December 21: Psalm 96
Jay B. Hillestad
As a chaplain on-call, I was paged one morning for a young man on the Transplant Unit who had rushed 200 miles to the hospital with his family because a matching donor was found for a kidney. While waiting for the organ, the family asked to speak with me. [...]
December 20: Luke 2.15-20
Chris Wogaman
We have re-enacted this scene dozens of times throughout our lives—the exciting encounter with God, the news that must be shared, even by night, and this amazing moment of meeting the baby Jesus, newborn. If anything would make a person go in haste, it would be this!
Imagine seeing Jesus from [...]
December 19: Isaiah 9.2-7
Patricia Carter
It was Christmas Eve in Montevideo, Uruguay, at my sister Joan and brother-in-law Bill’s home. Bill was posted at the Embassy in Montevideo. As was their custom, Bill had invited personnel from the Embassy who didn’t have family in town to have Christmas Eve dinner with [...]
December 18th: Luke 1.39-49
Jennifer Redmond
God chose Mary, a woman pure of heart and body, to bear his son. Knowing that his son could not be created through mortal conception, God needed to create a miracle supported by undeniable proof of his ability to create life within a woman – an immaculate conception [...]
December 17: Hebrews 10.5-10
Janice Brady
This particular verse emphatically reminds us to accept God’s desires and not our own. “Here I am, O God, to do your will” is in fact a complete surrender. The word surrender, however, is not very popular with most of humankind; it is not often equated with success unless [...]
December 16: Psalm 80.1-7
Mike Brady
Historically, it was often written that the nation of Israel turned from God in how it lived and valued what was important to it. The writer of today’s Psalm was lamenting that God had turned his back on them and was punishing them.
The fact was that Israel had [...]
December 15: Luke 1.47-55
Karen Westphal
Mary saw in her experience the fulfillment of God’s will for his own people. At this time, the land was occupied with alien overlords. The people groaned under the burdens placed on them by the religious leaders of the day.
Black as things looked, a great light was about to [...]
December 14: Micah 5.2-5
Warren Westphal
As the prophet Micah 700 years earlier had foretold, God brought into our world our Lord Jesus Christ. He came to announce a new beginning for Israel and for the world. God will provide. His love and peace is made known in the person of our Lord Jesus.
Jesus, who came [...]
December 13: Luke 2.18-20
Nancy Curry
I remember as a young girl being assigned a small passage of the Christmas Story to recite for the annual Christmas Program at the First Christian Church in Logan, WV. I practiced and practiced at home. Then the night finally came. We filed up on the stage around the [...]
December 12: Philippians 4.4-7
Tom Curry
Rejoice in the Lord. With him by your side you are never alone. During this advent season, we tend to reflect on times gone by and what the future may bring. As children, the Sears toy catalog was mulled over every night with our parents as to what we [...]
