Conform or Transform in These Confusing Times

Daily Advent Devotions from Church Street UMC

Saturday, December 12, Evening

By Andy and Nancy Zirkle

Conform or Transform in These Confusing Times

Read Romans 12:2

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by renewing of the mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Our nation and churches are vulnerable in these confusing times. We as Christians cannot stand in a corner and ask what is going wrong, but must stand up and be counted. We must present ourselves to God, who has given mercy and kindness to those who believe in him. We must give ourselves and our lives as new sacrifices to Him. We must serve the Lord. You serve the Lord where he has assigned you at the present time. We can’t have one foot in society in today’s culture and another foot in our Christian way of life.

We must be transformed from the inside out, not conformed from the outside in. In today’s world we need both the outside, the Bible and the inside, the Holy Spirit. We must seek the perfect will of God. We can’t let the world pressure us from the outside. No one drifts away from holiness. We must become Christians in more than words alone.

We must let God into our hearts and receive the fulfilled life. In doing so we will learn the will of God. We will know that the will of God is good and acceptable and perfect. We will love the will of God.

Prayer

Dear Lord, Please help us to transform our minds through the wisdom of your teachings. Amen.

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Good Trouble

Daily Advent Devotions from Church Street UMC

Saturday, December 12, Morning

By John Eldridge

Good Trouble

Read Amos 5:24

“Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.”

One of my all time heroes, John Lewis, died this year. He coined the phrase, “Good trouble,” saying that when you see injustice, you need to do something about it, even if it means getting into trouble. When you get into trouble that advances the cause of justice, reconciliation and inclusion; that was not getting into trouble for John Lewis, it was getting into good trouble.

I have been thinking about John Lewis’ belief in good trouble a lot lately, and I think about something else he said: “When you pray, pray with your feet.”

It troubles me to realize that my comfortable life in the suburbs is getting in the way of my getting into good trouble. There is good trouble I need to get in all around me: my white privilege, economic and social injustice, systemic racism, hunger in America (not to mention around the world), the lack of inclusion in my church, and the list goes on.

And I find myself pondering where I need to get into good trouble and do something to advance the cause of truth and justice and bring about a more loving and inclusive church, community, society and world.

How about you? As you live out these days of Advent, is there a place in your comfortable life that you need to leave and, following John Lewis’ example, go get into some good trouble?

Prayer

Search my heart, Lord, and help me see what I need to do to help bring your kingdom to this world. Amen.

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The World- What Would Baby Jesus Think?

Daily Advent Devotions from Church Street UMC

Thursday, December 10, Evening

By John Peterson

The World – What Will Baby Jesus Think?

Read Jeremiah 29:11

“For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

In this year 2020, the world has been in turmoil more than any time in history. As the year draws to an end, the season of Jesus’ birth will be celebrated as a Holy celebration. In America, many families will experience the season as a new, strange, and unfamiliar experience. While the new disease Covid has been at the center of this disruption, it is not the only cause. This has been a time of loss of family members due to disease, accidents, crime, splits, drugs, financial loss, and (most significant) a separation from one’s own Church.

Jesus tells us, “He will never leave us.”

Have we forgotten that God controls the whole world? God sent His only Son Jesus to bring salvation to all who believe in him and accept Jesus as their savior. We were given the Holy Spirit to guide, help and direct all who ask for help. God gives everyone all the help needed to live in a beautiful world, with blessings for those who follow Jesus’ direction.

I believe Jesus would tell all how sad our actions have made Him. Jesus is upset we have not trusted the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ teaching says we are not to give up, but be strong, pray continually and give thanks for all our blessings. In sight of any loss in this world, one can always make a long list of blessings. Jesus said love your neighbor. This one command demands one should forget self and the “I,” “me” syndrome of 2020. Jesus will meet all our needs, if we are taking care of our neighbors.

During the celebration of Jesus’ birth, put praying, trusting and doing what Jesus wants first on your list. Jesus has a plan, purpose and need for everyone.

Prayer

Dear God, forgive our business of selfish ways. Help keep your directions before us daily. We trust you and want to be more obedient. In Jesus’ name, hear our prayers.

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Let Heaven and Nature Sing

Daily Advent Devotions from Church Street UMC

Thursday, December 10, Morning

By Jenny Cross

Let Heaven and Nature Sing

Read Psalm 105:1-4

Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
    make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
    tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name;
    let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and his strength;
    seek his face always.

Each year, there is a great debate regarding when it is appropriate to start listening to Christmas music. Some sit soundly in the camp of “it isn’t Christmastime until after Thanksgiving.” Some cue their holiday playlist the moment the weather turns a bit chilly. Some subscribe to the “Christmas in July” philosophy and listen to carols whenever they need a little joy in their life. I firmly believe that one is not better than another. But regardless if I’m in the Christmas spirit when these songs start playing, their promises of redemption bring hope to my weary soul.

Tucked within familiar carols are nuggets of absolute truth and phrases that put words to our longings. But my favorite Christmas hymn of all time is one that rarely gets sung when caroling around the neighborhood. “Once in Royal David’s City” tells the Christmas story in the first two stanzas, confirms Jesus’ humanity in the third stanza, and reveals God’s motivation for His incarnation in the final stanza. That last one brings tears to my eyes every single time. It reads: “And our eyes at last shall see him, through his own redeeming love; for that child so dear and gentle is our Lord in heaven above; and he leads his children on to the place where he is gone.”

It sums up Christmas so powerfully for me: Jesus came so that we could be with Him. Yes, and amen.

We prepare Him room because He has already made a way for us. And whether that preparation looks like fanfare and the pipe organ, or quietly humming while folding laundry, it all counts. My prayer for this season is that we don’t miss it when heaven and nature sing. And when we hear the joyful chorus, I hope we sing along.

Prayer

Holy God, We pray that the gift of Christmas is not lost on us this season. After a year that has felt harder and heavier than most, we need the coming of the Christ child more than ever. Open our eyes to the goodness of Your presence and help us to share the light of Jesus with a weary world. Lord, remind us to sing Your praise whether our hearts feel ready or not this season. And teach us to rejoice at Your gift of redemption. Amen.

Jenny Cross is the Youth Director at Church Street UMC.

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Expectation

Daily Advent Devotions from Church Street UMC

Wednesday, December 9

By Rev. Palmer Cantler

Expectation

Read Philippians 3:20

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (NRSV)

2020 has felt like an endless year of waiting and dashed expectations. But, in order to keep myself from falling into the pits of despair, I’ve adopted a practice of looking for the beauty of the pandemic. It’s not a search for silver linings, but intentionally watching where God is doing wonderful things.

In this season of Advent, the beauty of the pandemic, for me, is in the preparation. Each year around the holiday season, I get overly excited and spend way too much time decorating my home. While it seems like normal behavior, as the one who does not host the family holiday gatherings, I don’t get to enjoy the decorations as much as I would like. Holidays are spent bustling from one party to the next, bargaining how much time is spent with each family, and spending way too much time in the car.

But this year, my holiday season will be quieter, and I think that can be the beauty of the pandemic. Instead of getting caught in the chaos of parties, I’ll be spending more time at home, enjoying the fruits of my decorating labor.

Advent is a season of preparation and expectation for the eventual coming of Jesus Christ. It may not happen this year, but yet we prepare ourselves and wait for his arrival. In a year of dashed expectations, maybe Advent is to remind us that our expectation is focused on heaven.

Prayer

Faithful God, source of our hope and expectation, help us to slow down in this season of Advent. Inspire us to see the beauty of where you are at work in our lives and make us open to focusing our expectations solely upon your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.  

Rev. Palmer Cantler is the Associate Pastor at Church Street and wrote this devotion in honor of the Soup Kitchen. 

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For With God, Nothing is Impossible

Daily Advent Devotions from Church Street UMC

Tuesday, December 8, Evening

By Jane Gulley

For with God, Nothing is Impossible

Read Luke 1:26-38

 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

 

My mother has friends from all of her eight decades of life, back to college days and childhood. She enjoys sharing her Christmas cards with me, and I read them all. Instead of the photo cards crammed with travel pics that I get from my crowd, there are actual handwritten letters. Many of Mother’s correspondents are Midwesterners who don’t mince words in their holiday updates.

Sample comments: “Down to one dog. Still fostering though.”

Caption of a family group: “Picture is old but good still. The older grandkids are tired of posing for pictures, but of course Grandma loves lots of them.”

“We continue to work for the local funeral home, with Karl doing the majority of that work.”

And the evergreen topic, health: “My sister wanted no more doctors or tests, so we called hospice and that was settled.” “Arthritis bothers me, but that’s what happens.” “I’m hanging in there, but this aging process isn’t a walk in the park.”

But the Christmas card I thought about the most from last year had no personal news or photo, and hardly any ink on it. It was a card notifying my mother that a gift had been made in her honor to Fish Hospitality Pantries to provide food for hungry families in Knoxville.

The donor lives in a senior care facility. She does not drive, and her children are not nearby. But her card reminded me of her skill and caring when she was my son’s preschool teacher almost twenty years ago. I realized that she is still influencing people by teaching others (me!) with her act of charity, and that God uses seemingly powerless people to teach powerful lessons.

Prayer

Lord, help us to recognize and accept opportunities to brighten the lives of others in meaningful ways. For with God, nothing is impossible.

This advent devotion was written by Jane Gulley in remembrance of our members in senior healthcare facilities.  

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God is Love

Daily Advent Devotions from Church Street UMC

Tuesday, December 8, Morning

By Pat Hunter

God is Love

Read 1 John 4:7

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”

John elaborates extensively in 1 John chapters 2, 3 and 4 on the Old Testament commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself.” The Apostle John is also the writer of the gospel of John, the letters 2 and 3 John, and Revelation. He tells us in no uncertain terms that “we proclaim to you that we have seen and heard Jesus.” After having been an Apostle of Jesus for three years when he was probably in his thirties, he is now in his later years tending to the churches at Ephesus by writing to them letters about his concerns. One of his primary concerns is that as Christians, “we are to love one another.”

John’s theme of love is dominant in chapters 2, 3 and 4. In chapter 2 he writes: “Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. The old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command … Whoever loves his brother lives in the light and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.”

In I John 3: 1-24 we read, “How great the Father has lavished love on us, that we should be called the children of God … This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another … Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer … This is how we know what love is: Jesus laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our life for one another. Dear Children: Let us not love just with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth!”

Prayer

Dear God, May we learn to love our fellow man as you have loved us, not just through words or tongue, but through actions and the truth. Amen.

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Gift for Baby Jesus Brings a New Day with Hope

Daily Advent Devotions from Church Street UMC

Monday, December 7

By Tommye Jordan

Gift for Baby Jesus Brings a New Day with Hope

Read Isaiah 41:10

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” (KJV)

We live in a continual daily STORM while on God’s earth. As history continues to repeat over and over, each generation feels they are living in the “last days” and that life cannot get any worse. The new virus brought sorrow, fear and pain all over the world. The difference in this new disease and past history is people forgot to turn to the Hope of the world. Instead of filling God’s Churches, masses have turned to riots and destruction of God’s country. This world belongs to God. We who are here have a responsibility to take care of what Jesus has given us.

This season of celebration of God sending His only Son as our Savior brings the promise we have a deliverer, protector, healer who never leaves us. We can trust Jesus to bring us through this STORM just as he has in the past and will do the same in the future. Jesus is a loving BUT just God. With trust and prayer Jesus has brought America through the storms of war, disease and numerous natural acts of nature. Jesus has blessed all and expects in return we follow his laws. When America was strong in faith, moral actions and love of mankind, Jesus answered the prayers of believers. Where is that America today?

Perhaps the best gift for baby Jesus during this Holy celebration is for all people to give their trust, faith, and hope to Jesus. Pray continually for strength, energy and wisdom to follow God’s laws and do His will daily. Jesus is waiting on us. Jesus has all the answers. Let’s not let him down.

Prayer

Dear God, forgive our many sins and help us follow Your plans for a world of peace. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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The Most Important Thing

Daily Advent Devotions from Church Street UMC

Sunday, December 6, Evening

By Rev. Ann Robins

The Most Important Thing

Read Matthew 1:22-23, Isaiah 7:14

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

When I was young and just learning the scriptures, I tended to combine both the Matthew and Luke nativity stories together. When I got older and knew more about the scriptures, I learned that both versions were very different, written from different points of view, from different writers, for different audiences. The more I learned about the scriptures and the two nativity stories, the more I came to appreciate both and their differences.

2020 has been very different. Our normal routines have been disrupted. We have had to learn new ways of doing things and we have had to face new challenges. Some things will be changed forever and a new normal will be here to stay. Things will be different going forward.

Whether you are discovering the differences in the nativity stories this Advent/Christmas season or figuring out how this Christmas season will look during a pandemic, there is one thing you can be sure of. It is the most important thing and can be summed up in one word: Immanuel.

Immanuel means “God is with us.” God came to us in the form of an infant born to humble parents to be with us. Through a child that grew into a man, God came to us and shared His love for all humanity. God is with us through all our challenges, our frustrations, our changes and our discoveries. Isaiah and Matthew help us remember this most important thing this Advent season.

Prayer

God, in all our challenges and changes of this year, help us to know and see that you are with us. Help us experience and embody Immanuel this season. Amen.

Rev. Rick Isbell is the Minister of Discipleship, Retired. 

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It Has Been a Year Like No Other

Daily Advent Devotions from Church Street UMC

Sunday, December 6, Morning

By Rev. Ann Robins

It Has Been a Year Like No Other

Read Numbers 11:10-17

Moses heard the people of every family wailing at the entrance to their tents. The Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. He asked the Lord, “Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their ancestors? Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me.  If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin.”

The Lord said to Moses: “Bring me seventy of Israel’s elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with you. I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone.

We are a tired people. I wonder if that is how the people following Moses out of slavery felt? The people verbally attacked Moses and they wanted to stone him. How did he respond? In verse 15 of Numbers Moses says to God, “I’ve seen enough; I’ve had enough. Get me out of here.” We can relate. God told Moses to gather the leaders, and God would meet them and speak, and they would take some of the load of the people. Moses took his feelings (hurt, anger, frustration, why me?, and many other feelings) to God and not to the people. He could honestly bear his soul with all the emotions he felt. These emotions were not too big for God to hear, and the hurt and anger did not change God’s love for Moses. Sadly, not many of our relationships can endure such pain and honesty.

Our emotions have run high in this season of the unknown and uncertain. We have needed Immanuel (God with us) like no other time. Jesus led by walking daily through life’s challenges with others, and his love was not dependent on how others treated him. Are we looking in the mirror to see how we treat others? I tend to be angry with the person presenting the problem, when I need to address the problem and not the person. Others usually believe they are as right as I think I am. If I can listen, hear their concern and fears, believe the best of them and calm myself to respond, will we not have more of an opportunity to move forward to solve the problems? We will certainly not solve the problems by destroying our relationships and hurting one another.

Prayer

Immanuel, help me to see that the problems around me are not as serious as the problems within me. Please give me the courage to be honest with myself. Thank you for being bigger than all that I face. I ask for your help to love others as you love me. Help me to work with others, looking for their best and hoping they see my best. Thank you for creating the church to be your loving presence in this world. We ask that you empower your church to lead from a place of loving all your children as you love us. In your powerful presence I ask. Amen.

Rev. Ann Robins is the Tennessee Valley District Superintendent of the Holston Annual Conference.

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