December 19 - Eli Bachali

Luke 1:67-80

Zechariah’s Song

⁶⁷ His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

⁶⁸ “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,

because he has come to his people and redeemed them.

⁶⁹ He has raised up a horn^[a] of salvation for us

in the house of his servant David

⁷⁰ (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),

⁷¹ salvation from our enemies

and from the hand of all who hate us—

⁷² to show mercy to our ancestors

and to remember his holy covenant,

⁷³ the oath he swore to our father Abraham:

⁷⁴ to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,

and to enable us to serve him without fear

⁷⁵ in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

⁷⁶And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;

for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,

⁷⁷ to give his people the knowledge of salvation

through the forgiveness of their sins,

⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God,

by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven

⁷⁹ to shine on those living in darkness

and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

⁸⁰ And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.

Advent Devo: Faith Transformed

What would you do? You’ve entered the temple, lit the candles, prayed all the prayers and then, just before you leave an angel appears, scares you half to death, and disrupts your entire life in the best and most complicated of ways. And as you question the possibility of all these things, you are made mute for months. This is the story of Zechariah.

A lot to take in, right? When I think about Zechariah and Elizabeth, I can’t help but sit in awe of their circumstances. I would be confused too – wouldn’t you? Yet the power of Zechariah’s story isn’t in his circumstances. The power of Zechariah’s story is in his transformation.

In Luke 1:67-80, we get a rare view of a personal worship moment. Zechariah is filled with the Holy Spirit and breaks his season of silence (v. 67). This is a moment of unfiltered, profound, and powerful faith. Zechariah doesn’t apologize for his previous disbelief; instead he responds with shouting his newfound confidence and hope!

Hope in what? Hope in a savior who will redeem the world of sin (v. 68-69). Hope in God’s mercy (v. 72). Hope in his own newborn son’s calling to be a prophet of this Messiah (v 76). Hope in the path of peace, which is Jesus (vs. 79).

What stands out about Zechariah is that nothing in his circumstances changed. He had no greater vision of the future. He didn’t know exactly how the Lord was going to make a way for salvation. What changed was Zechariah’s faith.

Friends, remember the definition of faith from Hebrews 11:1; now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. What changed in Zechariah were his confidence, his assurance, and his willingness to believe even if he could not see what it is he believed in.

Loved ones, allow your faith to be transformed. Though circumstances may not change and greater “vision” may seemingly be hindered, the hope you and I have is in nothing else but assurance that Jesus is who he says he is. The opportunity before you and I in this advent season is to deepen our faith, no matter the circumstances surrounding us. Let us be filled with the Holy Spirit today!

December 17 - Daniel Alexander

Colossians 1:19, 2:9

¹⁹ For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

⁹ For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,

Gooooooooood Morning Dale House!

Our good friend Paul is writing to the church in Colossae. These two verses in particular are an affirmation of Jesus being God in human flesh. On the surface this seems obvious. Of course, Jesus is God because this is what I have been taught my entire life. However, the deity of Jesus was of much debate in early Christianity (and it still continues today). Some steps in confirming our current views of Christ only occurred in the 4th and 5th centuries A.D. See this link for a brief history of Christological thoughts.

Paul, in part, was writing to encourage Christians in Colossae to not let any false teachers or corrupted versions of Christianity distract them from the fact that Jesus was the Christ. Paul wanted his brothers and sisters to stand firm in who Jesus claimed to be. So, how might a letter to the church of Dale House sound? How would Paul encourage us, in our daily work, to hold firm to Jesus?

I’d have to imagine he would tell us:

“Don’t let the lack of respect you experience keep you from knowing you have been Redeemed by Christ.”

“In the moments where your residents’ lives seem totally out of your control, know this is true but they are being held by Jesus.”

“In the moments you can’t find hope, have faith because Jesus has come for you and your residents.”

“Don’t let your definition of secular success get in the way of the Redemptive work of Christ.”

“Be patient with your residents for they know not what they are doing.”

Even as I write this, I am finding it difficult to find conviction in these words. I know and believe they are true, but some days I can’t feel it. This is one of those days. Father, renew my (our) spirit and renew my (our) faith. Renew my (our) hope for our residents and for my (our) fellow staff. Bring Redemption to our block. Amen.

December 15 - Kacie Tillman

Isaiah 11:1-4

1“Out of the stump of David’s family[a] will grow a shoot—

yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.

2 And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

3 He will delight in obeying the Lord.

He will not judge by appearance

nor make a decision based on hearsay.

4 He will give justice to the poor

and make fair decisions for the exploited.

The earth will shake at the force of his word,

and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked.”

After reading the above passage I want you to take a moment to think about a time when God redeemed something in your life. Something that you thought was a lost cause.

That’s what Jesus came to do-- redeem all that was lost. This passage talks about how He is coming from “an old root” and that He will bear fruit when He does. I think a lot of times we look around and we see circumstances. We see a global pandemic, racial injustice and a really messy election year and we forget the truth of what these words say. We look around and we get discouraged at all of the old roots around us and we think that nothing will ever change. We forget that Jesus came to give justice to the poor and to make fair decisions based not on what His eyes saw but on the spirit of the Lord that rested on Him. Because the Spirit of the Lord is wisdom and understanding. It’s counsel and strength.

May we remember that we have the spirit of the Lord in us. That He came to make all things new. That we don’t have to look at our present circumstances and take that as the final say. We know a God that is bigger than our circumstances and He is in the business of bringing redemption from old roots. From brokenness. From the moments in our lives where we really thought we screwed it up. He sent Jesus as a baby born only to fulfill a calling of redemption for you and for me.

Now, think about something in your life that needs that redemption and put your faith in a God you can trust to fulfill His word.

December 13 - Aaron Jalovec

Galatians 3:15-18

¹⁵ Brothers and sisters, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. ¹⁶ The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,”^[a] meaning one person, who is Christ. ¹⁷ What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.