Detecting Christmas December 3 Devotional

Second Sunday of Advent

Candle Lighting

Lighting a candle each week of Advent is part of our VPC worship tradition. It marks time during this season of anticipation and helps us prepare our spirits for the celebration of Jesus’ birth at Christmas. If you choose to participate in this tradition at home, we hope you find this guide useful.  Enjoy the readings, discussion, and prayer as a family as you prepare your hearts and homes to receive the Christ child.

Read:

The second week of Advent, we re-light the candle of HOPE and we light the candle of PEACE. At Christmas we celebrate part of God’s divine plan, that he sent his Son to be with us as a baby and to teach and lead us as an adult. And, through his Son we receive the gift of salvation and new life. Knowing that God has a perfect plan, and that he knows just WHEN it is the right time can give us a sense of peace as we await Christ’s return.

Discuss:

What is the longest you remember waiting for something?

Are some things harder for you to wait for? Why or why not?

Have you ever been surprised while waiting?

Does knowing that God has perfect timing make it easier to wait?

Pray:

Heavenly father,

As we light the second Advent candle, the candle of Peace, please help us remember that you had perfect timing when you sent your son, Jesus, to bring light into this world, and that you still have perfect timing for us today. Help us to wait with peace as we trust in your plan and your timing. Amen

GALATIANS 4:4 | ⁴ But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law

Timing is everything! A perfect shot the second after the buzzer sounds does not count. An answer known before the test and then forgotten is futile. A perfect application made after the job is filled avails nothing.

Paul makes a huge claim in this verse. He suggests that Jesus arrived when the time was full, at the perfect moment. One key Christian idea is that God is ultimately in charge of human history, despite its tragedies and crises. We make choices, fight wars, suffer through conflicts and greed, but He is finally sovereign, directing time and history toward a glorious conclusion.

Do you believe in God’s sovereign power over history?

Gracious God,

Amid the vagaries and evil of our times we lose trust in your sovereignty. Restore our faith and so our hope. Amen.