Welcome to the last week of Advent! Below we’ll share e3 Partners’ fourth and final devotional in this series, leading up to Christmas Day. Before we get started, let us remind you that there is still time to invite a family member or friend to church this Christmas! Check out our digital Christmas card which doubles as an invitation to church, and consider sharing it with someone who is far from God.
Week 4 – Peace: The Angels’ Candle
Today, believers celebrating Advent will light the Angels’ Candle representing the spiritual fruit of peace. With that, let’s turn together to Luke 2. In this chapter, an angel of the Lord appears to some shepherds and shares the good news of the Messiah’s birth. The angel says it “will cause great joy for all the people” and gives the shepherds a unique sign: a baby lying in a manger. Then a heavenly host appears, proclaiming peace on earth! The shepherds respond in faith by going to Bethlehem, observing the child, and then spreading the word.
Here’s an interesting observation: the shepherds heard the good news, believed that this babe was the Messiah, obeyed God by traveling to Bethlehem, and shared the angelic proclamation with others. There is a clear parallel with the early Church in the book of Acts, whose members heard the Gospel, repented & believed, and obeyed the Great Commission by sharing the Gospel & making disciples!
Closing out this devotional series, let us be reminded that Advent (derived from the Latin word “adventus,” which means coming) is not only a season to prepare our hearts for the birth of Jesus, but also a time to prepare for the second coming of Christ. Just as an angel proclaimed His first arrival in Bethlehem, a pair of angels proclaimed the second Advent in Acts 1:11, promising that “Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” And having this assurance, we too ought to obey and share Christ!
Prayer of Reflection
Lord, thank you for the final week of the Advent season. Please prepare my heart to celebrate both the Savior’s birth and His second coming. Thank you for sending angelic messengers to declare Your peace on earth. Let me be reminded that Jesus gives a special peace unlike anything that the world gives (John 14:27). Just as the shepherds and the early Church members heard, believed, obeyed, and shared, please encourage me to obey the calling of the Great Commission and share the hope of Christ with someone who is far from God. Amen.