Multimedia Advent Devotional – Week 3-3, Tuesday
2023:
Week 3, Tuesday:
- Scripture – Luke 1:5-25 (Beth Parker)
- Reflection (Tamera Neal)
- Prayer (Judi Campbell)
- Artwork: “Nativity” (Brian Yale)
- Music: “Be Not Afraid” (John Michael Talbot) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oSiX1WKg4w
Each short Multimedia Advent Devotional is an invitation to set aside time each day during a typically busy season preparing for Christmas to rejoice in the coming of our Savior, Christ Jesus, and to respond to God’s invitation to us to join with Him in what He’s doing today.
Advent is a season of the liturgical year observed in most Christian denominations as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for both the celebration of the Nativity of Christ at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming. Advent is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity and is part of the wider Christmas and holiday season.
This collaboration is brought to you by Liberty Vineyard Church
2022:
Week 3, Tuesday:
- Scripture: Ezekiel 47:1-12 (Paul Sculley)
- Reflection (Karen Sculley)
- Prayer (John Trotter)
- Artwork: “Annunciation” (Pennsylvania, USA)
- Music: “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” (Libera) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQw83_zpbJg
Each short Multimedia Advent Devotional is an invitation to set aside time each day during a typically busy season preparing for Christmas to rejoice in the coming of our Savior, Christ Jesus, and to respond to God’s invitation to us to join with Him in what He’s doing today.
Advent is a season of the liturgical year observed in most Christian denominations as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for both the celebration of the Nativity of Christ at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming. Advent is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity and is part of the wider Christmas and holiday season.
This collaboration is brought to you by Liberty Vineyard Church
Reflection:
Ezekiel 47:1-12 (NRSVCE) – “Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple; there, water was flowing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and the water was coming out on the south side. Going on eastward with a cord in his hand, the man measured one thousand cubits, and then led me through the water; and it was ankle-deep. Again he measured one thousand, and led me through the water; and it was knee-deep. Again he measured one thousand, and led me through the water; and it was up to the waist. Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be crossed. He said to me, ‘Mortal, have you seen this?’ Then he led me back along the bank of the river. As I came back, I saw on the bank of the river a great many trees on the one side and on the other. He said to me, ‘This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah; and when it enters the sea, the sea of stagnant waters, the water will become fresh. Wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish, once these waters reach there. It will become fresh; and everything will live where the river goes. People will stand fishing beside the sea from En-gedi to En-eglaim; it will be a place for the spreading of nets; its fish will be of a great many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.’”
This prophetic passage paints a magnificent vision of what it will be like when Messiah comes. The river of life flows from God to all of creation, bringing life and salvation and healing and wholeness and joy.
When our son Michael was born, 7 weeks premature, he was diagnosed with moderate hearing loss. Further tests followed, and when he was 8 months old, we experienced a significant miracle when God intervened and healed him through the powerful prayers and faith of those in my women’s Bible study. The day after the Lord healed him, Michael was scheduled for a sedated hearing test. As I pulled down the covers the night before, I heard the Lord’s audible voice say, “Cascade.” The next morning, as Michael & I made our way to the hospital, the first thing I heard when I clicked on the radio was a traffic incident on Cascade Drive. When we pulled into a parking space, a huge truck pulled up beside us emblazoned with “Cascade Paper.” The audiologist’s manila folder was imprinted with “Cascade.” At the end of Michael’s two hour sedated hearing test, the audiologist pronounced “everything’s normal!” I praised God, called Paul on the phone, then hastened home to look up “Cascade” in the dictionary. I knew it was some kind of waterfall. But as I scanned the page, the Lord highlighted one particular definition and whispered to me, “My grace is rushing forth in abundance!” And fifteen months later, our beautiful Cascade Grace was born, a miracle in every way. God’s grace is rushing forth in abundance! Messiah has come! The Kingdom of God has arrived, but there’s more to come! Everywhere that God’s river flows, there is abundance and life, freshness and fertility. We welcome your river, oh God! May we follow you, Jesus, proclaiming and demonstrating the Kingdom of God, loving people with your radical love, by the power of the Holy Spirit and for the greater glory of God!
