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December 1, 2017

Longing for Hope

GINGER E. GAINES-CIRELLI   |   Read 1 Corinthians 1:3-9

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Lectionary Week
November 27–December 3, 2017
Scripture Overview

Advent begins not on a note of joy but of despair. Humankind has realized that people cannot save themselves; apart from God’s intervention, we are totally lost. The prayer of Advent is that Christ will soon come again to rule over God’s creation. The passages from Isaiah 64 and Psalm 80 express the longing of faithful people for God to break into their isolation and to shatter the gridlock of human sin. The New Testament texts anticipate with both awe and thanksgiving the coming of “the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection

• Read Isaiah 64:1-9. When have you found yourself in a disorienting setting? What was your cry to God? What response to your lament did you seek?
• Read Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19. What in you needs the restoration that only God can give?
• Read 1 Corinthians 1:3-9. How might you become a means of reconciliation in your family, your work setting, your city?
• Read Mark 13:24-37. What especially do you long for this Advent-Christmas? How can you participate in the transforming love of Christ to manifest a reconciling spirit?

Respond by posting a prayer .

1 Corinthians 1:3-9

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I thank my God always for you, because of God’s grace that was given to you in Christ Jesus. 5 That is, you were made rich through him in everything: in all your communication and every kind of knowledge, 6 in the same way that the testimony about Christ was confirmed with you. 7 The result is that you aren’t missing any spiritual gift while you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also confirm your testimony about Christ until the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, and you were called by him to partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Unless otherwise indicated, scripture quotations are from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible. Used by permission.

In these opening lines of Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth, we see the apostle’s deep desire for that beloved community. Paul writes in order to encourage the church to live the way of Jesus, to be strengthened in its witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to...

Generous Spirit, open my hands and heart to receive—and share—your love and compassion. Amen.


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