Advent Family Devotions for Friday, December 7, 2012

Someone Will Come

Opening Prayer:
Dear Jesus, thank You for coming at Christmas to be our Savior. Amen.

Scripture:
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  We bless you from the house of the Lord."
  Psalm 118.26

Meditation:
     What would you teach your children to do if they were lost in the woods?  That's a scary thought.  There are number of things that they should not do.  The United States Search and Rescue Task Force has a website that teaches children what they should do if they become lost in the woods.  One of the most important things they should do is to stay in one place.  They need to know that someone will come to them. Someone will find them.

     One of the most important truths of the Bible is that God comes to help and save His people. God came to Adam and Eve after they got lost in sin to talk to them, to lead them to repentance, and to forgive them. God came to Abraham when he was lost and wandering to give him a promise that He would bless him.  God came to Job when he was lost in pain and suffering to help and to heal him.

     When we feel like we are lost in this world, when we lose our way spiritually by turning away from God, we can be happy that God does not turn away from us.  He will come to us. He does come to us.  God sent His Son Jesus to save the entire world that was lost in sin.

     God came to us in our baptisms. He comes to us through His Word and in Holy Communion. Sometimes God comes to us through His helpers - our parents, teachers, pastors and friends.  When we feel a little lost, we can take be sure that someone will come. God will come.

For Discussion:
1. Talk about a time when you were lost.  How did you feel?
2. How were you found?  How did you feel about that?
3. As Christmas comes, how do we feel about God coming to us in Jesus?

Closing Prayer:
Dear God, if I ever get lost, help me to look to You, because I know You will help me. You sent Your Son to save me.  Amen.

Hymn: "I Am So Glad When Christmas Comes"

Click here for the melody.


I am so glad when Christmas comes,
The night of Jesus’ birth,
When Bethl’em’s star shone as the sun
And angels sang with mirth.

The little child of Bethlehem,
The King of heav’nly grace,
Came down from His exalted throne
To save our fallen race.

He’s now returned to heav’n above,
God’s Son He is alway;
He ne’er forgets His little ones
But hears them when they pray.

I too would sing my Savior’s praise,
My joy, my crown, my Lord;
For He has made me His own.

Lessons from a Banana Tree

Trouble is everywhere in this world. God knows that, and His promises to us are not that we will be exempt from trouble but that we will survive it and thrive in spite of it. I once knew a retired pastor who grew banana trees in his backyard. Bananas will grow in our hot and humid summers in Southern Illinois. But the season isn’t long enough for them to produce much fruit. Some people tried to overcome this by starting their banana trees in a green house earlier in the spring. But, according to my pastor friend, banana leaves, in particular, have to be exposed to the wind as they are growing. If they grow in a quiet greenhouse, and are then put outside, those big beautiful leaves will be shredded by the first summer windstorm. So too, we are exposed to troubles of all kinds as Christians just like anyone else. But God uses those troubles mixed with faith to strengthen us. Job said, “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.” (ESV Job 23.10).

(Adapted from "Lord, Save Me" Matthew 14.22-33 Sermon for the 8th Sunday After Pentecost, August 7, 2011.)

Additional Passages that Teach Us About God's Grace in Adversity


NKJ James 5:11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord -- that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

KJV Psalm 94:12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law;

KJV Hebrews 12:6-9 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

NKJ Matthew 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

NKJ Job 13:15 Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him.

ESV Job 23:10 But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.

NKJ 1 Peter 1:6-9 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith -- the salvation of your souls.

NKJ 2 Corinthians 5:1-3 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked.

NKJ Habakkuk 3:17-19 Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls -- 18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 19 The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills.

NKJ John 16:22 "Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.

No Fear?

Everywhere you look these days you see the decal: “No Fear.” The motto has arisen from the generation of young people who are into extreme sports such as grinding skate boards down handrails and racing bikes down steep mountain sides. I well remember my own issues with fear. When I was in the fourth grade I jumped for the first time from a high dive at Ellenberger Pool in Indianapolis. In my senior year of highschool I flew an airplane for the first time by myself in Vandalia, Illinois. There is a satisfaction to be discovered when we face fear like that and overcome it.

But there is a danger in thinking that we can overcome all fear on our own. Ultimately it comes down to the fear of death itself. Luther complained about the moto: Qui mortem metuit quod vivit perdit id ipsum. “He is a fool who is afraid of death, for through such fear he loses his own life.” Luther goes on to say, “The advice might be helpful if man alone could replace fear with something else. But casting fear away like this is no different than the expression “Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die” (1 Corinthians 15.32). (What Luther Says, p. 364).

Christianity offers a much different approach to fear and especially to the fear of death. Don’t look to yourself. Don’t cast yourself off the cliff hoping to be lucky. Look to God. He alone deals with fear and with death itself. The Christian’s motto is not simply “No Fear” but “Love casts out all fear” (1 John 4.18). For more on the topic of the fear of dying see my sermon “On Being a Christian: Dying.”