Expectant: An Advent Meditation
As we journey through these sacred weeks, anticipating the arrival of our Savior, we invite you to intentionally slow down for a few moments to engage in a brief time of centering, reflection, and prayer. This is a weekly guided meditation, considering the miraculous development of Jesus in the womb and asking what God may be working to birth in and through each of us during this season.
We know this season can be chaotic. As we journey through these sacred weeks, anticipating the arrival of our Savior, we invite you to intentionally slow down for a few moments to engage in a brief time of centering, reflection, and prayer. Find a quiet place and listen as Community Pastor Mike Yager leads a weekly guided meditation, considering the miraculous development of Jesus in the womb and asking what God may be working to birth in and through each of us.
Photo by Kirby Trapolino
We are made to walk in the light of Your path
We insist on making our own way. We’re prone to march ahead blindly, confident in our path, when in fact, we rarely know where we’re really going, or consider that God might have a far-different destination in mind.
We insist on making our own way. We’re prone to march ahead blindly, confident in our path, when in fact, we rarely know where we’re really going, or consider that God might have a far-different destination in mind.
1 John 1: 6-7 says,
If we say we have an intimate connection with the Father but we continue stumbling around in darkness, then we are lying because we do not live according to truth. If we walk step by step in the light, where the Father is, then we are ultimately connected to each other through the sacrifice of Jesus His Son.
Proverbs 16: 9 says,
People do their best making plans for their lives; but the Eternal guides each step.
James 4: 13-15 says,
Listen carefully, those of you who make your plans and say, “We are traveling to this city in the next few days. We’ll stay there for one year while our business explodes and revenue is up.” The reality is you have no idea where your life will take you tomorrow. You are like a mist that appears one moment and then vanishes another. It would be best to say, “If it is the Lord’s will and we live long enough, we hope to do this project or pursue that dream.”
We are not in control; and that is a liberating truth. We even find ourselves currently facing that reality as a church; having poured our prayers, our dreams, our resources, and sweat into what we envisioned as a beautiful new campus in East Downtown. God had other plans, but that means that He is directing us toward something else. Our prayers are for the journey, but our faithfulness is for the next step. It may be a baby-step, a long stride, or it may be a giant leap; but as we continue to place our faith in God’s will, to dwell in the light of His path, we’ll know that we’re one step closer to where He wants us.
Daily Reflection:
Prayerfully consider the Holy Spirit as your GPS. What instruction is it giving you, at this moment?Try to pause throughout the day and orient yourself in faithfulness to the next step.
We seek to live this out as a community, and are hopeful about what God will reveal. Hold our church in your prayers, that the Spirit would lead us, individually and collectively, to take wise and faithful steps.
Daily Prayer:
Lord God, when we find ourselves stumbling in the dark, shine Your light. Grant us vision for the next step. Guide us far from the traps and pitfalls scattered across the land. Lead us by Your will to what awaits us, that we would trust in your faithfulness and provision, every step of the way.
In gratitude and hope we pray in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
You have made us to be Generous
God provides, but we often greedily hoard as if His well will run dry.
God provides, but we often greedily hoard as if His well will run dry. In 2nd Corinthians, the Apostle Paul tells a story about generosity:
2 Corinthians 8:1-4
1 Now, brothers and sisters, let me tell you about the amazing gift of God’s grace that’s happening throughout the churches in Macedonia. 2 Even in the face of severe anguish and hard times, their elation and poverty have overflowed into a wealth of generosity. 3 I watched as they willingly gave what they could afford and then went beyond to give even more.
This is a story about a group of churches that in the midst of experiencing great poverty, still gave generously. They had every reason to hoard their scarce resources, but instead they opened their hands to give generously. It can be tempting to fall in to a scarcity mentality; fearing that you will never have enough. God is operating in a different economy. The Kingdom economy has enough for all. The churches in Macedonia knew that God provides and we should too. God has made us to receive His gifts of grace and give them away freely to those in need. God has made us to be generous.
Reflection Questions:
How has God displayed his divine provision in your life?
How can you open your hands in generosity this week?
Prayer:
Lord God,
Help us to know that you provide and that in your economy there is enough for all. Open our hands to give generously, and remind us that generosity is a gift of grace.
We pray this as a family in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
You have made us to love
From the Garden, all the way to today, humanity is often driven by passionate, intense and visceral longings.
But we are inflamed with lust. From the Garden, all the way to today, humanity is often driven by passionate, intense and visceral longings. These longings are the unquenchable thirst for “more”. Lust is desire gone mad; seeking to satisfy nothing but itself, and is never satisfied. But there is another way.
Galatians 5: 13-14 says:
Brothers and sisters, God has called you to freedom! Hear the call, and do not spoil this gift by using your liberty to engage in what your flesh desires; instead, use it to serve each other as Jesus taught through love. For the whole law comes down to this one instruction: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Lust isolates us in a cycle of self-serving desire. Love, on the other hand, offers us freedom from ourselves; opening us up to others, purifying our desire, and directing us toward a passionate pursuit of goodness and peace for all. Jesus spoke plainly, demanding that you “Love the Eternal One with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind,” and that you “Love your neighbor as yourself.” As we love others, the Spirit that lives within us is active, liberating and transforming our desires to more fully serve the True and Living God. You, Ecclesia, have been made to love.
Daily Reflection:
What we most deeply desire is revealed in our actions. What unhealthy desires in your life need to be reoriented toward serving Jesus and his Kingdom?
Read 1 John 4: 17-21. How will you live in love this week?
Daily Prayer:
Lord God,
We confess that our hearts are divided.
We long to serve you, to live in your light,
but cling to our comforts and vices, our dark corners.
Shine brightly in those places, God.
Remind us that we are safe in your arms.
Remind us how loved we are, always, at this very moment;
That we’d let your love flow through us,
freely to all whom your will places before us.
Free us to love as we have been loved.
In gratitude and hope we pray,
in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
You have made us to serve others
Jesus’ last night with his friends offers us remarkable clarity about the life into which we are called as his followers.
Jesus’ last night with his friends offers us remarkable clarity about the life into which we are called as his followers.
John 13:1, 3-5
Jesus was keenly aware that His hour had come to depart from this world and to return to the Father. From beginning to end, Jesus’ days were marked by His love for His people.… Jesus, knowing that He had come from God and was going away to God, stood up from dinner and removed His outer garments. He then wrapped Himself in a towel, poured water in a basin, and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with His towel.
The feet which Jesus washed were nothing like our daily-bathed, sock-covered, pedicured feet. First century feet were gnarled and calloused, dusty, grimy, misshapen. Washing feet was the lowest place in the room. Peter initially refused Jesus’ offer of love. Then he came to understand Jesus’ intention.
John 13:13-14
You call Me Teacher and Lord, and truly, that is who I am. So if your Lord and Teacher washes your feet, then you should wash one another’s feet. I am your example; keep doing what I do.
DAILY REFLECTION:
How is God leading you to lower yourself today to serve someone?
What would it look like to release your status in order to love and serve?
DAILY PRAYER:
Lord ,
May we have eyes to see this day opportunities to follow your example. As you invite us to humble ourselves, to serve, to love as you have loved, may we have courage to kneel into those opportunities, to release our status, and fully embody your love to others. As we do so, may we receive and encounter your love for us as well.
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen