement of waiting for what was to come. Like our ancestors of faith, we join them as ordinary people, embracing hope, joy, peace and love as we wait for the birth of our Savior. May we continue to find comfort in the waiting.

Previously…

Assurance & Faith

As we enter the sixth and final week of our summer series, “Complete Joy,” we conclude our reading of 1 John with a passage that offers profound assurance about our faith and eternal life.

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Complete Joy

We’ve now explored the First Letter of John five weeks and have one week to go. I love the picture we’ve used for this series. Is there a better example of complete joy than a belly rolling laugh, especially when it comes from a child? Many have probably seen Michael “Bubs” Roe come to see me at church. That’s definitely a “complete joy” in my life.

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Practicing Love

Yesterday in my sermon on 1 John 5:1-6, our third week exploring how John sees love as the central quality of our faith in God, I suggested that love is both the command and the “victory” of our faith. Like Olympic athletes, we accept the challenge and we train for results.

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Revisiting Old Joys

It’s that time of year again… time for the great Minnesota Get Together, time to enjoy the sweetest corn and the juiciest garden tomatoes, time to load the backpack with a fresh box of crayons. The end of August, is the very definition of bittersweet. Summer wonders are on full display but their end is looming all too large.

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