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About Disciplines

The Upper Room Disciplines provides an opportunity to look more deeply at scripture by offering a week of devotions by a single author on a particular theme.

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Latest Disciplines Devotions

Justice and Hope - December 10, 2020

December 10, 2020

It can be easy, especially when we live in comfortable surroundings, to let the words of the prophets become disconnected from our tangible, grounded realities. That’s why this passage from Isaiah...

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Justice and Hope - December 9, 2020

December 9, 2020

Advent is a time of reflection, but it’s also a time of tensions and uncertainty. In its quiet and dark, hope and expectation for new life begin to rise. Amid this...

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Justice and Hope - December 8, 2020

December 8, 2020

Today’s passage is one of those where it can be hard to place ourselves in the mind-set of the people who first heard it. We can try our best, but it’s...

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Justice and Hope - December 7, 2020

December 7, 2020

There’s a certain kind of poetry in the repetition and simplicity of John 1 as the Gospel writer lays the groundwork for the world-bending story to follow. In today’s passage, we’re...

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Turning to a Radical New Way - December 6, 2020

December 6, 2020

A plaintive cry for forgiveness and restoration of God’s presence seeps like tears through Psalm 85. The psalmist begins by remembering and acknowledging God’s material and spiritual goodness in the past,...

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Turning to a Radical New Way - December 5, 2020

December 5, 2020

This passage represents another assurance: that no matter how many times we turn away from God as individuals or nations, we always will be God’s beloved children, and God will welcome...

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Turning to a Radical New Way - December 4, 2020

December 4, 2020

In this portion of Second Isaiah, Cyrus of Persia has promised release of the Jews from Babylon back to Palestine after their exile. The author begins with the voice of God...

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Turning to a Radical New Way - December 3, 2020

December 3, 2020

Responsible in some way for the second-generation followers of Jesus, the author of Second Peter seems worried about them. Since Jesus’ death, his return has been believed to be imminent. But...

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Turning to a Radical New Way - December 2, 2020

December 2, 2020

Scholars believe that Second Peter is among the last of the New Testament documents, written by a person who lived a generation after Peter and identified with his tradition. The author...

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Turning to a Radical New Way - December 1, 2020

December 1, 2020

In this portion of the earliest Gospel, Mark introduces the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and validates John as the messenger prophesied by Isaiah who will prepare...

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