CHURCH OF THE FOOTHILLS Christmas 2017 · She stumbled into a room full of strangers and people she didn’t know only to look around and declare with her hands lifted high, “AH

It’s so easy to get caught up in all the hall decking and merry making that we forget what Christmas is all about – a baby in a manger who changes everything! So before Christmas slips away and the new year dawns, we invite you to slow down and take some time to prepare your heart for the celebration “God with us.”

Let us know if you are doing the reading challenge by tagging us on Twitter @cotfcp and using #COTFChristmas17

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A Bible App Reading Plan

CHURCH OF THE FOOTHILLS Christmas 2017

DAY 1 December 1

Devotional: Waiting for the Big Day

Have you ever been so eager about an event that it completely changed your life while you waited?

It may have been your wedding day, a new job, a child being born, the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series, or some other milestone in life. Any of these big days came after days, weeks, and in the case of the Cubs, 108 years of waiting.

I hate to wait. Instant gratification is so prevalent in our society that seems like the world can’t stand to wait either. But is waiting a bad thing?

Thinking back to when my first child was born or the days and months leading up to my wedding, the things that happened during that time made the big day all that much more important. When my wife and I were waiting for our precious little girl, we spent time getting her room together and baby-proofing the house.

When we were waiting for our wedding, we spent hours selecting the right flowers, making sure every-one had a dress or tux that fit, and that the day was perfect. Okay, my wife spent most of the time doing all that, but you get the picture. Waiting can be a difficult thing to do, but when we wait well, our lives are extraordinarily better.

So what does waiting have to do with a Christmas Bible reading plan?

This season of the Church calendar is called Advent. The word “Advent” is a Latin word that means, “to come” or “arrive.” The Church spends this time known as Advent to wait and prepare ourselves for the season of Christmas, when we celebrate the arrival of Jesus into the world. It is a season of waiting, long-ing, and preparing for the presence of Jesus in our lives.

This Bible reading plan is designed to help you walk through this season of waiting. Have you ever seen this time of the year as the time to prepare for something? It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of preparing everything for the holiday festivities. However, Jesus is at the door knocking and would like for you take some time to prepare for His coming. Ask Him what He would like you to work on while you wait for the celebration this Christmas.

Bible Scriptures:

Revelation 3:20

CHURCH OF THE FOOTHILLS Christmas 2017 | #COTFChristmas17 | Twitter @cotfcp | cotf.org/christmas | A Bible App Plan

DAY 2 December 2

Devotional: My People

Everyone was laughing and enjoying themselves, and they were all excited for the wedding that was about to take place the next day. Twas the night of the rehearsal dinner in a barn on the beautiful rolling hills of Kentucky, and my little niece, Addy, who was two at the time, was wandering around from room to room with her grandpa. She stumbled into a room full of strangers and people she didn’t know only to look around and declare with her hands lifted high, “AH MY PEOPLE!”

Whether we’re two like little Addy or ninety-two, we all have a deep intrinsic desire to have people in our lives. People to celebrate life with, but also people to face hardship with. I don’t know who said, “misery loves company,” but they understood the importance that relationships play in the lives of human beings.

When it comes to waiting and preparing for the coming of Jesus into the world, we need to realize that we need to be doing this in community. My favorite group of people in the Christmas story are the shep-herds. This group of guys had been through thick and thin together. They faced hardship from preda-tors and thieves, but they also received the joy of accomplishing long journeys together despite difficult circumstances.

They are minding their own business when some angels come by and take them by total surprise. The angels announce an important message to the whole group and the whole group decides to come to see the thing that has happened.

Preparing for, and experiencing, Jesus is not something that we were ever meant to do alone. What other Christians are you in relationship with who are helping you be a more devoted follower of Jesus? What people are there in your life who you could invest in and be the person who helps lead them to Jesus? We all have people in our lives. Will you be like the shepherds and bring them to Jesus?

Bible Scriptures:

Luke 2:8-20


DAY 3 December 3

Devotional: Peace in Storm

Do you feel like you are in a tornado of chaos? Running your kids from here to there. Or trying to stop by and pick up something you forgot to get for your office lunch tomorrow. Or maybe it’s the dread of having to get together with a family member in a few weeks. Life has a way of not only running past us, it sometimes even runs over us. None of us intends to feel like this about the season but peace is the last thing that describes what we are feeling.

I was like that too… until my 5-year-old daughter had to have emergency surgery on December 19. She then spent the next several days in Pediatric Intensive Care. And my perspective changed.

All the parties, programs, shopping, and groceries no longer even made the list--not even close. Saving my hurting baby was the only thing that counted. But the strange part about it was, in spite of the scary circumstances, I felt peace. It was a peace that Jesus told His disciples He would leave them—a peace that only comes from the Holy Spirit.

It was supernatural, I could tell. I felt a calm reassurance that my heavenly Father had the situation in His hands. I didn’t feel like falling apart, nor screaming, and I could think clearer than I ever thought possi-ble. Looking back, I can’t even imagine going through anything traumatic without the Holy Spirit living inside me. It was a peace “which transcends all understanding” (Philippians 4:7), and that the world can’t experience.

John 14:26-28 says, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

I think it is important that, as believers in Christ, we help each other to “live by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25) and have our minds “governed by the Spirit” because we will receive “life and peace” (Romans 8:6).

And that little 5-year-old girl? Well, she has a baby girl herself now, and I pray she doesn’t have to go through the same situation her mom did.

Bible Scriptures:

John 14:26-28Galatians 5:28Romans 8:6Philippians 4:7


DAY 4 December 4

Devotional: Pursue Peace

Henry Ford once famously said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t--you’re right.”

The truth of this statement describes two very important God-given forces in life. It shows the power of perspective and pursuit. The right perspective in life empowers you to be able to accomplish incredible things. The most important perspective that one could ever hold in life is to know and embrace the con-stant pursuit of God toward His people.

There is nothing that you could ever do to make God love you less, and there is nothing that you could ever do to make God love you more. Brennan Manning was known for saying, “God loves us where we are, not where we should be.” God’s grace meets us at the moment we are in, and takes us to a place we couldn’t go without it. This pursuit is probably best summed up in Romans 5:8 by the Apostle Paul when he said, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

When we grasp God’s pursuit of us as His people, it gives us a perspective that calls us to pursue peace in the world.

Peace seems to be a fleeting and disappearing thing in our world today. There is so much vitriol, hate, and turmoil in our world that it seems like pursuing peace is a lost cause. Yet, knowing all that the world had done and would do, God still came to us in Jesus.

If you don’t think the world can change even if you seek peace, then in the words of Henry Ford, “you’re right.” However, if you take hold of the perspective that God is pursuing you through Jesus, then you won’t be able to help but to pursue peace in the world.

God’s not asking you to bring peace to all the world, but He is inviting you into a story where you can make your world peaceful and peace giving. Start with something small like delivering treats to a police or fire station. Give someone a hug, or reach out to a friend or family in a situation where there is not peace and do what you can to make a difference.

Remember, those who can’t bring peace and those who can are both right. Which one are you?

Bible Scriptures:

Psalms 34:11-14Romans 5:6-8


DAY 5 December 5

Devotional: Empathy Follows Focus

One of my favorite things to do is gaze at the night sky. I love looking at the millions of stars, planets, and satellites all at once, but even more than that, I love focusing on one star, planet, or galaxy billions of miles away. Every star has a story, and every galaxy is its own adventure yet to be discovered. My favorite memory of gazing into the starry night was the night my wife and I went to the Yerkes Observatory out-side Lake Geneva. We had a chance to look into an incredibly powerful telescope that allowed us to focus specifically on stars, galaxies, and even a rare glimpse of Venus.

The opportunity we had to focus on those objects in the universe changed forever how we looked into the sky from that point on. It is interesting how focusing on something can change your perspective and generate empathy. In Philippians 2, the Apostle Paul was writing to a church that God planted through him, and he was explaining how Christians are supposed to imitate how Jesus had empathy and served others. In Philippians 2:4, Paul says, “not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others.”

The word that Paul used in his letter for “looking” is the Greek word skopéō. This word didn’t mean just to glance or peek at something. It meant to intentionally focus and inspect. The Greek word that Paul used here would later evolve into the English word “scope” and be the root for other English words like “telescope” and “microscope.” Paul was explaining to the church in Philippi how Jesus focused on, and had empathy for, those for whom He came. This reality for the church to be like Jesus meant that people who follow Jesus are to focus on others and serve them. In other words, empathy follows focus and leads to service.

Who do you need to focus on so you can allow empathy and service to follow in your life? Spend some time thinking about this question and being honest with yourself about who you have willingly, or unin-tentionally, ignored.

Bible Scriptures:

Philippians 2:6,1,3-5,2,7-11Mark 10:42-45


DAY 6 December 6

Devotional: Appreciate the King

An elderly lady was well-known for her faith, and for the bold way she talked about it. She would stand on her front porch and shout, “Praise the Lord!”

Next door to her lived an atheist who would get so angry at her proclamations he would shout, “There ain’t no Lord!!”

Hard times set in on the elderly lady and she prayed for God to send her some assistance. She stood on her porch and shouted, “Praise the Lord!! God, I need FOOD!! I am having a hard time. Please, Lord, send me some groceries!!”

The next morning, the lady went out on her porch and saw a large bag of groceries and shouted, “Praise the Lord!!”

The neighbor jumped from behind a bush and said, “Ha Ha!! I told you there was no Lord. I bought those groceries. God didn’t.”

The lady started jumping up and down and clapping her hands and saying, “PRAISE THE LORD! He not only sent me groceries, but He made the devil pay for them!!” (From God’s Little Acre)

Appreciation in the right direction can make an incredible difference on a person’s perspective.

What one values, appreciates, and praises speak volumes about a person. Not only does what we worship define us as people, but when praise is directed in the right direction, it unleashes a tremendous amount of purpose in life. The characters who knew this maybe better than anyone in the Christmas story were the Magi, or Wise Men, and King Herod.

In the story, King Herod shows his true colors and the true direction of his worship. King Herod was sup-posed to be the King ruling over Israel, but truthfully he was only a sellout to the larger Roman Empire and a self-serving pig. He didn’t care about anyone but himself and his own desires. Later in Matthew 2, Herod’s resulting death proves where the direction of his appreciation got him: nothing and no one.

In contrast to the character of Herod are the Magi. Instead of being self-serving and narcissistic, they find Jesus and direct their adoration and praise to Him through the gifts that they brought. Their reward was a glimpse at the King of the Universe and a new perspective that they would carry with them their entire lives!

You and I have a choice. Are we going to choose to have the perspective of Herod or the Magi?

Bible Scriptures:

Matthew 2


DAY 7 December 7

Devotional: Cooperation is Being Better Together

Coach John Wooden says, “Team spirit means you are willing to sacrifice personal considerations for the welfare of all. That defines a team player.”

Cooperation with other people can be difficult, but the sacrifice to work with others is always worth the cost. This is true because we’re always able to do more together than we could ever do by ourselves. Coach Wooden was able to win 11 NCAA national championships with his formula of sacrifice that produced teamwork. He or his players would have never been able to do that by themselves, but because they were willing to work together, they were able to accomplish great things.

One of the clear descriptions for the church in the New Testament is the image and idea of the church being the “body of Christ.” In Romans 12, Paul talks about how the body of Christ consists of multiple members that come together by cooperating and playing the role that only each individual part could play in the body. Paul specifically says in verse 18, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

Peace and cooperation go hand-in-hand when it comes to living out the plan Jesus has for His Church. You can’t have cooperation without peace, and when you have peace, it allows healthy cooperation to exist.

This idea is not just good in theory, but it actually has real world results. The real world result is the idea of synergy. The technical definition of synergy is when a whole creates something greater than its parts. In other words, we’re better when we work together. A powerful example of this is that a draft horse can pull 8,000 pounds by itself, but when put together with another horse of the same strength it can pull up to 24,000 pounds (and 32,000 if they are adequately trained). Notice that cooperation of the horses doesn’t just double their pulling capacity; it quadruples what they can accomplish. This, too, is true with the body of Christ.

What is God calling you to cooperate on with other members of the body of Christ? Maybe you could cooperate by signing up to serve at a Christmas service at church? Remember, we’re better together!

Bible Scriptures:

Romans 12


DAY 8 December 8

Devotional: Entrust in What Matters

The interesting thing about faith is that what you have faith in is much more important than the amount of faith that you have.

Take flying for example. It doesn’t matter if you have just enough faith to get your butt on the plane. If you have only enough faith in the pilot and plane to get on board, you’re still going to arrive at the same place as the person who had all the faith in the world. Granted, you’re going to have a better and more enjoyable trip if you have more faith. But what’s most important is the direction that your faith takes you because of the object of your trust.

I point that out about faith because, in Jesus, we have someone who can truly be trusted. Years before Jesus ever walked the face of the Earth, the prophet Isaiah used these terms to prophesize about the com-ing of the Messiah. He used the terms, “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Who would not want those things in their life?

My favorite of those terms is “Prince of Peace.” The word used by Isaiah that was translated peace was the Hebrew word Shalom. If you have any Jewish friends or have been to Israel, you may have heard this word as a greeting. It is a rich Hebrew word that carries a significant meaning. When the Old Testament au-thors use the term Shalom, it’s not just describing a situation that is absent from violence, but it is also the embrace of well-being from God.

Later on in the Bible in Ephesians 2, Paul talks about how Jesus is our peace. This is the same theme and idea as the Old Testament prophecy that described what Jesus would be like when He came. This presence of God through Jesus is what is offered to us who trust in Him. The question we all have to ask is whether we trust Him enough to take the adventure He has in store for us?

There is only one way to find out, and that’s to trust.

Bible Scriptures:

Isaiah 9:6-7Ephesians 2:11-22


DAY 9 December 9

Devotional: Putting P.E.A.C.E together

In my opinion, the number one toy of all time is Legos™.

There are endless possibilities of what you can build. Countless hours of creating. Not to mention the opportunity to work together on a project and bring it to completion.

Legos™ are incredible, but one thing about Legos™ is that by themselves they are utterly useless.

The author of Hebrews gives clear instruction to his audience to, “not give up meeting together.” Some-times I think we get a misguided understanding of what it means to be the community Jesus intended for us to be. We think if we go to “church” over the weekend, then we can check our “church” box for the week and not think about community anymore.

There is one problem with that line of thinking. We don’t simply go to church; we are the church. The church isn’t a worship service every weekend, rather the service is an expression of the community that is truly the church. When Jesus established the church, what He was really establishing was a community of people, not a designated time to gather.

I don’t know if you noticed, but the titles from each of the last five days spell the acronym P.E.A.C.E.

P - Pursue PeaceE - Empathy Follows FocusA - Appreciating the KingC - Cooperation is Being Better TogetherE - Entrust in What Matters

The important theme running through all these elements of peace is that they’re all to be done together in community. If you really want God to work in your life during this time of preparation, then it is going to take spending some time together with others this Christmas.

Bible Scriptures:

Hebrews 10:23-25


DAY 10 December 10

Devotional: No Joy Without Sorrow

There is deep irony in the way our culture celebrates Christmas. Even the words we use, like “good cheer,” the “season of Christmas,” and being “merry and bright” are a striking contrast to the frustration expe-rienced at the first Christmas. Imagine being a young peasant girl, pregnant in an impossible way on a journey to change the world. Our snowflakes and fake holly berries seem pretty fluffy and insubstantial compared to that. And yet, the Angels did proclaim this to be JOY to the world! The joy that comes from the good news of a Savior who made His entrance into the world.

Joy is not identified by things like ornaments and bright colors. It’s not the warm, fuzzy feelings we asso-ciate with nostalgia. In his book Joy for the World, Greg Forster wrote, “When I say joy, I don’t mean an emotion. I mean the flourishing of the whole person in mind, heart, and life. This flourishing is a transfor-mation that extends to all of life as an integrated totality.” That means that real joy is found in the richness of life as God created it to be. Jesus was born to bring wholeness, and from wholeness emerges true joy!

This goes deeper than “good cheer,” though. The depth of this joy cannot be separated from the accom-panying struggle because it is the struggle—the work that God did to offer us wholeness—that makes joy all the more beautiful. The Lord says that the struggles we face are like the labor pains of a woman giving birth. But He promises that when the time of labor has passed, nothing will compare to the joy of whole-ness and being one with God.

Because this is the deep, true joy that God offers, we miraculously find that we are able to have a certain levity in sorrow, a lightness of spirit while we wait for our Savior’s return. “Good cheer” in the midst of pain is still ironic, but in a true and beautiful way. We are “bright” as the light of God in the world. And setting aside a season to turn our hearts towards the promises of God becomes an echo that precedes the perfect joy that we will one day have when we meet Him face-to-face.

Bible Scriptures:

John 16:20-22Hebrews 12:1-2


DAY 11 December 11

Devotional: You’ve Got to Be Kidding Me!

A good joke always consists of a setup that takes you in one direction and concludes with a punch line that disorients you and leaves you rolling on the floor in laughter.

One of my favorite descriptions of the incarnation, (which is a fancy way of saying that God came to earth in human form), comes from Frederick Buechner, who explains that the incarnation is “a kind of vast joke whereby the creator of the ends of the earth comes among us in diapers.” Buechner is not suggesting that God becoming human didn’t happen, or that those who believe in that are ludicrous. What he is sug-gesting is that the setup to this story is our preconceived bias that the God of the Universe would never interact in such an intimate and vulnerable way as to become human.

The Christmas story is difficult to comprehend because if I were God and I decided to become human, I wouldn’t choose an earthly family that was poor, weak, and helpless. I would choose a family with priv-ilege, holding court in a magnificent palace. Also, I definitely wouldn’t come in the form of a vulnerable and powerless little baby. I would ride into town as a king.

At some point, when we truly look at the incarnation, we will inevitably ask, “You’ve got to be kidding me, right?!?” Frederick Buechner later goes on to say, “Until we, too, have taken the idea of the God-man seriously enough to be scandalized by it, we have not taken it as seriously as it demands to be taken.”

God’s willingness to dwell among us as John 1:14 describes should be something that brings us comfort, hope, and confidence. How does this resonate with you this morning? Does it bring you hope and com-fort to know how far God was willing to go in order to be “in the world as we are in the world?”

Bible Scriptures:

John 1:1-18


DAY 12 December 12

Devotional: A Liberation Carol

One of my favorite Christmas carols is O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. So many of the other Christmas songs seem like they’re all about the fluff and glitter of Christmas, and miss the true meaning and signifi-cance of the season.

Christmas is about more than bells, decked halls, reindeer, and a fat man giving out presents. Now before you call me Scrooge, don’t get me wrong. I love all those things and am glad they’re a part of my family’s Christmas traditions. But that wasn’t what the first Christmas was all about.

The reason I love O Come, O Come, Emmanuel is because I think it sums up the dynamics of the first Christmas so well when it says:

O come, O come, Emmanuel,And ransom captive Israel;That mourns in lonely exile here,Until the Son of God appear.

O come, thou Rod of Jesse, freeThine own from Satan’s tyranny;From depths of hell thy people save,And give them victory o’er the grave.

Emmanuel means, “God with us.” For God to be with us does not just mean that we will be friends with God and have a relationship with Him. It also means that God is going to rule those who believe in Him as a King, and He will lead His people into liberation from oppressive forces.

We know this is the foundation of the Christmas story because it is the major theme of the first Christmas carol ever written. That Christmas carol is Mary’s Magnificat (her song of praise). In today’s reading in Luke 1, notice how this isn’t a song that only records her personal feelings, but it reflects on the implica-tions for the larger community of God’s people.

Jesus’ coming to earth wasn’t only for our own personal joy and happiness; rather He came to be the King who would bring true joy through liberation and freedom to all of God’s people. How can you participate in the liberation and freedom that Mary describes in her song?

Bible Scriptures:

John 1:26-56

O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheerOur spirits by thine advent here;O drive away the shades of night,And pierce the clouds and bring us light.

O come, thou Key of David, come,And open wide our heavenly home;Where all thy saints with thee shall dwell,O come, O come, Emmanuel!


DAY 13 December 13

Devotional: Joy from the Gift

“Tis more blessed to give than receive.”

That’s a phrase that is heard a lot around Christmas time. It reflects the reality of joy that comes from being generous like God, and putting others before yourself. One of the best stories in the Gospels that capture this reality is the feeding of the 5,000 as told in John 6.

In the story, there is a group of people who have a problem. They’ve been listening to Jesus all day, and they are in need of some food because they are hungry. In the midst of the moment, Jesus sees this as a teaching opportunity for His disciples, so He asks them, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”

The question throws the disciples into turmoil as they try to figure out how they’re going to feed the hun-gry crowd with such little notice. Just then, a poor little boy finds his way up to the disciples and offers his modern day equivalent of sardines and crackers. This boy was willing to give out of the little that he had to help the many (who were probably better off than he).

What the little boy experiences next was the full effect of being “more blessed to give than receive.” Jesus turns this little boy’s meager lunch into enough food to feed well over 5,000 people, and maybe as many as 15,000 people if you count all the women and children who were most likely present at this event.

The lesson that we can learn from this story is about what God can do with us when are more willing to give than receive. God has given everyone the gift of Himself, which is the greatest gift in the world. However, a gift is only good if it is opened and used for what it was intended. If you leave gifts unwrapped under the tree, they do no good.

Spend some time thinking about all the gifts that God has blessed you with. How can you use these gifts, such as the presence of Jesus in your life, to give to others? Do something as simple as thanking your mail-man with a note or a picture! Whatever you do, God will multiply your gift when you give it to be used by Him.

Bible Scriptures:

John 6:1-152 Corinthians 2:7


DAY 14 December 14

Devotional: Jesus Didn’t Just Come to Die

The life of Jesus wasn’t only about His death.

Often, I feel we give a lot of emphasis in our study of Jesus to when He first came into the world, and then when He died for our sins. These are extraordinary and important things to emphasize, but the way Jesus lived is also incredibly important to understand how to be His follower.

It is not only His perfection that makes Him able to take away our sins, but it is in His perfection that He also showed mankind how to be fully human. When God made mankind, He didn’t make a mistake. He knew what He was doing, and He was pleased with His creation. However, things went off the rails be-cause mankind rebelled against a relationship with God through their own free will.

This rebellion is known as the fall. The fall tainted mankind from that point on. We’ve all felt the conse-quences of this rebellion, and we have all done our own fair share of rebelling in one way or another.

The good news about Jesus is that He came to reverse the fall, and to restore mankind’s relationship with God through faith in Him. Part of the reversal of the curse is Jesus fully embodying the original creation of humanity and empowering those who have faith in Him to also embody the original creation of God. This is why Jesus says this in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Experiencing this life to the full should give us hope.

When you have hope, that is not something that you’re going to want to keep to yourself. Hopefully, as you’ve spent this time preparing for the celebration of Jesus’ coming, God has put people on your heart to invite to a Christmas service at church. One great way to do this is using social media. Sometime today, share a link on a social media platform inviting your friends to spend Christmas together with you at your church so they, too, can experience life to the full that only Jesus offers.

Bible Scriptures:

John 11


DAY 15 December 15

Devotional: Joy in Sacrifice

Christmas is often characterized as the “season of giving.” We pick out an item (or gift card) that we think a person will enjoy most, wrap it in bright paper (or a brightly colored envelope), and hope that the gift will elicit a smile. Or maybe we just give out of obligation, not even expecting the gift to be more than another piece of stuff on the pile of new stuff from the Christmas-stuff stores. It’s pretty far removed from the treacherous, treasonous journey of the Magi and their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to honor the newborn King.

We should give because God first gave to us. He gave the gift of Jesus who, even from His very birth, was here to die for us. In fact, not only did Christ sacrifice by dying for us, every moment of His life was a sacrifice for us. He gave up power, physical comfort, social status, and the pride that comes with authority in order to live as a servant. When He touched lepers and had conversations with women, He rejected the cultural expectations of the day in order to deeply affirm people who were outcasts.

The gift of God was a sacrifice from the beginning. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul says that Christ “emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” He gave everything up in order to serve those who would ultimately reject and kill Him.

And yet, when Jesus told His disciples that loving people means laying down our life for them, Jesus proclaimed that keeping this command would bring them joy! In submitting our own needs and desires to those of others, we grow closer to the heart of God. Jesus emptied Himself, fully embracing the Father’s plan of salvation, and after He had suffered, God raised Him up to glory.

When we choose to give sacrificially—whether we sacrifice our time, our money, our emotional energy, our relationships, or in some other way—we imitate Christ and reflect the glory of God. As our hearts grow close to God, this kind of gift and sacrifice becomes our greatest joy because it directs people to know better the God who loves and longs for them. What kind of sacrifice might God be asking you to make this Christmas in order to understand this joy?

Bible Scriptures:

John 15:9-13


DAY 16 December 16

Devotional: Joy in Adversity

One day, a baker approached a Jewish Rabbi and asked, “Rabbi, people often compliment me on my work. They tell me I’m such a wonderful baker, that they love my bread, that no one bakes bread like me. And I appreciate their praise. But if they came to me all the time insisting on taking up my time to compliment me, I would never get anything done! Does it not irritate God, or is He so insecure that He needs us to come to Him 24 hours of the day praising Him?”

The Rabbi replied, “God listens to our prayers day in and day out, but not because He needs it. He toler-ates all of our prayers—complaints, praises, and requests—because in His great love, He knows that we need it.”

One of the great blessings of the Christmas season—if we can manage to pause and reflect—is the oppor-tunity to turn our hearts towards joy and praise. For many people, this is the most difficult time of year. Expectations of gifts and festivities drive us to overwhelming busyness. Darkness covers us for the major-ity of the 24-hours in each day. We long for the company of family and friends who are far away or have left us behind. Sometimes the happiness that we think we ought to feel only provides a stark contrast to our reality.

But being joyful and choosing praise are not actions that emerge from our feelings. We are joyful and we give God praise in order to put Him first in our hearts, even in the midst of our trials. When the Apostle Paul was imprisoned and persecuted for proclaiming the Gospel, he and his companion sang praises to God. God didn’t need their praise, but Paul and Silas needed to praise God.

In the midst of adversity and discouragement this December, how can you make the choice to praise God? Often in these times, gathering together in community with other believers can be a transforming act that turns our hearts back to God and increases the depth of our joy. This week, be intentional about finding time to spend in prayer and praise with other believers.

Bible Scriptures:

James 1:2-4Romans 12:12Acts 16:16-40


DAY 17 December 17

Devotional: Participating in an Eternal Hope

The hope we have in Christ is one that often feels far off. Impossible, even. But that’s because it’s hope for something outside of this world, and outside of our own small experiences. It’s an eternal hope: that all brokenness will be healed, that the ruined cities will be restored, and that all people will sing the praise of our deeply loving, gracious God.

The eternal hope we have in Christ is something that has already begun to arrive, and we each get small glimpses of it. It’s like the story of the three blind men who stumbled upon an elephant and tried to describe it. “It’s like a huge tree!” said the blind man who touched the elephant’s leg. “No, it’s barely more than a reed of grass!” said the one feeling the elephant’s tail. “No, it’s like a snake!” said the one with his hands on the elephant’s trunk.

In the same way, all of us in the Body of Christ experience different aspects of God’s promises coming true as we wait for it to be fully revealed in glory. God promised Abraham would be the father of a great na-tion, but he only had one son. God led Moses to the Promised Land, but Moses only saw it from a nearby mountain top.

God told the prophets about Jesus over 400 years before He showed up. And the promises of God are still coming true. A friend is delivered from addiction. An estranged family member is welcomed home in grace and forgiveness. A child is born to a couple who waited and prayed through tears for her healthy arrival. In the middle of struggle and suffering, tremendous spiritual growth happens.

Perhaps you don’t feel like you see any hope in your life right now. In those days when the realization of our hope seems small, we rest in the cloud of witnesses—the church. The smallest victories of our broth-ers and sisters throughout history and across the nations are all stories that encourage us to press on in faith. We rejoice with those who rejoice, for the great victory of God has come and is still coming.

Your story, your neighbor’s story, your family’s story, our church’s stories need to be told. Don’t keep those praises to yourself! For they sing the arrival of our future hope’s fulfillment.

Bible Scriptures:

Hebrews 11:13-16Romans 4:18-25


DAY 18 December 18

Devotional: Hope for Transformation

You might not realize this, but the story of the birth of Jesus is actually the middle part of the entire Christmas story. His entrance into the world, the announcement by the angels, and the visit of the wise men is smack dab in the middle of an even bigger story that begins in Genesis with the creation of the world.

From the beginning when sin entered the world, God was already working out His plan of redemption. From Abraham to David to Jesus to right now, God has been telling a story of how He heals brokenness, brings dead things to life, and rebuilds the ruins of our sinful, selfish world.

We like to tell stories with exciting beginnings and satisfying endings. All too often, the middle parts of stories only seem to serve as a way to keep excitement up until we get to the neatly resolved conclusion. Even when we read the Bible, we tend to forget that there were 400 years of silence and exile for Israel—which don’t make for exciting stories at all—before Jesus makes His entrance.

But the truth about the middle part of a story is that’s where characters change. Through the struggle, they are transformed. Their pride is broken, their shame is lifted, their animosity becomes love, and their wounds are healed. And it is God who causes this transformation.

You might feel like you’re in those middle parts of your story. You’re praying desperately for growth to move from where you are to where you hope to be. As you continually seek truth about who God is and hunger after Him, your thoughts, your will, and your desires will be transformed to be like Him. You might not know how the story will end, but can have hope in the promise that God is transforming you right now.

We hope and long for the glorious ending God has promised for us, but we also hope in the transforming work He is doing in our lives right now. I also encourage you to invite others into the “middle parts” of your story. When we witness the transformational work that God is doing and give Him praise, we ush-er His Kingdom into the world. How can you share your stories of transformation in order to give God glory and encourage others? This week, fill up a stocking for a friend or neighbor, invite them to coffee, and look for an opportunity to tell your story of God’s transforming work in your life and the hope that it brings.

Bible Scriptures:

Philippians 1:6


DAY 19December 19

Devotional: We Hope in the Word

Lights are one of my favorite things about Christmas. I’m not much of a fan of the gaudy, overdone dis-plays, but I love candles, twinkle lights, the contrast of light and dark, and if we’re lucky, the reflection of the lights in the snow.

But have you ever noticed that on those Clark Griswold-type houses where they absolutely overdo the lights, it’s almost as bright as daytime? I often wonder how they sleep with so much light seeping through their windows!

In the Psalms, King David continually praises God for giving His word. He says, “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path.” For David, the law of God—the Torah of the Old Testament—gives him hope! Because it is by God’s word that we know and love Him. God’s word is also how we know our-selves—our sin and the truth about who we are—as well as God’s great love for us. And hundreds of years later, through the genealogy of David’s descendants, the Word of God came in the form of Jesus.

We have our hope in God’s word just like David did, but in addition to having words recorded on a page, we also have the Word—the plan of God for the world—in the form of a human being. John says about Jesus, “In him (the Word) was life, and that life was the light of mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

In Psalm 119, David wrote that he has hidden God’s word in his heart. He finds such great hope in God’s word for us that he commits it to memory and thinks about it continually throughout the day. Since we have the true Word of God in Jesus, how could we do any less? Reflecting on how Jesus devoted Himself to scripture, Pastor Tim Keller said in a sermon, “If He relied on scripture like that, do you really think that you can handle life with that little five-minute devotional every morning?”

Take some time today to stop and reflect on the perfect Word of God. Throw the family in the car and look at Christmas lights and talk about how Jesus is God’s light in the world. Then talk about the hope that we have in God’s word for us, and how you can dig more deeply into scripture in the upcoming year. Then do it!

Bible Scriptures:

Psalms 119


DAY 20December 20

Devotional: Hope through Mystery

One of the most underrated characters in the Christmas story, in my opinion, is Joseph. The poor guy doesn’t even have a speaking part in any of the renditions of the story.

However, what Joseph lacks in speaking, he makes up for in significance.

The thing that strikes me about Joseph in the Christmas story is how he willingly embraces mystery for the sake of what God was trying to accomplish. Mary knew and could feel baby Jesus growing inside her, and she also knew that she conceived Jesus as a virgin. Joseph had to embrace the mystery of what God was doing and trust that these very strange and difficult things were true and even guided along by God.

If you remember from an earlier reading, Joseph also had to embrace mystery when God appeared to him in dreams after Jesus was born. God was directing Joseph about how to keep his family safe amidst Herod’s death threats. Once again, Joseph trusted God and embraced the mystery of the journey in order to keep his family safe.

Mystery is a difficult thing because we are addicted to answers. We want to know, and we want to know now. I blame Google for the difficult time we have with embracing mystery. We live in a time where if we don’t know an answer, we can just “Google it” and all mystery is gone.

The problem is that God still leads His people through mystery and in a mysterious way. It wasn’t easy for Joseph to trust God in the mystery, but hope empowered him to do what God asked of him. Hope anchors and guides us through time spent in mystery. Joseph had hope in the fact that God was good and had his best intentions in mind. He had hope that God would deliver him and his family through any difficult situation.

In our world today, we have hope that Jesus is our anchor and guides through any mystery that we may face. What hope do you have from Jesus? What are ways you can more fully embrace that hope amidst mystery? Then do it!

Bible Scriptures:

Ephesians 1:7-10Matthew 1:18-24


DAY 21December 21

Devotional: Hope Beyond Our Power

Summer of 2016 wrapped up a very painful and difficult season of my life. Twelve months of continual disappointment, feeling isolated and disconnected, broken relationships, and betrayal. It was as though I had been led down a dark tunnel by the promise that there would be a light at the other side, only to find a dead end. The summer was a season of repentance, refusing to give in to distractions from the pain, and choosing to sit in the sorrow for as long as it took for things to heal.

As I looked for some kind of hope, I was confronted with my absolute inability to pull myself out of my own pit. I was weak. I didn’t even know what I was supposed to pray for; I just knew that God was the only One whose promises I could trust anymore. All the words that others had spoken to “look on the bright side!” and “keep your chin up!” were lost on me. The promise that “we’re finally on the upswing” had fallen flat, and I was ready to punch anyone who ever told me that again.

But in my weakness, Christ is my defender and protector, and He actively fights for me every day. So I began praying, “Lord, I can’t see joy with my own eyes. I can’t battle this hopelessness. Please, fight for me. Because I can’t fight on my own. It’s beyond my power.” It became my daily prayer, in whispers and screams: “Please, Lord. Fight for me!”

Sometimes talk about “hope” feels naïve. Joy? Peace? Those are just words on the Starbucks red cups and no more real than Santa Claus. Even if our hope in Christ is real, the feeling of hope sure isn’t. Your efforts to fill up your life with distractions and imitations of hope—gifts, Christmas parties, “good cheer,” and even family—will still leave you feeling empty after everyone has gone home. But straining to feel hope is not the invitation we’ve received.

If you’re struggling to believe in the reality of our hope in Christ—hope that He really is healing broken-ness and making all things new—don’t be afraid when you can’t manage to feel hopeful. As you enter into prayer this Christmas, submit your groans, your aches, and your feeling of hopelessness to the Lord and allow the Holy Spirit to intercede for you.

Bible Scriptures:

Romans 8:24-262 Corinthians 12:9John 16:33


DAY 22December 22

Devotional: Are We There Yet?

This Christmas, my family is going to take the long drive from Chicago to my grandparents’ house in Ne-braska. My daughter is young enough that the sounds coming from her mouth in the car are (most of the time) sweet baby babbles. However, I’m not looking forward to the day when those sweet baby babbles are replaced with the never ending loop of that dreaded question, “Are we therrrrre yet?!”

“Are we there yet?” is a dreaded question by any parent, but it is actually a really good question about the Kingdom of God that Jesus has inaugurated.

The word “Kingdom” is used 163 times throughout the New Testament, and it is used in the Gospels a to-tal of 123 times. It’s easy to say that the concept of “Kingdom” is kind of a big deal to Jesus and the authors of the New Testament. Every time “Kingdom” is mentioned in the New Testament, the dominate, probing question is “Are we there yet?”

The short answer to this question is yes, but not yet.

When Jesus says “Kingdom,” He means wherever the present and/or future redeemed people of God, in community, are living with Him as their King. This community extends to everyone who acknowledges, submits, and lives according to Jesus as Lord of their life. Life in the Kingdom will not always be easy in the fallen world, but when the members of the Kingdom allow Jesus to rule their lives, they receive a pres-ent everlasting life that stretches into all of eternity.

Let me go back to my road trip to Nebraska to explain. There’s nothing like my grandparents’ home on Christmas. My grandma has eight Christmas trees all decked out. There’s Christmas bingo, and don’t even get me started on how delicious Christmas dinner is. When I walk in the door at grandma’s house, I feel at home. But the feeling of home for Christmas and the reality of my destination starts for me when I cross the state line from Iowa into Nebraska.

In the same way, the Kingdom of God is here and present, but we have only crossed the state line. Jesus is coming a second time to fully inaugurate the Kingdom with all its beauty, but in the meantime, we get to live in the reality that we are on our way home, and nothing can keep us from that destination.

Bible Scriptures:

Matthew 16:13-20


DAY 23December 23

Devotional: Emmanuel, God with us and for us

Why did Jesus come to Earth in the first place? Was it to make Himself look good? Was it to dominate the nations and people as their Ruler? Was it so the world could see Him as important, and as a really big deal? No, Jesus didn’t come for any of these reasons.

Jesus came for you. He came for me. He came for the community of people who follow Him and believe in Him.

One of the greatest places this is exemplified is in John 13 where Jesus washes the feet of His disciples. The disciples knew and believed that Jesus was “God with us,” and when Jesus washed their feet, they very tan-gibly experienced the reason for His coming. To exhibit His reason for coming to Earth, Jesus didn’t stop with washing feet. He went to the extreme length of dying for us to cover and forgive all our sins.

Jesus wouldn’t say He was the reason for the season. He would say YOU are the reason for the season.

What does it mean to you that you were the reason for Jesus coming to Earth? How can you live in light of the example that Jesus set and the reality that He has come for you? As a small start, consider doing something simple for others, like holding the door open for people all day or scraping off someone’s car in bad weather. This is how you can start loving your neighbors as Jesus does.

Bible Scriptures:

John 13:10-17


DAY 24December 24MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!

Devotional: Christmas in the Neighborhood

Moving is one of the most frustrating things that people ever have to do. Physically, it takes a lot to pack up your boxes, load them on the moving truck, and unpack it all at your new destination. The emotional toll that moving takes is great, as well. You have to say goodbye to friends, leave places that hold precious memories, and get used to living in a new community.

We often don’t think about how God has progressed in how He interacts with His creation. In the be-ginning, Genesis describes God as hovering over the creation. In Exodus 19, Moses is the only one who gets to interact with God on the mountain. In Exodus 40, God moves to dwelling among His people in a created tabernacle and later the temple that they constructed.

Then the most significant change happens. God comes in human form and dwells with His creation. Eugene Peterson captures this reality well when he translates John 1:14 by saying, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, generous inside and out, true from start to finish.”

This is not where the progression of interaction between God and His people stops. Paul clearly describes in 1 Corinthians 3:16 that people who follow Jesus are the temple of the Holy Spirit. This means that God’s people are now where God dwells and interacts with the world.

Hopefully, during this season of Advent, you have prepared for a greater amount of the presence of Jesus in your life. One of the results of having a greater understanding of Christ’s coming and being with us should be to prompt you to be more present with the people God has put in your life.

As you spend time with friends and family, focus on how you can be present in the moment. How can you better represent Jesus in those relationships? Who is God calling you to be present with as Jesus has been present with you?

Bible Scriptures:

Genesis 1:2Exodus 19:9Exodus 40:34John 1:141 Corinthians 3:16


DAY 25December 25MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Devotional: A Christmas Blessing

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Thank you for taking the time to journey along with us on this Spend Christmas Together reading plan. Hopefully, it has been helpful to you as you have been preparing for the celebration of Christ’s coming into the world. Christmas has finally arrived today, and we celebrate the reality that He is here and spend-ing Christmas together with us.

Here is a prayer to end our season of Advent together.

Father,

Thank you for your Son, Jesus, whose birth we celebrate today. He is the One who has brought peace, joy, and hope into our lives and the world. He has brought us home to a relationship with You and made us citizens of Your Kingdom. Please continue to renew us through Your Holy Spirit as we seek to be more like Jesus every day. Please use us to continue the work of Jesus that You have for us to do. Thank You for the many blessings that You give, and help us remember and celebrate those blessings today. We pray this in the name of Jesus. AMEN.

Bible Scriptures:

Luke 2:1-21


Documents

CHURCH OF THE FOOTHILLS Christmas 2017 · She stumbled into a room full of strangers and people she didn’t know only to look around and declare with her hands lifted high, “AH