Advent 2025, Day 18

  

Day 18, December 17, 2025

Theme: 

Joy

Readings: 

Reading: Gen 49:2, 

Gen 49:8-10 

Gospel: Mt 1:1-17

Reflections:

Today is about family. Specifically, we are going to consider Jesus' family, which we get to join through faith in Emmanuel, God with us, one of the many names the Bible uses for Jesus. We begin in Genesis with Israel (formerly known as Jacob) blessing his sons.  Judah, the forefather of Jesus, is uniquely blessed. How would Judah really have any concept of what would happen thirty-nine generations later?  All he knew was that his dad blessed him with his brothers' praise and that all nations would obey someone in his family line. What was just a blessing and encouraging words came true 2000 years ago.  The obedience of the nations continues to be given to Jesus worldwide, one soul at a time. What began with Abraham's trust in a "new" God culminates in Jesus.  This is true joy--to know who you are, and to be part of a great legacy of people whom God loves supremely.  It's not that the family of Jesus was stellar.  It was far from perfect, and full of liars, ordinary people, manipulators, power-hungry leaders, and fools.  Jesus had a flawed family.  I hope that is a source of joy for you.  Despite family dysfunction and difficulty, 42 generations culminated in the arrival of Jesus to make everything new.  He will set it all right.  He will rule, and he was born of normal people like you and me.  I find that exceptionally encouraging.

Everything is in God's hands, as yesterday’s song reminded us. God loves us and the generations that produced us, along with the generations who will come from us.  Please slow down and imagine generations of faithfulness coming from your decisions, your joy in Christ.  Imagine friends who avoid self-destruction because you stand in the gap.  Try to picture your children, if you have them, then their children imitating some of your strengths.  If you don't have children, imagine your impact on others you choose to love like family in your community, neighbors you check on, your small group in your spiritual community.  Ask God to bless your family and your community through your choices.  This Advent, pray to more consistently return to Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.  Pray for God to bring deep blessing into the world. 

Pray with today's song that God come, and that he be with us. That is why I love this song today.  I hear generations of longing and suffering. I can just picture generations begging the Messiah to come... 

...When leaders are so awful and foolish

...When people are enslaved and objectified like the Israelites in Egypt

...When the promise seems so far away

...When unity seems like it will never happen

...When fighting and violence break out

...When people refuse to apologize 

...When people fail to ask for forgiveness

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel (God with us) shall come to thee, O Israel

I pray that we pray and repeat this chorus over and over today, humming, singing, praying quietly and aloud.

Song: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Bonus! My Advent 2025 playlist is ready for you to listen to on Apple Music. It's diverse, and it was so much fun to put together as I read through the scriptures and wrote this series.

NOTE the songs are on Apple Music, which you can get for a month for free if you are new... I just didn't want an obnoxious YouTube Ad ruining your quiet time :-)

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If you are looking for a nondenominational church in the Denver area, check out denverchurchofchrist.org