Daily Advent Reading
This is our Digital Advent Calendar for 2023. We would hope you could join in daily during the season of Advent. Every day’s Advent Gift box will have a new Scripture to read and reflect on. Every Thursday there will be a Children’s Ministry Activity for you and your children. Every Tuesday there will be a question for adults to enjoy and engage on our Facebook page.
Matthew 1:18-25
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Devotional
“Tell me the story of when I was born.” It is a pretty frequent request young children will make of their parents.
And often parents will walk them through the year, the town, the house, the events of the days before, and the events of the day of their arrival. All of the things, whether seemingly eventful or trivial, take them to the moment of the child’s arrival, the moment they are first called by their name.
“Tell me the story of when I was born.” The request isn’t just to hear the facts surrounding their birth. What the child longs to hear about is relationships. To grasp how the beginning forms and shapes the present and the future. And for the storyteller there is another opportunity to tell the child and anyone else who will listen about how important they are to the Creator of the whole world.
Prayer
Loving and gracious God, help us to accept Your will for our lives, and to know that we were created to be one of Your children. Help us always to acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Amen.