HOW TO USE THIS RESOURCE
These posts will be organized around the four weeks of Advent, beginning November 28, 2021. There are five entries per week. Each day, you’ll read and mediate on an opening scripture and you’ll confess your sins with a guided prayer of confession and assurance. You’ll then read a Psalm, a selected Old Testament passage, and a New Testament passage. We’ve provided a question for reflection each day to help identify important threads in those scriptures. The scripture readings are intended to compliment the sermon from the previous Sunday.
We’ll also be reading the Apostles Creed and the Lord’s Prayer each day. Why do this? The Apostle’s Creed reminds us of the essence of our faith. We are believers who believe this. There is power in rehearsing over and over the Good News we’ve given our lives to. In praying the Lord’s Prayer, we’re praying the very words Jesus gave to His disciples when they asked, “Lord, teach us to pray.” Christians have been practicing this prayer daily for centuries. It’s good for us to pray as the Lord Himself prayed.
We’ve also provided prayer prompts and space for your own personal requests. As important as it is to pray the words of Jesus, scripture also invites us to “make our requests known to God” (Phil. 4:6). You can use this space to record and pray for any pressing issues in your life or the life of our church.
The final entry of this blog series will be for use on Christmas Day and it will be structured like the other days. You could use this the morning of Christmas before opening gifts or over Christmas dinner with your family or in the quiet, waning moments of Christmas night.
These posts are designed either for personal or family use. It’s our hope that the Spirit will use this to turn our eyes towards Jesus during Advent and Christmas, “the Everlasting Wonder” of the Incarnation -- instead of getting swept up in the parties and commercials and gift-buying and schedule-making and cookie-baking (as wonderful as those things can be).
May Jesus be made known to, in, and through The Church at Greer Station!
Read & meditate
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
Psalm 19:14
Confession of sin
Almighty Father in Heaven,
We your people have felt the burden of our sin,
both against you and against others.
In shame, we have given way to temptation
And pursued the desires of our flesh.
With anguish, we have endured regret and remorse
Because of our lustful appetites and disordered desires.
In tears, we have seen the effects of our waywardness
And pursuit of that which is unholy.
Our Lord,
We pine for your mercy and forgiveness
Through the power of Christ.
In anticipation, we hope for our redemption in the
Name of Jesus, our Lord.
With lowliness, we pray for respite from our wickedness
And the wickedness of others.
In restlessness, we beg you to give us clean hearts
And forgive us our sins
Written by Brent King
ASsurance of pardon
Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Revelation 1:5-6
scripture reading
Day 1 - Psalm 2 / Isaiah 2 / Philippians 1 / Why is the kingship of Jesus good news?
Day 2 - Psalm 18:31-50 / Isaiah 7 / Philippians 2 / Why did the Word (the Second Person of the Trinity) have to become a man?
Day 3 - Psalm 20 / Isaiah 11 / Philippians 3 / In what ways does Jesus fulfill and embody His description in Isaiah 11? Can you think of specific instances?
Day 4 - Psalm 72 / Isaiah 40 / Philippians 4 / How can we take comfort (Is. 40:1) and rejoice (Phil. 4:4) in the Lord?
Day 5 - Psalm 110 / Isaiah 53 / 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 / How is Jesus both our Great High Priest and our Sacrificial Lamb?
RECITE THE APOSTLE'S CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic* Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the
resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
PRAY THE LORD'S PRAYER
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Personal Prayer
Petitions (requests for yourself – work, decisions, growth in Christ, fighting sin, etc.)
Intercessions (requests for others – our church, the global church, our nation, family, friends, etc.)
Mission (pray for lost friends & family, missionaries, unreached people groups, etc.)
Thanksgiving (gratitude to God for health, blessings, salvation, etc.)
Concluding Prayer
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen.
*In saying we believe in “the holy catholic Church,” we are confessing our belief in the universal people of God across all times and places (lower-case "c" catholic), not the Roman Catholic Church (big "C" Catholic).