But God

Advent ABC: Our God

Isaiah 25:9 (Isaiah 46:3-4, Malachi 4:2, Romans 5:10-11, Hebrews 4:15, 16, 2 Peter 1:1) In that day the people will proclaim, “This is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us! This is the Lord, in whom we trusted. Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings.”

Trust isn’t easy, especially when we’ve been betrayed. When someone we have trusted has not just disappointed us, but has deliberately hurt us for their own ends. Because the Three-in-One God understands this, Jesus came, to experience in a body what betrayal is. That’s why we can go to him to find mercy and grace in our time of need. This is our God, not a being far off, but one who draws near, in compassion and full understanding. With healing in his wings.

This is Our God, Phil Wickham

Advent ABC: time out for JOY!

Joy to the World, sung by Celtic Women

Isaiah 61:3, 7, 10 To all who mourn, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning. … Everlasting joy will be yours. … I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom in his wedding suit or a bride with her jewels.

Joy is the theme of the third week of Advent, when we light the pink candle along with the first one, hope, and the second, faith. There are various ways of naming these candles—yours may be different—but I believe all traditions emphasize joy on this third week.

Isaiah takes us to the depths of despair as he foresees overwhelming harm resulting from injustice. He also raises us to the heights of joy when he envisions the day when the Savior of the world will put everything right. His book overflows with joy!

Isaiah says his good news will “strengthen those who have tired hands and encourage those who have weak knees” (35:3). So take five minutes to read Isaiah 35 today, out loud if you can!

Joy to the World, sung by Phil Wickham for The Chosen

Advent ABC: Noel (Born of God)

Galatians 4:4 (Isaiah 9:6) But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.

I didn’t know until now that Noel means “born of God.” Did you? Unto us a child is born … The incredible mystery of the incarnation. God made man, born, living, and dying in our fractured, messy world. “The visible image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15).

When she was 13, Karis imagined what it would be like to be a pregnant teenager, bearing God’s Son. We ran across this story while sorting through her things and made it into a booklet. Several who have read it have told me that for them now, “this is how it happened.”

If you would like a copy of Mary’s Diary, let me know! debrakornfield@gmail.com

Noel, Chris Tomlin (featuring Lauren Daigle)

Advent ABC: Mighty One

Isaiah 33:21, 24 (Ephesians 1:19-20, Hebrews 1:3) The Lord will be our Mighty One. He will be like a wide river of protection that no enemy can cross, that no ship can sail upon.

Jesus’s love would mean less uncoupled from his power to act on behalf of his beloved, and his authority over everything in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). Listen to the author of Hebrews: The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command (1:3).

I need this word today, as I grapple with the severity of my brother-in-law Bill’s injuries from being hit by a car while riding his bike. Only the Lord has the power to sustain Bill and his family against the enemies of despair, anxiety, and depression. Please pray with us for Jesus’s mighty power to prevail against these enemies. Thank you.

Bill’s first check-up x-rays yesterday, two weeks after surgery to insert a rod to secure the two fragments of his tibia considered worth trying to save. This is a guy who normally rides his bike 15-30 miles daily. His left foot also suffered several broken bones.

In what way today do you need to see Jesus’s power at work?

When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Holy One, your Savior. … Do not be afraid, for I am with you (Isaiah 43:2-5).

Mighty God (Another Hallelujah), Elevation Worship

Advent ABC: King of kings

1 Timothy 6:15 (Isaiah 32:1, Revelation 17:14, 19:16) For at just the right time Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only almighty God, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords.

Handel and Isaac Watts and Chris Tomlin say it better than I could.

He Shall Reign Forevermore, Chris Tomlin

Jesus Shall Reign, by Isaac Watts, sung by Kristyn Getty

The Hallelujah Chorus, George Frideric Handel

Advent ABC: Jesus (Savior)

Matthew 1:21 (Isaiah 43:11, 62:11) [Gabriel told Joseph] “Mary will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, ‘The Lord saves,’ for he will save his people from their sins.”

After posting Advent ABC: Holy One early last Sunday (the second Sunday of Advent), I was surprised to find holiness the theme of our service when I got to church. Kevin Antlitz preached a deeply moving sermon, clarifying many misconceptions about the holiness of God and what it means for us to pursue holiness: “It’s not about perfection. It’s about direction.” Jesus shows us that holiness is a human being fully alive; motivated by love, not by fear as we wait to see him again.

And we sang “Lord I Need You” by Matt Maher:

Where sin runs deep, your grace is more;

Where grace is found is where you are;

And where you are, Lord, I am free.

Holiness is Christ in me.

A Thousand Hallelujahs, Brooke Ligertwood

Advent ABC: Immanuel (sometimes spelled Emmanuel)

Isaiah 7:14 (Matthew 1:23) The Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).

Shutterstock: Anneka

With us.

We’re not abandoned.

Not alone.

Not rejected.

Not forgotten.

Not ignored.

Not invisible.

Immanuel: God—the sovereign Creator, King of kings and Lord of lords, is with us.

Incarnate God taking on our humanity, our frailty, our vulnerability, our mortality.

He understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most (Hebrews 4:15-16).

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness (John 1:14).

Immanuel, Michael Card

Advent ABC: Holy One

Isaiah 29:19 (40:25, 57:15, Proverbs 9:10), John 6:69 The humble will be filled with fresh joy from the Lord. The poor will rejoice in the Holy One.

My husband’s brother Bill and his family spent Thanksgiving with us. The next Tuesday, riding his bike home to Plano from For the Nations in Dallas where he volunteers, Bill was hit by a car, which shattered his legs and broke a rib, collapsing a lung. Last night on the phone he told Dave, “It’s an amazing thing. As I lie here, I feel like I’m in the presence of the Holy One. I feel joy.”

This is more than I usually write for Advent ABC, but I want to tell you my three year old granddaughter Talita, who had been thrilled with all the attention Uncle Bill gave her while he was in Pittsburgh, told me, “I’m sad about my boy Billy who got hit by a car and broke his legs like my Vovó [her Brazilian grandmother Luciene, who is walking now!].” Today I was able to tell Talita her “boy Billy” is home from the hospital, determined, he says, to walk in nine months.

Joy. May it be so.

Holy One by Paul Mwai https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKDZSpy10Ew

Advent ABC: God of all the earth

Isaiah 54:5 (Acts 3:25) For the Lord is the God of all the earth.

I’ve been invited to write a chapter for a book on patriotism. Perhaps because I was born and grew up in Guatemala, have lived in several countries and have visited many others, when I think of patriotism, I first think of Jesus saying the Gospel would preached to every nation.

Shutterstock: magr80

The Lord is God of all the earth, with sons and daughters in every country who are my brothers and sisters. This makes every war feel to me like a civil war. Does this impact my sense of patriotism? Of course, it does. One day the “artificial” boundaries between countries that matter so much to the world today will no longer divide us. Advent helps us anticipate that day.

Come Let Us Worship the King Sandi Patty