Phillips Theological Seminary is once again providing this Advent Devotional for you and congregations. We continue to be blessed by the response to the booklet and the way that it is used. Many have shared that you use the booklet to assist with sermon preparation, in church small groups and Sunday school classes, as a daily congregation-wide devotion, and for personal and family devotion time. We have asked four writers to write on the theme for each week of Advent. We are so grateful for staff, scholars, and alumni that are willing to contribute to this devotional.
The writers are:
Week One, HOPE: the Rev. Dr. F. Douglas Powe Jr., President and Mouzon Biggs, Jr. Professor of Methodist Studies
Week Two, PEACE: the Rev. Mike Miller, Alum, Senior Minister at Marion Christian Church (Marion, Illinois)
Week Three, JOY: the Rev. Jenny Wynn, Director of Advancement
Week Four, LOVE: the Rev. Dr. Allie Utley, Assistant Professor of Liturgy and Practical Theology.
Our readers for this podcast are Ashely Gibson, Executive Assistant to the President and Board, and Matt Dean, Online Social Media Specialist. This year's cover graphic, The Path to Christmas, ws created by fourth grader Eden Berman.
We are grateful that you choose to join us in reflection and thoughtfulness by reading the Advent Devotional.
In Gratitude,
Assistant Vice President of Advancement
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Phillips Theological Seminary is once again providing this Advent Devotional for you and congregations. We continue to be blessed by the response to the booklet and the way that it is used. Many have shared that you use the booklet to assist with sermon preparation, in church small groups and Sunday school classes, as a daily congregation-wide devotion, and for personal and family devotion time. We have asked four writers to write on the theme for each week of Advent. We are so grateful for staff, scholars, and alumni that are willing to contribute to this devotional.
The writers are:
Week One, HOPE: the Rev. Dr. F. Douglas Powe Jr., President and Mouzon Biggs, Jr. Professor of Methodist Studies
Week Two, PEACE: the Rev. Mike Miller, Alum, Senior Minister at Marion Christian Church (Marion, Illinois)
Week Three, JOY: the Rev. Jenny Wynn, Director of Advancement
Week Four, LOVE: the Rev. Dr. Allie Utley, Assistant Professor of Liturgy and Practical Theology.
Our readers for this podcast are Ashely Gibson, Executive Assistant to the President and Board, and Matt Dean, Online Social Media Specialist. This year's cover graphic, The Path to Christmas, ws created by fourth grader Eden Berman.
We are grateful that you choose to join us in reflection and thoughtfulness by reading the Advent Devotional.
In Gratitude,
Assistant Vice President of Advancement
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mary: From Puzzlement to Praise
Luke 1:39-56
What is God doing in the world, if anything? Has God given up on us? Does our human sinfulness thwart God’s power and purposes (Rom 3:1-3)? Being committed to the ways of Jesus can be perplexing. Mary is perplexed, yet reassured, by the angel to embrace the divine purposes. She identifies herself as God’s “slave” and aligns with God’s word (1:38).
The scene with Elizabeth also foregrounds the divine word (1:39-45). The angel’s declarations have come into being. Elizabeth is pregnant just as Gabriel had declared to Zechariah (1:8-25). Mary is also pregnant, though Luke’s narrative does not elaborate how this has happened (1:42).
Elizabeth adds her witness to Mary as mother and faithful believer in “what was spoken to her by the Lord” (1:42, 45). God’s word is presented as efficacious, powerful, and trustworthy.
These events show God at work in the world, actively accomplishing the divine purposes. Luke’s Gospel begins by addressing Theophilus. The opening prologue assures him that the Gospel account provides security or certainty that God is faithfully carrying out God’s purposes in the midst of the destructive power structures of the Roman empire.
Mary responds with praise (1:46-56). The hymn stops the story’s forward movement to reflect on what has happened. Verses 47-50 celebrate God’s favor or mercy to Mary, even though the divine word has landed her in a difficult societal location.
Verses 51-55 broaden the focus to God’s actions among people. God is constructed as delivering the powerless from the exploitative powerful, and providing for the hungry and needy.
These actions express God’s faithfulness to the word spoken to Abraham to “bless all the nations of the earth” (1:55; Gen 12:3).If we are to “keep Christmas with you all through the year” as a song puts it, we are to live out this commitment to good life for all. We do so—according to these opening chapters of Luke’s Gospel—with the assurance that God is working for these ends and that we are to live as partners with God in this task.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.