"A gift from our community of faith to you. Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary is devoted to preparing outstanding leaders for Christ’s church. One of the ways we nurture leaders is by building a loving community of faith and extending God’s grace to others. In this season of anticipation, we extend God’s grace to you and invite you to explore this book of Advent devotions. Through this collection, please join us as we prepare to receive God’s greatest gift—the birth of Jesus Christ."
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Advent Devotional for December 5
• Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
As I am writing, the Caribbean is being ravaged by the fifth in a line of devastating hurricanes that have wreaked havoc on the Caribbean and Southern USA.
In many ways, these people have been fed with the “bread of tears” and been given “tears to drink in full measure.” God’s people are crying out for salvation; their homes have been ravaged and lives have been lost. Where are they to find hope?
In this psalm, we find the essence of Advent, the miraculous paradox of the already and not yet. We hold together the longing for the coming of Christ, whether in the form of an infant or in the reconciling second coming, side by side with the knowledge that Christ is already with us. We mourn, we long, we wait, but in that waiting is the trust that Christ will come and that Christ has come and that Christ is come.
The Shepherd of Israel listens to our prayers and brings us closer to God. In Christ, we are reminded that God conquered the waters of the deep, creating the heavens and the earth. That God carried Noah and his family through the flood. That God delivered the Israelites through the Red Sea in the Exodus. God continues to renew us through the waters of baptism and never lets us go. God will continue to do so until Christ comes again. We will cry out to God with all our joys and our sorrows, and God will answer our prayers just as God has already answered our prayers.
O God, you are the light and we long for you. Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved. Amen.
Erica Nelson
Senior student from North Ogden, Utah
For the glory of God and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary is a seminary in the Presbyterian-Reformed tradition whose mission is to educate and equip individuals for the ordained Christian ministry and other forms of Christian service and leadership; to employ its resources in the service of the church; to promote and engage in critical theological thought and research; and to be a winsome and exemplary community of God's people.
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