{"id":3988,"date":"2019-01-19T11:10:21","date_gmt":"2019-01-19T16:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/jaredingle\/?p=3988"},"modified":"2019-01-19T16:31:39","modified_gmt":"2019-01-19T21:31:39","slug":"waiting-in-faith-this-advent-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jaredingle\/2019\/01\/waiting-in-faith-this-advent-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Expecta Dominum: Waiting in faith this Advent season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

There are few times since my opening blog posts with Patheos when I have shared a personal narrative essay.\u00a0 This is one I have been wanting to share for awhile now, Christmas reflections on a few points of interest along the way this Advent season.<\/p>\n

The Christian year<\/h3>\n

I start with the question posed to me by Pastor Kent Anderson, a good acquaintance of mine in town. \u201cWhy not the Christian year?\u201d\u00a0 We were discussing sermon selections at the time, but the question began to work on me at a deeper and more personal level.\u00a0 Why not devote my devotional year to the Christian calendar?<\/p>\n

Then I started the selection process of a reading plan.\u00a0 I took some considerable effort to narrow the choices.\u00a0 I\u2019ve taken congregations through Sunday Psalm readings from the Book of Common Prayer<\/em>, which also has a daily reading schedule.\u00a0 There\u2019s the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops<\/em>, which has daily readings as well.\u00a0 Then there\u2019s the Protestant version, the Revised Common Lectionary<\/em>.\u00a0 Lastly, I reviewed the Daily Prayer<\/em> app, which is connected with the Church of England.\u00a0 All of these prayer guides have online options.\u00a0 I chose the Daily Prayer<\/em> app for a variety of reasons, but would highly recommend all of them.<\/p>\n

After making the selection, my hope was to begin reading before Advent, because it\u2019s the beginning of the liturgical calendar.<\/p>\n

What do you do in your private prayer time?<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 There have been years I\u2019ve followed my own plan.\u00a0 Then there are times I have followed a plan laid out by the congregation.\u00a0 For many years, I followed plans developed by the National Association of Evangelicals<\/em>\u00a0and the one by Dr. Daniel McNaughton.\u00a0 I have to say that there is something encouraging about knowing that you are praying in line with your church, or some larger portion of the worldwide Body of Christ.\u00a0 Many church organizations call for fasting and prayer at the beginning of each year.\u00a0 My own Michigan District<\/a> has presented a Home Missions Prayer Strategy<\/a> <\/em>for the month of January.<\/p>\n

The family tradition of an Advent Calendar<\/h3>\n

My wife and I have always appreciated the greater meaning of Christmas.\u00a0 A few years ago in Kentucky, we took our kids through Advent each night.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t use an Advent wreath or Advent candles, but Crystal found a kid\u2019s devotional for each day from Focus on the Famil<\/em>y.<\/p>\n

I found a unique Advent Calendar.\u00a0 Starbucks always has Christmas goodies for sale.\u00a0 I bought a magnetic board with 25 numbered magnetic containers on it for each day of Advent, and each with a delectable goodie inside.\u00a0 We shared a devotion each night as a family, opened the container for that day, and shared the treat.\u00a0 Since then, we\u2019ve reused the Advent Calendar a couple times, adding our own treats to the containers.<\/p>\n

This year, I had some readings to draw from that a friend sent to me, and the Daily Prayer<\/em> app.\u00a0 Each night before our vacation, we took about 5-10 minutes as a family at the end of the day.\u00a0 We shared one of the Scriptures from the day, sometimes with a responsorial reading.\u00a0 How does your family celebrate the greater meaning of Christmas?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The unheard of roots of Epiphany<\/h3>\n
Dad\u2019s personal Advent readings<\/h5>\n

When we arrived in Missouri for Christmas, I found out that my Dad (Vernell Ingle) had been following Advent readings that he had selected, especially on the four traditional Sundays.\u00a0 On Sunday, December 23rd, he selected Luke 2.1-20<\/a> and Matthew 2.1-12<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When our whole extended family gathered at Joplin Family Worship Center<\/a> for service, Pastor Daniel Wermuth preached out of the Matthew passage as well.\u00a0 Dad later read to the whole family from these texts on Christmas morning.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t tell me until later that his reading from Matthew had matched the sermon Pastor Daniel preached.<\/p>\n

Crystal Ingle (\u201cG.L.\u201d<\/em>) | Ingle cousins at J.F.W.C.<\/em> | 12.23.18
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

The sermon would actually be more about\u00a0Epiphany<\/em>, the Sunday when we commemorate the visit of the wise men to the Holy Child.\u00a0 It\u2019s also called Three Kings Day, although there is no proof there were only three kings.\u00a0 I thought I would share a couple points that spoke to me from the sermon, but I include the link if you would like to hear this fascinating podcast.<\/p>\n

The story you may not have heard<\/h5>\n

Pastor Daniel Wermuth tells the story of the wise men or Magi<\/em>, using historical sources and Scripture.\u00a0 Although there are many more historical details that in the message, I\u2019ll offer a couple here.<\/p>\n

The Magi<\/em>\u00a0are the wise men who visit Jesus, but they are also in ancient Babylon.\u00a0 The prophet Daniel is part of this group up to 600 years before Jesus.[1]\u00a0 After the plot to kill him, he is given the title Rad-Mag<\/em> or chief of the Magi<\/em>.\u00a0 This is unheard of because to become a wise man, one must be born into the family.\u00a0 There was no way that Daniel, a Hebrew, could become part of the Magi<\/em>.\u00a0 However, in an unprecedented move, some wise men who are foreigners are adopted into this group.<\/p>\n

What if we are not of royal descent?\u00a0 What if we\u2019re not wealthy enough?\u00a0 What if we don\u2019t have any contacts in the government or even know anything about politics?\u00a0 What if we don\u2019t have the best education?<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 The story of Daniel shows that God can raise His people up and lead them into new circles.\u00a0 This is a very timely Word for my family in this season as we are discerning.<\/p>\n

After the lion\u2019s den, Daniel is exalted to the Rad-Mag<\/em>, or chief of the Magi<\/em>.\u00a0 His counsel changes the empire, but his writings set the stage for later Magi<\/em>, those who will visit the Holy Child.<\/p>\n

What does God know about your future?\u00a0 What is He setting you up for?<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 The message is really about us not missing the signs of Christ\u2019s kingship, His pre-eminence.\u00a0 Can we, like the Magi, perceive what God is doing or about to do among us?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

If you have the time, you won\u2019t regret your time listening to Pastor Daniel\u2019s podcast.<\/p>\n