Advent Devotions Door County 2025

Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. – The Prophet Isaiah …And of his kingdom there will be no end. – The Angel Gabriel I want it to go on forever – the lights, the carols, the sheer delight. All that I experience on Christmas Eve- chasing away the darkness, heralding peace on earth… I never want it to end, especially in the winter, when darkness wraps itself like a blanket over my heart. When God spoke to Isaiah the prophet, darkness had already descended on his people. King Uzziah, whose reign brokered a decades-long peace, was dead. The drum-beats of war echoed through his land. And yet, God spoke. Through the lens of the Spirit, Isaiah saw beyond the impending disasters to a new age- peace for all time and for all people. When God spoke to Mary through the Angel Gabriel, the land had been in the grip of darkness for centuries- wars, conquest and eventually, occupation by the brutal Roman Empire. Can you imagine the one blazing moment of hope, wh...

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. (Isaiah 9:2) Hope, Fulfillment and Expectation.   Every time I get in my vehicle, put my key in the ignition or press the Start button, my expectation is that the engine will turn over and start up, and that I will be able to drive said vehicle to my destination.   But, what about the day when it won’t turn over, and it won’t start up? The tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali were the first tribes taken away into slavery by the Assyrian Empire. Then, 700 years passed before Matthew wrote his Gospel, which quotes the prophecy of Isaiah 9, included with this devotion. After 700 years, from a worldly perspective, hope in restoration for these tribes was all but lost.   But, even before their enslavement, God had already prophesied what would happen, including both their enslavement and their future hope.   In Matthew 4, Jesus begins His preaching...

Throughout the ages, the voice of God has been heard in many ways, through prophets, through dreams, through signs and visions – each time calling those who would listen out of fear, bondage, and oppression into greater freedom.   Hosea 11:1 recalls, When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The prophet tells of a divine love that was not willing to leave Israel enslaved, but rather led the people from the grip of Pharaoh to the promise of a better life. Many generations later, that same voice spoke again.   In Matthew 2:13-15, an angel warned Joseph in a dream to flee to Egypt with young Jesus, to protect him from Herod’s murderous rage. Once again, divine love acted to rescue and preserve life, fulfilling the earlier words of Hosea, and showing us that the divine impulse to call us from death to life is not confined to one moment in history but continues to speak and nudge us to act in every age. Our challenge as people of faith today is to...

It’s an interesting exercise to study a Bible passage that I’ve known since childhood. Unsurprisingly, I found my perspective has changed over the last 60 years. Questions that I would have asked then would have been about logistics: How far did the magi walk (possibly as far as 1000 miles) and how long did it take them (maybe as long as a year)? It was a remarkable endeavor given that their only clue that the journey would lead them to Jesus was a 700-year-old prophecy.   I wondered whether I would be able to make that kind of commitment.   But then I started to compare my own journey to theirs and realized it has challenges of its own. I, at least, have been blessed with far more clues: the life of Jesus laid out in the New Testament is a huge advantage, but the path it lays out is crowded and the other travelers, who believe they are faithfully following the same map, often make choices that are far different than mine.   At a minimum it’s distracting; at its worst, ...

The Most Transforming Gift of All! While the secular and economic world in these weeks leading up to Christmas would have us focus on spending for presents and gifts, followers of Jesus Christ have a different focus. It likewise is on gifts, but emphasizes the reality that God first gave to us… … by bringing us into this world and inviting us to acknowledge God as Lord in our lives; … by God giving us God’s Son, Jesus Christ, the one foretold in Isaiah 53:12c, “Yet he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.” This brings to mind the Gaither hymn, “God sent his Son, they called him Jesus, he came to love, heal and forgive; he lived and died to buy my pardon, an empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives” He was the Gift of all gifts. Equally significant is how Jesus demonstrated the gift in action; while being nailed to the cross he still looked down upon the nail drivers, not with anger, not with hate and resentment, but with compassion, uttering in...

[He] was numbered with the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12b) What is a transgressor anyway? It’s not a word we’re familiar with or use often. In English, it merely means someone who “breaks the law,” which could imply anything from a small infraction to something more egregious. In Hebrew, “transgressor” is a person who “revolts against, breaks away from, or behaves as a criminal towards” authority or law. In fact, it is God’s most condemnatory term for his people, Israel—rebels. The Servant of Isaiah 53 is counted among the most heinous of society—one who breaks from God’s perfect command to become a pariah among the faithful. There is nothing redeeming here. Beyond help and beyond hope, the Servant is counted as a criminal worthy of the eternal wrath and fury of a holy God. Jesus tells his disciples (Luke 22:37) that Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled in himself. The Messiah of God was about to be considered the law breaker par excellence of all humanity. He would trade his righteous...