Archives of Advent 2021

The Best Gift John 1:1–18 By Greg and Christina Owen Christmas is finally here! This day will most certainly involve gifts. The gift a child opens that he has been longing for; the gift of family time with those you love; the gift of rest from the normal work pattern. Surely gifts will abound. But […]

The Announcement of the Birth of Jesus to Mary Luke 1:26-38 by Jeff Olds Today’s passage tells of the announcement to Mary that she would be the mother of Jesus. This visit from the angel Gabriel is referred to as the annunciation – the announcement of the incarnation by the angel Gabriel to Mary. In […]

Go Out in Joy Isaiah 55:12–13 by Tammy Pressley You will indeed go out with joy and be peacefully guided; the mountains and the hills will break into singing before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will come up, and instead of the […]

Waiting on the Lord Psalm 33:18–22 by Mike Cooper I don’t know about you, but I hate waiting. When I was a kid, my parents would buy me and my brother Christmas presents, immediately wrap them, and then place them under the tree far before Christmas day. Every time I walked by the tree it […]

Best Supporting Actor John 1:6-8, 19-28 by Peter and Courtney Thompson It’s all too easy for me to fall into the trap of believing I’m the main character in my story. After all, I literally view the world through my eyes. Maybe you struggle with that, too. We live in a time where self-promotion is […]

Are You Listening? Luke 2:22-35 By Mark Pressley When you were young (and probably even as an adult!), did you ever wait on something special, anticipating that your expectations would be fulfilled? Maybe it was that team you tried out for or that special person you wanted to take to prom or that Red Rider […]

Come and See Luke 2:8-20 By Tammy Pressley Have you ever seen a child that is extremely excited for you to “come and see” something? As a preschool director, I hear these words all the time. When I visit a classroom, children rush to show me a craft they made, a tower they built out […]

Jesus Overcomes John 16:25–33 By Craig Hardee The past couple of years certainly qualify as years of tribulation. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us into many situations for which we weren’t prepared to handle. Many, many people have been sick from the virus. Many people have died. But Jesus overcomes. We suffered through shortages. We’ve […]

Great Mercy Psalm 85 By Jeff Olds There is so much in this Psalm! Psalm 85 begins by reminding us of God’s great faithfulness to His people Israel. God looked favorably on their land by graciously taking care of them, His special possession; He brought them back from captivity; and He forgave their iniquity and […]

Stay Alert Mark 13:24–37 By Courtney and Peter Thompson Shortly before the crucifixion, Jesus takes time to lay out some very serious and vivid truths about what the disciples should expect in the future. What he describes about the end times—the abomination of desolation, the sun and moon darkening, stars falling from the sky—are really […]