Advent Devotions Door County 2023

Can it be said of the human condition that too often, we set our expectations and hopes a bit too low, as in expectations of others, of a situation, even of ourselves? This is reflected in Scripture, as in John 1:46, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Yet earlier the prophet Micah (5:2 & 5) had stated, “But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah…from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel…and he shall be one of peace.” Held high among God’s people was this hope in and for a long-awaited Messiah, but certainly not from Bethlehem. From a least-expected place, a place that didn’t have a five-star rating, God chose that little town of Bethlehem to become the birthplace of the Messiah, our Savior. Think of it as God’s timing and choice! This Season of Advent, one of spiritual preparation for the birth of the Savior, is a perfect time to ask ourselves, “Where is God attempting to break into my very common life.” What value does God see in me and how is God trying to le...

Our Surprising Sovereign Savior A man named Saul “persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.” He “dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.” “Breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord”, Saul went to Damascus, so that “if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” And then this happened on the road to Damascus: “a light from heaven flashed around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ And he said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.’” All this is in the New Testament book of Acts. Saul met the Lord Jesus himself while on the way to persecute followers of Christ. He was converted to faith in Jesus. It was all God’s doing. Saul was not looking for Jesus. He had no interest in honoring Christ. He wanted to destroy the church of God. But God said, “You will not destroy the church; you wil...

“Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?” - Luke 24:32 (KJV) Luke tells the story of two disciples walking home to Emmaus after the Passover. The day is light, but a darkness of despair is over them. They talk of the trial and the crucifixion of Jesus. Soon they are joined by a Stranger, but in their disappointment they don’t recognize him. As they walk, the Stranger reveals from scripture what Christ was to be in humanity. The Messiah was not to take His throne in accordance with the desires of men. His words brought comfort and understanding. They began to feel hope as the Stranger was opening their minds that they might understand the Scriptures. As the sun sets they arrive home but still hunger to hear more from Him. “Abide with us,” they said and He “went in to tarry with them.” A meal is prepared and as He blesses and breaks the bread their eyes are opened and they knew him and he vanishes. It is the Lord Jes...

Via Dolorosa… The Way of Sorrow Simeon said to Mary in the Gospel of Luke, “This child is destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel… and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” After nine months of anticipation, a birth is met with joyful celebrations. As elaborate as some may be, nothing can match the heavenly spectacle which heralded Jesus’ birth- a host of angels as far as the eye could see filling the night air with proclamations of God’s favor. A week after Jesus’ birth, another celebration ensued when Mary and Joseph brought their first-born to the temple. A man of advanced years and wisdom, Simeon, burst into praise and conferred a blessing upon them. And yet, immediately following the blessing, an unnerving prophecy- ‘a sword will pierce your own soul.’ The Via Dolorosa is the route on which the Roman Soldiers marched Jesus- from the Judgment Hall of Pilate to the place of Crucifixion. It is the Way of Sorrow. It is a ‘Way in a Manger’. It was foreseen by the Prophe...

And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him.  And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed,  saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” - Luke 22:39-46 Advent is such a great season of remembrance and celebration. It is filled with singing hymns and songs declaring that Christ has come. We read how our Lord left the perfection of heaven to take on flesh being full...

“Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.” Matthew 17:1-2 (NASB) Around the fourth century, tradition recognized Mt. Tabor as the place of Jesus’ transfiguration. Some scholars question and argue that it was more likely Mt. Hermon, since it is the highest peak. But let’s not get distracted. Peter is glad to have witnessed this and immediately wants to build three dwelling places. Peter, like us, gets distracted from what just took place. Then they hear a voice say, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” Jesus just had a mountaintop experience and these chosen three witnessed something spectacular. Something that will change them forever. We each have these mountaintop experiences in our life with Jesus as our guide. They might not s...

Advent Greetings, Friends! Bethany is a village on the Mount of Olives, and a place mentioned frequently in all four Gospels. It was the home of Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus, and the miracle of Lazarus's resurrection took place there. It was also in Bethany that a woman poured a bottle of expensive perfume over Jesus' head while he was dining in the home of Simon the leper. Jesus was good friends with Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Lazarus is referred to as “the one You love…” Jesus also lodged in Bethany during his final days in Jerusalem, the Palm Sunday procession started out from there, and after Jesus had risen, he appeared to his followers and he then led them on the road to Bethany. Also on that road, he blessed his followers, and then rose up into Heaven. Bethany is the place of Ascension. As we prepare for a baby in a manger, God Immanuel, we might also be reminded of all that the Messiah was to live out: born in Bethlehem, crucified at Golgotha, rose again, ap...

Early in Jesus’ ministry, Matthew tells us that people from Decapolis followed Him (Matthew 4:25). Throughout His ministry, Jesus visited the region of the Decapolis numerous times and performed life-changing miracles (Mark 5:1-20, Matthew 8:28-34, Luke 8:26–39, Matthew 9:27–34, Mark 7:31-37). But what’s the big deal? After all, Jesus did miracles everywhere He went. The big deal is found in the people there. The Decapolis (meaning “Ten-Cities") was Hellenistic, not Judean. It was composed of mostly Gentiles. Yet, Jesus intentionally went there to reach the Gentiles, just as He did in going through Samaria to reach the Samaritans. In Mark 7, Jesus had just delivered a Gentile woman’s daughter before heading to the Decapolis, where He would heal again. The Jewish Messiah is not just for the Jewish people. He is for everyone. As we celebrate the incarnation of Christ, we celebrate God’s love for Jews and Gentiles alike. We celebrate that God so loved the world that He gave His only...

The town of Sychar is important because of a conversation that occurred there which is recorded in John, chapter 4 between Jesus and a woman at the well. We give significance to this story because it is here Jesus requests the woman drawing water at the well to give him a drink and then explains that he can provide a living water. "Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (v 4:14) It is also in this encounter that he tells the woman that he is the Messiah. Packed into these few verses we find a wealth of understanding about the hope and salvation found in Jesus as the living water. Beyond these obvious spiritual insights we gain from the encounter at Sychar there are other important insights as well. This conversation is significant for many reasons as it demonstrates Jesus’ willingness to break boundaries, rules, and prohibitions in order to share the hope of salvation he brings to all people. Considering the context of this...

Bethsaida was a small town in the Galilee, located very close to the Jordan River where it would flow into the Sea of Galilee. Perhaps you remember it as the birthplace of three of Jesus’ disciples: Peter, Andrew, and Philip. It was also the location of many of Jesus’ miracles, among which was Jesus walking on the water and calming the sea (Mark 8:22-26). If you remember, Jesus sent his disciples across the Sea of Galilee toward Bethsaida so he could spend time in prayer. Late at night, a strong wind came upon the sea, making it extremely difficult for the disciples to row against the fierceness of the storm. When they saw Jesus walking toward them on the water, they were terrified. At that point, scripture records amazing words of comfort to those who need peace in the midst of life’s storms: “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid” and as Jesus stepped into the boat the storm instantly calmed. During this season of Advent, remember Jesus is the “Prince of Peace.” When ...

One of the things that makes the Christmas season so magical is the time we spend together. The trips taken to our grandparents' house, the grown children welcomed home, the time off work spent with people we love, and the close friends we host, are all reasons we look forward to the season. When those things are missing, however, it can change how we feel. When a death, divorce, disagreement, or distance develops in a relationship that was once close, we have a tendency to replace the feelings of wonder and joy with isolation and sadness. In Luke 7:11-17, Jesus was traveling and came to a town named Nain. As he got near the town there was a funeral procession in which a young man had died. His mother, a widow, was nearby along with a number of people from the town, supporting her and paying their respects. Jesus saw her in her grief and had compassion; he raised her son back to life and then returned her son to his mother. Jesus sees us in our circumstances. He changes our outcome...

Caesarea Philippi is only mentioned once in the gospels (Matthew 16:13; Mark 8:27). It is one of the most beautiful and fertile places in Israel, which made it prime real estate for worship. So, it’s no wonder that upon entering this region, Jesus asks Peter the most penetrating and life-giving question possible: Who do people say that the Son of Man is? In response, Simon Peter proclaims, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Oh, the sweet confession of Christ at Christmas! Amid the beauty and pageantry of the Christmas season—trees bedecked with lights and ornaments, candle-lit windows, warm blankets, roaring fires, and soft carols playing in the background—can you hear the Savior calling out, “But who do you say that I am?” Interestingly, Caesarea Philippi is also the likely region where Jesus takes his three closest disciples up to the top of a high mountain to reveal his true self gloriously in the Transfiguration. The carpenter’s boy from Nazareth was so much more than...

In a game of word association, if someone said “Cana,” most individuals would respond with “Wedding Feast" - the place and location of Jesus first miracle. Before the miracle occurs, Mary notices that the wedding has run out of wine, and she has compassion and concern for the young couple. At a first read, someone may joke, “oh no, no wine.” However, in an honor and shame culture this event pushed the bar to a crisis. Sometimes, in our lives, we run out of wine. Each and every one of us may have a different wine. Many times, it is our devotional life that runs dry like a desert, and we are thankful for times like Advent when we are encouraged to dive back into the spiritual practice of study. An aspect of the wedding story that intrigues many is why no one noticed that the wine was close to empty. Nothing was done until it was all gone, and they were in the crisis. However, if we look deep in the mirror, we should not be shocked. Denial is a common practice. The pathway out of den...

“… leaving Nazareth He went and lived in Capernaum, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ‘the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light.’” - Matthew 4:13-16 Capernaum, situated on the Sea of Galilee, is in ruins today. Yet this fishing village was once a bustling town. It had sprung up in a region once decimated by the Assyrians hundreds of years before. In Jesus time, under Roman occupation, they were a people dwelling in darkness. As Jesus began His ministry, He chose Capernaum the place to call home. Jesus came and dwelt among them, announcing “Repent, the Kingdom of heaven is here.” And by His word and by His hand the people of Capernaum saw a great light. It was here Jesus called His first disciples – Peter, Andrew, James and John after the miracle of fish. It was here Jesus called Matthew, a tax collector, as a disciple. It was here He healed many: Peter’s mother-in-law, the woman with the iss...

He went fishing. He went fishing, and when he came back he was a changed man! The beauty and the bounty of the water surrounds us here in Door County. Even if you don’t fish, you might find solace as you see the water. Just breathing in the power and the provision that it brings to our lives can move us. Peter was brokenhearted. He had denied Jesus three times, just as Jesus had predicted, and he must have felt like an utter failure. Perhaps he went to the Sea of Galilee to try to find a way forward in his life, perhaps he was hungry and needed the sustenance that the sea provided, or perhaps he was looking for a miracle. Was he remembering how Jesus calmed the storm as he contemplated the storm in his own life? Did the Holy Spirit compel him to go to the sea, knowing that Jesus would meet him there? That is the key, Jesus meets us when we are at our lowest place, when we feel we have failed Him, when we are sure there is no hope. Jesus came and met Peter in the place that he w...

"There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch (ne'tser,  ‏נֵ֫צֶר‎)  from his roots shall bear fruit." - Isaiah 11:1 Nazareth is where Jesus lived in His younger years, but it was kind of like the manger in Bethlehem - not exactly fit for a King. When Nathanael asks Philip, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" in John 1, he's asking the same kind of question the LORD asks in Ezekiel 37 - "Can these bones live?" What good are these small, insignificant, and dead things? Historically, God has taken the leftover, given-up-for-dead, runners-up and remnants to accomplish His purposes. His glory is often covered or hidden in the mundane. Nazareth, as a second-class village in Israel, and the crucified Savior known to have grown up there, were no exceptions. Nazareth wasn't fancy, and Messiah is described as nothing special to look at (Isaiah 53).  And, yet, we're given a clue from the Prophet Isaiah that the shoot, the...

"In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan" - Mark 1:9 (ESV) I was in Ephesus several years ago and while walking the stone roads that were laid many millennia earlier, I was awestruck by the realization that I was sharing a road with the Ephesians that had been so connected to the human nature of Jesus. Walking those paths and kicking up dust and dirt that may have been the same dust and dirt kicked up by Saint Paul allowed me to imagine my own footprint next to his. It was as if the very dirt that was on the ground bore witness to the events of 2000 years earlier. It helped me connect, in a very palpable way, to the incarnation. But rivers are not like the ground. Rivers flow. When Jesus stepped off the bank into the Jordan River, he abandoned the sedentary in favor of the dynamic. The water that bore witness to the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan did not stay in place for long. It moved along the path the Jordan cut to the De...

Tyre and Sidon. Just a mention of their name would cause a God-fearing Jew to shudder. They embodied a compromised heart toward God and His Chosen People. On one hand, they exported their resources for the building of Solomon’s temple (good). On the other hand, they also “exported” evil Queen Jezebel years later (very bad)! Over centuries, the twin cities became known for their opulence, wickedness and idolatry, eventually leading the Jewish people to sin. Surely, they were a lost cause and God’s judgment would eventually bring justice for their evil. Any Jew with common sense would disdain their very existence. But Jesus. Jesus acknowledged the sinful past of these cities – but then criticized good, upstanding Jewish cities more. “If Tyre and Sidon had experienced my ministry like you do, they would have grieved their history. You just yawn.” (Matthew 11, Bontempo translation.) He taught at length about the subject of purity and defilement and then took a retreat to the defiled cities...

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign; the young woman, pregnant and about to bear a son, shall name him Emmanuel." – Isaiah 7:14 (NAB) The journey from the manger in Bethlehem to the cross in Jerusalem encompasses the whole of Jesus' earthly life, a path marked by humility, self-emptying, and sacrificial love. As Christians, we are uniquely invited to make this path our own as we model our lives after our Savior. The Bethlehem manger and the rejection the Holy Family experienced there, no room in the inn, is a prelude to the humbling of Jesus in the hour of his passion. It is in Jerusalem that Jesus would face rejection, betrayal, and crucifixion, bearing the weight of our sins and offering himself as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Christmas invites us to recognize Jesus in the faces of the outcasts, the downtrodden, and those who suffer, just as Jesus himself suffered in his journey to Jerusalem. Of course, we are reminded that in our own ...

“Samaria” appears quite a bit in the Bible, most notably with Jesus and the Woman at the Well, the city of Shechem, the parable of the Good Samaritan, and preaching that Philip did in this region. Located in the central part of the country, it extends 40 miles from north to south and 35 miles from east to west. Galilee is to the north, Judaea is to the south. On the west is the Mediterranean Sea, on the east is the Jordan River. And in between? In between lived an ethnically-mixed nation with Jewish and pagan heritage. People with their own customs, cities, spiritual beliefs, and world view. People who (to put it mildly) did not like the Jews. And (also to put it mildly) people who were not liked by the Jews. But, Jesus appears. As the (one and only) Way (John 14:6), Jesus expects / commands His followers to be different. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the en...

Jericho is probably the last city in Israel that comes to mind when I think about the Advent Season and Jesus’ first coming into the world. I typically associate Jericho with trumpets and walls falling down. But, I hope that after this devotion today, you will forevermore associate Jericho with Jesus’ first Advent and with red rope. In Matthew 1:5 Jericho is mentioned in relation to Jesus’ genealogy, but you have to know a little bit of Bible history in order to catch it. Rahab, who harbored the spies sent to Jericho by Joshua in Joshua 2, was one of four women, along with Ruth, Tamar, and Mary, mentioned in Jesus’s family tree. She lowered the two spies down over the city’s wall to safety and was told by them to put a red rope in her window when the Lord gave the city to the Israelites. This would give salvation from destruction to all those who were in her house on that day. That red rope gave Rahab and her loved ones life in the face of certain death, just like the host coming out o...

Matthew 2:14–15: And [Joseph] rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” (ESV) The Way of the Manger is a road that follows the course of Israel’s history. Israel goes down to Egypt in a time of danger – famine. Jesus goes down to Egypt in a time of danger – Herod’s jealousy. Israel was led out of Egypt by God. God would lead Jesus out of Egypt when the time was right, as well. This is our story, too. We sinners are where we do not belong on account of our sin. That’s not Egypt, but a kingdom far more dark. That kingdom is the kingdom of death and the devil. Jesus followed us there. Through the manger, He became subject to the consequences of sin, even though He did not sin. He was persecuted by Satan and died on the Cross. But, the Father called him up from that realm in His Resurrection. We who are baptized and believe ha...

Matthew 3:1-6 For we moderns, the wilderness holds some kind of romance; it’s the place we escape to, the place where we can let go of all the frenzy of full lives and find a little peace and quiet. Not so for the ancients. The wilderness was a place of danger. No telling what fierce animal or ruthless bandit was waiting around the next corner. Yet, against all reason, the wilderness was a place where God got God’s work done. The Children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, the school where God created and formed a people. John the Baptist called Judeans into the wilderness to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. Jesus began his ministry in the wilderness, going down into the baptismal waters of the Jordan, then confronting Evil in his 40-day wilderness testing. Finally, he would end his life in the wilderness of Golgotha, dying a cruel death, abandoned by his friends, giving his life so that we might know the Eden of God’s love and grace. As you enter this holy seaso...