Daily Advent readings from Scripture allow us to journey through the Bible together as a body. Readings and discussion questions will be available on the website, in the morning bulletin and on the Church Center app. If possible, we encourage you to use the app so you can engage with the discussion questions within your Regional Fellowships. To download the app, click below. Stay tuned for an email invitation to the devotional. If you need assistance downloading the app, email us at: [email protected].
A Brief Introduction to the Season of Advent
The English word Advent is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “arrival” or “coming.” During these four weeks, we highlight the fact that we are an expectant people awaiting the return—the coming, the arrival, the Advent—of our King, Jesus, to his world and his people. We also look back upon his first Advent, Christ’s coming in humility as a helpless baby, and we remember the anticipation and expectation of God’s people awaiting the coming of the Messiah. This season is marked by hopeful waiting and renewed repentance.
Hopeful Waiting: In this beautiful but broken world, our central hope is that Jesus, the world’s true King, is going to return to right all wrongs, remove all sin and evil, and redeem his world and his people. In other words—thanks be to God!—the present state of affairs is not the end. This hope is far too easily obscured by present sorrows and worldly distractions, so Advent is the season during which we seek to renew our posture of hopeful waiting. We remember that the cry of the people of God is “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).
Renewed Repentance: While we long for the return of Jesus, we acknowledge that we’re not simply innocent bystanders in this broken world; we are also perpetrators of evil and sin against God and against our neighbor. So, as we rekindle our hope, we also renew our repentance in preparation for Jesus’s return knowing that God, by his grace, “is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Advent Day 1 | Sun, Dec 3
Advent Day 2 | Mon, Dec 4
Both these readings acknowledge the pervasiveness of sin in our world and the longing for God’s deliverance from that sin. Why do the Biblical writers describe sin as “uncleanness”? What does the process of becoming clean teach us about repentance and forgiveness? What is the hoped-for result of God’s deliverance in each passage?
Advent Day 3 | TUE, DEC 5
What do this Psalm and passage from 1 Corinthians have to say about why God asks his people to wait? What does gifting and testimony have to do with it? Have you ever been waiting (perhaps at the airport or for a train) and had a surprising opportunity arise to talk with someone?
Advent Day 4 | WED, DEC 6
This passage from the prophet Joel paints a devastating picture. The day of the LORD is coming and no one will escape the annihalation of the LORD’s army. Why do you think Joel is pulling no punches here? How often does this kind of picture enter your own thinking or speech?
Advent Day 5 | THU, Dec 7
These passages speak of the fleeting nature of our existence and the need for repentance. When you think of these truths, meditate on why we so often can be ignorant of our own need for repentance. What may cause you to be unaware of your own sinful tendencies?
Advent Day 6 | FRI, DEC 8
Both Psalm 25 and Luke 12:35-40 deal with the concepts of time and waiting. How is time characterized in each passage? Trace the instances where waiting shows up. What do we learn about what waiting for the Lord looks like?
Advent Day 7 | SAT, DEC 9
What are some categories of things that the Lord gives his people responsibility for? Try to think think beyond the usual list. What does the psalm and the passage from Luke say about the importance of our work?
Advent Day 8 | SUN, DEC 10
So many comforting images…pick two favorites and tell us why you are drawn to them. There’s contrast here, too. What do you notice? You might want to listen to this part of Handel’s Messiah and rejoice!
Advent Day 9 | MON, DEC 11
What type of hero is the Lord looking for? Those who are smart, beautiful, together, sleek, strong? How does Psalm 24 inform us? How do we recognize the Lord’s voice? Is it from those who have official roles and status? What does Matthew 3 tell us about unlikely sources of the voice of God and our ability to hear?
Advent Day 10 | TUE, DEC 12
Psalm 63 describes a deep longing coupled with a firm confidence in the Lord. In what way are these two things both components of hope? What are some of the tangible ways David expresses his hope in God?
Hebrews 3:7–19 contains an exhortation against the hardening deceitfulness of sin. What is the ultimate result of this hardening according to the passage? Where have you felt the hardening effects of sin in your own life recently?
Advent Day 11 | WED, DEC 13
In this psalm and short passage from Isaiah, we see Israel’s cycle of failure, rebuke from the Lord, confession, and forgiveness. How is seeing the examples here encouraging? How does it warn us? What do you make of the juxtaposition of the Lord calling Israel his “dedicated one” in the same breath as he calls Israel blind?
Advent Day 12 | THU, DEc 14
This is a passage of contrasts. What do you notice? Try to put in a sentence or two what the LORD is saying about himself.
Advent Day 13 | FRI, DEC 15
Our ability to see is because of God’s light, which overcomes and shines “out of darkness.” Within our hearts, it allows us to know him, to proclaim not our own truth, but his truth that Christ is Lord. During this Advent season, how might we take refuge in God, so that the darkness of the times or of our own hearts might not impair our ability to see? How might we allow God to remove the veil that so often impairs our vision?
Advent Day 14 | SAT, DEC 16
These passages firmly affix this life’s suffering and trial with belief and trust (or hope) in God’s saving power. What is the connection between suffering and hope? How does suffering refine and strengthen hope? In what ways can suffering threaten or undermine our hope, and how can we prevent that?
Advent Day 15 | SUN, DEC 17
Today’s readings feature imagery of water in the desert, and surprising turns from tears to joy. In what ways, large or small, have you experienced God’s surprising goodness? When you think of Jesus coming to the wedding celebration as the bridegroom, what does that joyful scene look like to you?
Advent Day 16 | MON, DEC 18
Ponder the tapestry of comfort, affliction and suffering Paul is weaving here. How do you respond? Paul and his companions were brought to the point of death by their afflictions. What was the result? Does this passage give you hope in the midst of your own sufferings? In what ways?
Advent Day 17 | TUE, DEC 19
The Lord is so “merciful and gracious, abounding in steadfast love. He does not deal with us according to our sins,” but he does deal with our sins and lovingly deal with us (Psalm 103:8, 10). His love does not let us loose. Hosea calls us to “take our words with us and return to Him” (14:2). What does this mean for you today? What does this look like lived in community?
Advent Day 18 | WED, DEC 20
How do Psalm 47 and Isaiah 2:1-5 describe God’s kingship and reign? What parts of these passages strike you as especially beautiful? How often do you think about and hope in the reality of this future?
Advent Day 19 | THU, DEC 21
When the angel tells Mary that she is going to bear the Son of God, the great rescue depicted in Psalm 124 begins for all of God’s people. What is surprising about the way that this great rescue is initiated? Knowing the rest of the story, what is surprising about how it is carried out, and how God is still carrying it out through Jesus today?
Advent Day 20 | FRI, DEC 22
Self-confessed lowly Mary has been chosen to introduce the upside down kingdom that will finally set the world right side up. What surprises do you find? What is different here from the way the world does things? What brings you joy from these words?
Advent Day 21 | SAT, DEC 23
Zechariah’s song highlights the faithfulness of God. How does Zechariah express this? Further, God’s faithful action in the birth of John and Jesus is attributed to his “tender mercy” (v. 78). How have we known this tender mercy in our life together? How have you known this in your own life? Does this fuel your/our praise?
Advent Day 22 | SUN, DEC 24
What response does Psalm 98 command its listeners to do after describing the Lord’s salvation? In Luke 2:1-20 how do the shepherds, the angels and Mary respond to the news of salvation? Today as you read of God’s salvation in these passages, what is your response?