Engaging with God

Saturday 1 Peter 3:15 15  In your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.  (NIV) What is your hope?  What good things do you expect from God?  Maybe think near term and long term, personal and global, practical and spiritual.  What gives you confidence these are not just pie-in-the-sky dreams, but actual, future eventualities? Daily Practice Get out your Advent stone and hold it.  Turn it over in your palm.  Remember an answer to prayer you have received.  Thank God for his faithfulness to his promises.  Is there someone with whom you can share your experience of answered prayer? Weekly Advent Song

Week One – Hope Friday Isaiah 40:3-5 3  A voice cries out: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the  Lord ,     make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4  Every valley shall be lifted up,     and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level,     and the rough places a plain. 5  Then the glory of the  Lord  shall be revealed,     and all people shall see it together,     for the mouth of the  Lord  has spoken." (NRSV) God sent John the Baptist to prepare the first century Jews for the ministry of Jesus.  He knew Jesus' message would require a radical change of worldview.  Quoting Isaiah, his words sound like the massive earth movers that build an interstate highway.  John called people to repent, that is to notice the direction they were heading and make a u-turn, to redirect themselves toward God.  As you reflect on your own life, what earth needs to be moved to make the highway for the Lord?  What paths need to be made straight? W...

Week One – Hope Thursday Revelation 21:1-5 1  Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  2  And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  3  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; 4  he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away." 5  And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." (NRSV) John describes the coming of the King to earth on the day of the Lord as like a Bridegroom coming to collect his bride.  A time of great joy and celebration.  And the Bridegroom...

The darkness represented the hopelessness of how I felt about my life. But in the darkness, I was suddenly able to see, in the distance, a small glimmer of light, an opening out into daylight. That small patch of light was the promise – and the hope – that my time in the darkness was not the end of the story, that light and life awaited me. Hope can be powerful , and it was for me that day.

one of the central aspects of his story (and one that makes it clear that he was very human) is that Zechariah struggled with doubt . But once he witnessed the power of God, his faith in God's promises was renewed. His prophecy is filled with praise to God for fulfilling his promises to redeem and rescue Israel by providing a savior, the Messiah.

the kingdom of God is growing in the world ; but the redemption of the world and the fulfillment of the kingdom will not be complete until the Day of the Lord, the time when God brings history to it's fulfillment and brings about a new heaven and a new earth. So while we live, hope remains, for God's work in the world is not yet complete.  

the smallest detail of our life, if it is offered to Jesus in love , becomes significant; our everyday lives become discipleship to Jesus, and God uses who we are to touch the lives around us in ways that we could never imagine. Your life has incredible significance in God's eyes.

God has promised that He will overcome all of the enemies that would seek to separate us from Him, including even sin and death. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all God's promises , so he is both hope fulfilled as well as hope renewed and rekindled for our own lives.

Week One – Hope Wednesday 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 1  Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you.  2  For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  3  When they say, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!  4  But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief;  5  for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. (NRSV) During Advent we remember that God came to earth in Jesus and we celebrate that.  But we also remember his promise that he will come again on 'the day of the Lord.'  Because we trust his faithfulness to keep his promises, we trust this promise too.  As Paul says here, it is as inevitable as a woman giving birth after her labor pains start.  This gives u...

Week One – Hope Tuesday Psalm 100 1  Make a joyful noise to the  Lord , all the earth. 2      Worship the  Lord  with gladness;     come into his presence with singing. 3  Know that the  Lord  is God.     It is he that made us, and we are his;     we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4  Enter his gates with thanksgiving,     and his courts with praise.     Give thanks to him, bless his name. 5  For the  Lord  is good;     his steadfast love endures forever,     and his faithfulness to all generations. (NRSV) King David started life as a common shepherd boy, the youngest of eight sons in his family, a life that was full of turns of fortune.  He worked as a servant in the king's court.  He was a militant who was pursued and persecuted by his king who wanted him dead.  Even as king himself, he had his good days and his mess ups.  But he knew God and was always honest to God.  David wrote this psalm which affirms his faith that God is faithful and good.  What God promises, ...

Week One – Hope Hope means we know something good and wonderful is coming but it is not here yet. Long before Jesus came, the Hebrew prophets told the people he was coming.  They had to wait and wait.  But God was faithful and kept his promise. Monday Jeremiah 33:14-16 14  'The days are coming,' declares the  Lord , 'when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah. 15  'In those days and at that time     I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's line;     he will do what is just and right in the land. 16  In those days Judah will be saved     and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called:     The  Lord  Our Righteous Savior.' (NIV) The prophet Jeremiah lived and worked about 600 years before Jesus was born.  During his life, he saw the Babylonians capture Jerusalem and take its leadership into exile, destroying the nation.  Yet, in those darkest times, he spoke these words of hope and promis...

Dear PBPC Friends, Here is the first week of our PBPC Advent Devotional, written by Ginnie. You can print this out if you'd like a hard copy in your hands; I will also be emailing them to you daily. Blessings as you begin this season of Advent, Pastor Chris  Intro "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us."  Those words are so familiar that we sometimes forget their depth and majesty.  The eternal and pre-eternal, the omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Creator and Lord of the cosmos chose to self-limit in order to fit into a human body like us and live among us, joining our social bubble so that we could become family with him.   That's an amazing mystery.  We are humbled, and grateful, and moved to worship.  We celebrate it especially at Christmas.  But centuries ago, the church realized that this was such a great mystery that, in fact, people needed preparation to enter into it fully.  So, the church set aside the four weeks before Christma...