As we begin the Advent season which prepares us for Christmas, we are encouraged this day to rediscover the story of God’s great love for us. Sometimes we are so consumed and overwhelmed by all the distractions and concerns of the world around us that we no longer hear that powerful word of grace and purpose that God speaks.
Worship this week:
Saturday – 5:00 p.m. in the chapel
Sunday – 8:30 a.m. Traditional Worship
9:30 a.m. – Growing in Faith Together – a learning and sharing time for all generations!
10:30 a.m. – Contemporary worship
Devotions for this week:
Josiah discovers a new hope November 29, 2015
The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord, keeping his commandments, his decrees, and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. (2 Kings 23:3)
King Josiah’s righteous rule was an unlikely exception, lodged amid a sequence of unfaithful kings ruling in Jerusalem and Judah. He managed to take this faithful road, somehow, without even having access to the book of the law. The day it was found must have been a mixed blessing: delight at rediscovering the holy, grief that so much had been set aside and forgotten. It was a blessed day when the people, led by their king, recommitted themselves to the Lord.
Read: Sunday, 2 Kings 22:1-10; 23:1-3, Josiah’s Reform
Monday, 2 Kings 22:11-13, Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law
Tuesday, 2 Kings 22:14-20, Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law
Wednesday, 2 Kings 23:4-14, Josiah’s Reformation
Thursday, 2 Kings 23:15-20, Josiah’s Reformation
Friday, 2 Kings 23:21-27, The Passover Celebrated
Saturday, 2 Kings 23:28-30, Josiah Dies in Battle
- What did Josiah do to reconnect God with God’s people?
- What Bible stories most closely reflect your community’s values? How do you live out those values?
- Do you think you can make a difference in the world? Why or why not? How?
Do: Think of an activity that you or members of your household did as kids that you no longer do, but wish you would? Spend some time in intentional play every day this week.
Bless: May God entice you to play every day. Amen.
