December 8, 2021 - Advent Devotion

 

This Week:

Sunday, December 12, 2021:

  • Join us for “Get Ready, for the Real Story,” a Lord of Life children’s Christmas program!

  • Share this event with family and friends so they can join us in person or live stream from the broadcast on Lord of Life LIVE, right in the event page!

Previous Lord of Life LIVE service:

 
 

White as snow
White as snow
Though my sins were as scarlet
Lord, I know
Lord I know
That I'm clean and forgiven 
Through the power of Your blood
Through the wonder of Your love
Through faith in You
I know that I can be
White as snow

 
And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.
— Philippians 1:9-11

Do you read a text like this and find yourself asking, why bother?

Do you read words like this in scripture and say, I have no chance?

The cynic and the realist in us more easily sings, "though my sins were as scarlet," so even though we trust, "Lord, I know, that I am clean and forgiven," yet we question the words of Paul, "How is there any possibility that my love will overflow, that I will determine what is best, that I will be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, that I am helping produce the harvest of righteousness?"

Having such feelings and reactions is what can happen when we quit halfway through.

Let us not quit reading such a text, before we read the words, "that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God."

Let us not quit this Advent journey too early, for if we do we will not find the awe and hope, grace and truth given in our Advent journey; Jesus, the One who was sent by God to praise God, makes us blameless and white as snow, far as the curse is found!

Let us pray: Jesus, faithful Jesus, when we are afraid because we know we are not blameless, when we do not know how to keep going far as the curse is found, and we want to quit early our walk of discipleship, make each of us ready for your gifts this Christmas as heaven and nature sing, gifts of forgiveness and courage, strength and life. Amen. 

 
 
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