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An Embrace from the Church Family
In the late 1990s, the youth of First United Methodist Church of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, were burdened Read More
GINGER E. GAINES-CIRELLI | Read Mark 13:24-31
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Sign Up TodayBut in those days, after that suffering. . . . ” The opening words of today’s reading speak to the whole point of Advent and Christmas. The community for which Mark writes faces persecution because of their Christian faith. In our own day, suffering, injustice, and persecution remain. At this...
Loving God, thank you for fulfilling your promises and not abandoning me. Amen.
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.”
• 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.
"Discovery Weekend helped me get to know students in other grades, and it encouraged us to share diverse thoughts in our groups."
