I hope you are diving in and enjoying our daily devotional for Advent! If you didn’t pick up a copy yet, be sure to grab one of the remaining copies from the welcome table on Sunday. Reading many of the traditional Advent passages necessarily brings to mind many of the traditional Advent carols, so I was glad to see our devotional draw attention to a few on the very first day of Advent. Here’s an excerpt from Sunday’s entry:

“The songs of Advent and Christmas invite us to picture the familiar events: the holy family at the creche, angels singing to awestruck shepherds, wise men journeying toward the “little town” of Bethlehem. These beloved hymns and carols warm our hearts. Yet within many of our favorites are woven lyrics that break through our familiarity and declare an astonishing theological reality: The newborn in the manger is the Mighty God.” (2022 Advent Readings from Christianity Today, 8)

For example, Hark the Herald Angels Sing commands, “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail the incarnate Deity,” and We Three Kings declares, “Glorious now behold him arise; King and God and sacrifice.”

The newborn babe that was laid in that manger was (and is) King, and God, and sacrifice. As we eagerly await His return, may we marvel at the extent of the love of God the Son to go to such lengths to save us.

Blessings in Christ,

Pastor Evan