Day 7 of our 2018 Advent Contemplations.
Welcome to the Blue Ocean Advent devotional podcast. This is Day seven: Saturday, Dec. 8. I’m Emily, and I’ll be your guide today.
Let’s start with a moment of gratitude. I’ll give you 20 seconds of silence to think about something you’re thankful for, and to thank God for it. Let’s begin now.
[20 seconds of silence]
Now we’ll move on to our petitionary prayer. Today we’ll pray for those the most vulnerable in our society. Let’s take a few moments to remember various individuals and groups of people before God as they come to mind.
[20 seconds of silence]
Our Scripture reading today comes from John 20:1-14. During the first week of Advent we focus on cultivating hope—practicing being wide-eyed, and looking for signs of God in everything. Let’s listen for this in the gospel.
It begins:
______________________________Early in the morning on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone was moved away from the entrance. She ran at once to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, breathlessly panting, “They took Jesus from the tomb. We don’t know where they’ve put him.”
Peter and the other disciple left immediately for the tomb. They ran, neck and neck. The other disciple got to the tomb first, outrunning Peter. Stooping to look in, he saw the pieces of linen cloth lying there, but he didn’t go in. Simon Peter arrived after him, entered the tomb, observed the linen cloths lying there, and the kerchief used to cover his head not lying with the linen cloths but separate, neatly folded by itself. Then the other disciple, the one who had gotten there first, went into the tomb, took one look at the evidence, and believed. No one yet knew from the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. The disciples then went back home.
But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she knelt to look into the tomb and saw two angels sitting there, dressed in white, one at the head, the other at the foot of where Jesus’ body had been laid. They said to her, “Woman, why do you weep?”
“They took my Lord,” she said, “and I don’t know where they put him.” After she said this, she turned away and saw Jesus standing there. But she didn’t recognize him.
______________________________We’ll close today by meditating on Romans 12:12, which says:
“Do not forget to rejoice, for hope is always just around the corner. Hold up through the hard times that are coming, and devote yourselves to prayer.”
Take a few moments now to meditate on what it means to live as if hope is always just around the corner.
Our Concluding Prayer:
Creator, almighty and everlasting, you have brought me in safety to this new day: Preserve me with your mighty power, that I may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all I do direct me to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus my Lord. Amen