2021 Advent Devotions: The Beginning of the Journey
Monday (November 29, 2021)
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. (Psalm 90:1-2)
Friends, we set out on another year’s journey through Advent. And like year’s past, you can wait and pray with us each day through these daily devotions. Pr. Wayne and I will switch off weeks, writing devotions for each of the days of the week Monday-Friday. Each day you can check our website under the devotion tab or on our social media pages to find a short selection from the scripture from the church’s daily lectionary, a brief meditation or story, and a closing prayer for self reflection.
It is our hope that you will not only hear the stories and prayers that are in our hearts, but that you will also reflect on these words of holy scripture and hear what God is calling forth from your heart as well.
For me, Advent is the time of year, more than any other, when my heart is most closely connected to stories and memories from generations come and gone. All it takes is the small warmth from a candle on a cold winter’s night to transport me into my childhood home where my family is gathered late on a Sunday evening around our Advent wreath; the smell of pumpkin pie to harken back to my grandparent’s kitchen; the krinkle of paper to call forth what it felt like to open presents as a child on Christmas morning; the feel of snow falling from the sky to remember leaving church on Christmas Eve in a snowstorm.
There are so many, many more. I hope that you join us each day as we tell stories from Christmases long long ago, and that you too feel that connection to our God who not only is our dwelling place in all generations but who comes to dwell with us each and every Christmas.
Let us pray: Dear God, we remember in this Advent season that your name is Emmanuel, literally God with us. May we feel your loving presence and warm embrace as we journey through these days and weeks ahead, until we finally meet you incarnate in the manger. Amen
Peace in Christ,
Pr. Daniel Joyner Miller
