Anxiety or Abundance? – Rev. Linda Roby

Breath Prayer and Words for Today: “I can trust my smallest concern to God's wisdom.”

Letting go of anxieties for me is an exercise in putting things in perspective, and finding balance. It’s a constant challenge throughout life, but one of the ways I have found helpful, is when I get outside myself and see others that have strong, courageous faith, especially in the midst of struggles or trials.  When I can sense hope beyond present circumstances, I regain a sense of gratitude, and can move forward trusting God’s provision in all things.

When this blog is posted, Frank and I will be returning from spending Thanksgiving week in Kampala, Uganda with some young people who have risen above their often unspeakable pasts; orphaned and vulnerable children who are signs of real hope and possibility. Their pasts don’t define them. Instead, they see opportunity, promise, and hope in trusting God, in the gift of another day to be the most they can be.  They give their best to make a difference in their own lives, in their community, and in making a little corner of the world a better place. It is in that reality, that I find real hope and a sense of God’s presence.

This advent I hope that you experience God’s abundance beyond the anxieties, no matter the circumstances.  

Lord God, I give thanks for the gift of another day.  May Your light shine in whatever darkness we experience. May we trust in your presence, find hope in love made real, and receive your peace this season. Amen.

Finding the Stillnes – Rocky Dwyer

Breath Prayer and Words for Today: “Deepen my longing for you, O God”

Our devotion today calls for us to find some stillness with God during the “…busyness and chatter of this season of the year.” I am reminded of a film clip I show every year to the youth group during the Christmas season that gives a brief and humorous history of Christmas.  It begins with the biblical story but adds that Santa Claus, snowmen, Christmas TV specials, shopping, and long lines at the mall to name a view of the activities that have become our Christmas traditions.  In all the commotion and stress Joseph pops out saying that all of this is stressing him out and why are we doing all of this. The holidays can be a stressful time for so many of us and we should take a step back and just listen and reflect on such thoughts as Luke 1:68, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.” In the stillness we can strip away all of the unnecessary and get to the core of what is important.  I encourage you to get a gift for yourself this Christmas, the gift of a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God. 

Your Mission: Conviction – Gretchen Combs

Breath Prayer and Words for the Day: Hope thrives in the wilderness

Read:  Mark 1:1-8 <Click here> to read online.

And this was his message:  “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.  I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

                I just got the pictures from my high school class reunion.  I wasn’t able to travel to Minnesota to be with the class, but I was there in spirit.  The pictures are wonderful.  I can still recognize most of them.  Forty-plus years,  and much has changed.  I would never have thought that I would become a   Children’s Minister or relish my 3 years as a missionary.  I wasn’t the “missionary” or “minister” type person…I was from a very small town in Minnesota, and “you just don’t do that sort of thing”.  You become a teacher, or a nurse, something normal.

                My family and close friends had much more faith in me than I did.    “Lord”, I prayed, “stay by me, walk with me, and when I have doubts, strengthen me.”  And he has.  I truly know that God had a plan for me,  it just took me awhile to recognize The Plan.  I haven’t a clue what will come next, but in His time I will find out.

                When John the Baptist came on the scene 2,000 years ago, he believed  the Messiah was coming.  He lived a humble life away from any of the comforts of his day.  His clothes were made from camel hair and his food was mainly locusts.  Still, he exemplified the way to Christ.  It is a road that is not easy, but filled with difficulties and hardships.  People of John the Baptist’s time thought he was strange and “had issues, “ as we would say now.  There were those who must have asked :  Where does he fit in?  What is he doing?  Is he really a man of God?  Where did he come from?

Unlike my doubts about my “mission,” John didn’t have any doubt.  He knew he was different from other people.  He knew he didn’t fit in.  He had faith and believed, with all that he was, that Jesus was coming.  He believed Jesus was God’s Son.  God had a plan.  John would be his messenger, and because John believed, many repented and believed.   

Hope is found in the barren depth of us all, and thrives.

Consider:  How would you react to John the Baptist if he came today?


<Click here> to see a fun family activity for Advent.

Adult Challenge:

Imagine yourself as a modern-day John the Baptist.  Does your life exemplify Christ’s message of repentance, hope, and love?  In what ways could your life do that?

Child Prompt:

If I were John the Baptist today, as God’s messenger I would:

But I’m Not Thirsty Right Now! – Rev. Tom Downing

Breath Prayer and Words for Today: “Deepen my longing for you, O God”

Rev. Diana Holbert taught me how to deepen my longing for God. She had us read and pray Psalm 42 each day before and during a retreat she led for my Covenant Sunday School Class at FirstChurch.

As a deer longs for flowing streams,

        so my soul longs for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

        When shall I come and behold the face of God?

The person who wrote this is no optimistic believer in the prosperity gospel, or six other impossible things before breakfast. They write because they are in trouble, and their enemies mock them. At that retreat I could really identify with that. I was in a job working for someone who continually berated me and criticized the people who worked for me. I used to joke that he had given me the job I always wanted and then made me hate it. The person writing the psalm goes on to remember that it wasn’t always this way.  They remember being in the house of God with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving.

 They remember that “the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me.”This gives them hope and the courage to believe that “I shall again praise him, my help and my God.” At that time it was just what I needed – to remember the times life had been good and God had been a palpable presence. It helped me survive a really rough time.

But I’m not thirsty right now! Today, all is right with my world, and so I have a hard time staying thirsty for God’s presence. There are so many other thirsts in my life, for praise, success, a little romance now and then, maybe a new computer or flat screen TV, or a phone that really gets 4G. And yet when I get all wrapped up in these other thirsts, my life seems hollow. And even when these thirsts are slaked, that is only temporary. Then I am reminded that what I really want is a life which is meaningful in terms that are not transient but eternal. That’s when I am drawn back to the life Jesus lived which was about more than just his wants and needs, a life of generosity and justice and gentleness, a life pointing to the God who is love – Jesus’ kind of love – which is all about compassion and nurture and empowerment. That’s when I look around and am confronted by all the voices of greed and corruption and violence and realize I am called by Jesus to hunger and thirst for justice, and to be a doer of the word, not just a hearer only. That’s when I am reminded what is really important in life, what makes life eternal. That’s when I really need to pray, “Deepen my longing for you, O God.”

But, wait! Living that Jesus’ kind of life sounds awfully hard! Didn’t that push for justice in the midst of corruption and that proclamation of love in the midst of hate get Jesus killed? How are we supposed to do that?

That’s where the presence of God’s spirit is most vital – that’s where the love, the patience, the persistence and the courage to transform the world come from. Paul said it best, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” That was Jesus secret, the Holy Spirit, the power of God. Visualize God’s spirit settling upon you like a dove. Hear God’s voice saying, “You are my beloved, in whom I am well pleased.” Feel the spirit bearing witness with your spirit that you are a child of God.

God does answer prayer.
Feel God’s presence grow as you pray with me, “Deepen my longing for you, O God.”

Words for Today from The Uncluttered Heart by Beth A. Richardson, the FirstChurch Advent Study Book

Introduction: Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room

Our church does an Advent Study each year. Usually, it’s a book of devotions written to inspire people to prepare themselves to celebrate Christmas in a meaningful way (always a trick since our commercial society ends up making it about consuming, competition and credit-card debt.) This year the some of the staff of FirstChurch thought it might be helpful to share our spiritual journey as we attempt to navigate the spiritual path surrounded by the secular mine field that we all experience during the holidays.

Our devotional book this year is The Uncluttered Heart by Beth A. Richardson. It is subtitled “Making Room for God During Advent and Christmas.” We’re not going to repeat its contents for you here (we encourage you to buy the book for yourself), but each of us would like to share with you our encounter with these daily devotionals in a particular way.

Each devotional in The Uncluttered Heart ends with “CARRY THESE WORDS IN YOUR HEART TODAY.” Each  posting then will include the words suggested for each day to be used as both a breath prayer and as a source of contemplation and stimulation for each day. Regular postings begin Sunday, November 27.

For those of you unfamiliar with the breath prayer let me explain. A breath prayer uses a word or phrase as a calming, energizing and focusing device either before, after or during prayer or meditation. You simply relax and take deep breaths repeating in your mind the key word or phrase with each breath. You make these breaths long and sustained, pausing significantly before you exhale. In my favorite breath I simply say to myself the word “God” as I inhale and the word “Love” as I exhale. I envision myself filling up with the Holy Spirit and God’s love for me as I inhale. Then as I exhale I envision God’s Love and Spirit flowing through me into the world. This is a great way to start or end daily devotionals, but I also find it very helpful when I am in a stressful situation or when I need to remind myself that I need to be and agent of God’s love rather than focusing on my needs to be accepted or nourished.