Advent 2024

“Come, Let Us Adore Him”

Living Faith Devotional

 

Another Advent season has arrived. December 1st is the starting line for our 2024 Advent journey. Although December is the end of the chronological calendar year, Advent is the beginning of the church calendar year. During Advent Christians throughout the world proclaim the coming of Christ as we make preparations to celebrate his birth. We remember that Jesus comes to us continually through the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. And with hopeful expectations, we anticipate his victorious return.

 

As this new season begins I am thankful for many things, some of those things include my daily devotional time with the Lord, daily prayers with Erin and the boys, knowing, serving and sharing life with the staff and people of Avon UMC, Bible studies with siblings in Christ, weekly worship gatherings, periodic times during the year of observing a partial or full Sabbath day of rest, as well as for various other means of God’s grace. One of the means of grace since 2018 has been writing and personally utilizing the AUMC Living Faith Devotional. Years ago it was entitled “Your Faith Journey.” My goal in writing it each week has been to provide a guide to help and encourage church members and worship attendees to spend time alone with God daily, read and study the Bible, and grow as followers of Jesus. Over the years I have appreciated those who have let me know that they were using the devotional. Thankfully, there seems to be more helpful resources available than ever before, including FREE Apps for smartphones, websites, online videos, devotional/prayer books and booklets, and more. As we move into this new season I will be changing my approach to the Living Faith Devotional. Instead of writing a weekly devotional I will periodically provide suggestions for existing resources, while potentially making devotionals I’ve written in the past available.

 

For this Advent season, I encourage you to either use the Advent 2024 A Calendar of Devotions booklet by Charity Goodwin that is available at the AUMC welcome desks, the simple Come, Let Us Adore Him guide that I have written for Advent 2024 based upon the worship series, the combination of both resources, or some other Advent devotional, prayer guide, or plan that the Holy Spirit brings to your attention. Throughout this Advent may we all draw nearer to the God who came to be with us and revealed himself to us through Christ Jesus our Lord. He invites each of us to “come” be with him, to listen to him, receive his grace, and then offer ourselves in response and adoration to the source of life, salvation, hope, love, joy, and peace as we seek to walk in step with the Spirit of Christ daily.

 

 

12/1 – 12/7

Advent Week 1: Preparations

 

The HYMN for Week 1:

Come Thou Long-expected Jesus

Listen to the hymn, sing or play it if you’re a musician, or read the lyrics to prepare your heart, mind, and soul for time with the Lord.

 

Bible Verses to READ for Week 1:

Sunday – Jeremiah 33:14-16

Monday – Isaiah 11:1-9

Tuesday – Zechariah 2:10-11

Wednesday – Luke 21:5-36

Thursday – 1 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Friday – Psalm 25:1-11

Saturday – Psalm 24

 

Week 1 Daily Prayer:

You are encouraged to let the daily Bible verses guide your prayer before you conclude with the one from the United Methodist Book of Worship for this week:

 

Eternal God, in your providence you made all ages

a preparation for the kingdom of your Son.

Make ready our hearts for the brightness of your glory

and the fulness of your blessing in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(The Book of Worship 1944, ALT.)

 

 

*If you do not have a Bible, consider downloading the YouVersion Bible App for free from the Apple App Store or Google Play for your smartphone or tablet. You can also use www.BibleGateway.com to look up and read various translations of Bible verses online.