The First Day of Advent

Sunday, December 1, 2019

The Wonder of What God Has Done Through His Son:

An Advent Devotional Guide

“Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by his faith.” Habakkuk 2:4

This verse is the one that Martin Luther said “pierced his heart.” Habakkuk was a contemporary of Daniel; both were prophets in the time of the Jewish exile in Babylonia. It was a long, long exile. They had no place to worship, no rabbis, no temple, no family with whom to worship, and yet even in despair they did not give up what they knew to be true: Almighty God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was their God and they would worship no other.

This little short book, only three chapters, tells much about God. It won’t take you but a few minutes to read it, but if you spend an hour or so, you’ll be surprised at what you learn about God from the conversation that he and Habakkuk have!

God is always there, listening as we cry to him. He has a plan, and he moves patiently to execute it. He uses the most unusual people to accomplish what he wants. He does not tolerate idolatry. He has no patience with those who use their circumstances for gain at the expense of others. He’ll let us get a glimpse of his majesty if we earnestly seek him. He gives strength to those who allow him free reign in their lives. It’s all there in beautiful poetry.

And so as we move into this holy season of the Church year, we move in faith, aware that our Holy God has plans for us and that our Christian education is a life-long learning. We may not understand all that we see, hear or read. But we can understand our great God and can in faith entrust not just our Christmas season but our lives to him daily!

Father, please remove our misconceptions about you and give our faith a freshness as we know you better during this holy season! Amen

The Wonder of What God Has Done Through His Son:

An Advent Devotional Guide
prepared for First United Methodist Church of Homosassa, Florida
Winter 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator

Advent Introduction - November 30, 2019

Saturday, November 30, 2019

The Wonder of What God Has Done Through His Son:

An Advent Devotional Guide

Introduction

Written by Patience Fort

Many of my readers knew my mother, Patience Nave. When she was 50 years old, she graduated from Western Kentucky University with her Bachelor’s degree. She went on to earn her Masters in English and then taught in South America, China, and Florida. After serving for eight years on the Citrus County School Board in Homosassa, Florida, she began a short career as Education Coordinator/Minister in two churches: Homosassa First United Methodist Church and Rehobeth United Methodist Church in Greensboro, North Carolina (where, by the way, she celebrated her 80^th birthday).

As a minister in church education, mother did all kinds of things. She went to Haiti I-don’t-know-how-many times. She wrote the curriculum for and directed vacation Bible schools. She discipled many. And she taught countless Bible study classes.

Some of the things that I cherish from Mother’s years at her churches in Florida and North Carolina are the devotional guides she developed for Advent and Lent.  I have about six years of them. And now I enjoy reproducing them on my blog for all to read and enjoy. Feel free to share them with your friends.

This particular devotional guide is from December of 2009. She was still living in Florida and working at First United Methodist Church of Homosassa. Here is an excerpt from her introduction.

I enjoy writing devotionals, thoughts about Scripture for our own congregation. Every year, I choose a theme that I hope will cause us to contemplate the wonder of what God has done in sending his Son to us and then in sacrificing his son for us. This year, I’m using the Advent wreath….

Advent wreaths are relatively new to U.S. Protestants, only coming to America in the 1930s. In Europe, however, they have been part of the Church’s Christmas worship for a long time, some say since as early as the Middle Ages; others say that they were introduced in Germany in the early 1800s

The wreaths usually have four candles, and one is lighted each Sunday, beginning on the first Sunday of Advent (this year, December 1). Some churches, ours is one, add the Christ candle to be lighted on Christmas Eve.

What each candle represents may vary from year to year. This year (2009), Pastor Mark and I chose the following:

        Week 1 – Faith

        Week 2 – Hope

        Week 3 – Peace

        Week 4 – Joy

        December 24, Christmas Eve – the Christ Candle

I pray you will enjoy these devotional thoughts, realizing that faith, hope, peace and joy are God’s gifts through Christ. I pray God will use us in this coming year to bring others to know Jesus, as we move close to his Second Coming to this earth.

There are many traditions regarding the colors of the candles and their names. My husband, Bill, uses three lavender, one pink, and a white Christ candle.

As you prepare for Christmas 2019, my prayer is that this devotional guide will bless you beyond measure – that you will see our Lord in a whole new light – and that you will reflect His light to the people around you in the days to come.

The Wonder of What God Has Done Through His Son:

An Advent Devotional Guide
prepared for First United Methodist Church of Homosassa, Florida
Winter 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator