L e v e l G r o u n d

M e n n o n i t e C h u r c h www.levelgroundchurch.com

December 27th

to

December 31st

2020 Christmas Devotional Book

May God’s hope, peace, joy and love fill your hearts and

minds as you worship Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

GOD LOVES YOU!

JOHN 3:16

For this is how God loved

the world: He gave His

one and only Son, so that

everyone who believes in

Him will not perish but

have eternal life.

Nativity Once More

By Alvin Ens

And [Mary] laid Him in a manger (Luke 2:7).

Artists paint a pretty picture of a cozy stable

aglow in radiance

carpenters fashion a stylized cradle

standing on spindly crossed legs

I cut a nativity scene with my jigsaw

with a sheep lying near the manger

our mercantile society sells a stable scene

with a whiff of scented straw

and an LED star gazing at us

our children with doll are the harried couple

who with some coaching play

a loving Mary a proud Joseph

so we celebrate nativity once more

picture then a carpenter askance at the crude manger

separating provender from feces

a young mother worried about mildew in the corners

and mice in the straw

laying a babe wrapped in a dusty cloth in that manger

on musty hay with the only light a star

and wondering why they shall name the baby Jesus

‘What Child is This / Child

of the Poor’ by The Hound +

The Fox

‘Noel’ by Lauren Daigle and

Chris Tomlin

‘Silent Night’ by Martina

McBride

‘Its About the Cross’ by Go Fish

Guys

Sunday, December 27th

Scripture Reading: Luke 2:36 - 40

Submitted by Christy Price

Luke 2:36-40 (New International Version)

There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very

old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow

until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and

praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about

the Child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned

to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the Child grew and became strong; He was

filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on Him.

Hi everyone, but especially kids and teens!

In the Bible reading for today, we read about Anna, the prophetess. We don't know very much

about her, and Luke is the only gospel that mentions her. We know that she was a prophet -- and

she is the only female prophet mentioned in the New Testament -- that she was the daughter of

Penuel and of the tribe of Asher. She's also described as being very old -- either 84 years old, or, as

some versions have it, having been a widow for 84 years. This would make her around 105 years old!

Most Jewish girls got married at about 14 years old (can you imagine that -- in grade 9!), plus 7 years

of marriage, plus 84 years = 105 years old! Even by today's standards that is really, really old!

However, we do know that life didn't turn out the way she expected. Most women from Jesus' time,

even though they got married young, would probably have remained married at least into their 50s

or 60s. So, to have her husband die after only 7 years, when she was about 21, is unusual, and was

probably devastating for her at the time. All her hopes and dreams of growing old with her husband

were just gone... crushed.

There is also no mention of children -- did she have any? Were they all grown up? Have they died?

We don't know. What we do know, however, is that she stayed at the temple worshiping God day

and night, as well as fasting and praying. She must have had a very close relationship with God! We

also know she gave thanks to God for Jesus and spoke with hope about Jesus in connection with the

redemption of Jerusalem.

How about you? When your life doesn't turn out the way you expect, do you still worship God? I

know that's not my first response! Often, I complain, get frustrated, or I get angry -- with myself,

others, or even with God. This year, especially, has turned out much differently that everyone

expected. So many things have been shut down, cancelled, or changed beyond recognition. So

much has been taken away. And while we are allowed to be frustrated, angry, sad... we shouldn't

stay there. God wants us still to worship him, in the midst of any circumstances. This is what Anna did.

She worshiped God in spite of her circumstances.

She also had hope for the future. Do you have hope for the future? Hope means that we

confidently expect something good to happen and that we have the faith and trust in God to

provide it. We need to remain hopeful, even in spite of a negative situation like Covid-19. In fact,

the opposite of hope is doubt, fear, and despair -- all things that we, as Christians, are not supposed

to give into. Is your hope in the God of Salvation, the Rock on which we stand, the Mighty One? He

is the Only One who can give us hope for the future! Place your hope in Him today; do not despair,

do not fear tomorrow. Jesus is the Hope of the Future.

Since our theme is Worship this week, I've included a couple of songs to help us to come into God's

presence in worship.

Here's a song that I have found meaningful and relevant to this idea of worshiping God in difficult

situations. Maybe you'll find it meaningful too.

Song: ‘Yet I will Praise’ by Melissa Boraski [Vineyard Music]

Here's a song about Jesus being the Hope of the Nations:

‘Hope of the Nations’ by Brian Doerksen

For younger kids:

In Luke 2:40, it says that Jesus grew strong, was filled with wisdom,

and the grace of God was on Him. And, later in the same chapter,

in Luke 2:52, it says that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature (this

means height), and in favour with God and men. Here are two

verses, very close together in the Bible, and very similar to each

other, describing what Jesus was like as a child.

We don't know very much about Jesus' childhood at all... but we know that the Bible says that Jesus

was without sin. (see Hebrews 4:15). While you might at first think, "What a great way to grow up --

you'd never do anything wrong, never get in trouble, everyone would love you!" --that might not

actually be how things were for Jesus. I mean, of course, he didn't sin. He was perfect. But, others

might have been jealous of Him, resentful of Him, or even tried to blame Him for some wrong-doing.

Can you imagine having a brother or sister who was always perfect? Wouldn't that drive you crazy!

They would never get in trouble while you always messed up. And, they would never act superior

and boss you around or gloat when you got in trouble, but they would be genuinely concerned for

you and loving and caring towards you, so you couldn't even stay mad at them! This is probably how

Jesus' siblings felt.

While we know that Jesus never sinned, we do know that He experienced pain, rejection, loneliness,

betrayal, sadness, anger, and all sorts of other things that we feel. He knows exactly how we feel in

every situation. We can always go to Jesus, no matter what we're feeling, and He will understand us.

We are never alone, because He has promised to always be with us. Isn't that the best kind of friend?

One who understands exactly how we feel and who is always there for us?

Let's strive to be like Jesus -- to grow in strength, wisdom, and in favour with God and men. For we

know that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength!

Here's a song for young children from Luke 2:52.

Song: ‘Steve Green And Jesus Grew Luke 2:52’ by Steve Green

Monday, December 28th

Scripture Reading: Matthew 2:1 - 12

Submitted by Kathleen & Norm Friesen

"Where is He who is born King of the Jews? .... We have come to worship Him"

Matthew 2: 2

The lengths and the effort that the Magi went to was huge. You don't just

cross half of Asia with a backpack and on a whim.

It was a major undertaking and would have required a monumental effort,

great expense, and an exorbitant amount of time.

All to go to an unknown place, directed by an unknown God, to worship an

unknown King... and a baby at that. They spared no expense.

The Jews however, had hundreds of years of prophesy which they chose to

ignore, and only had to travel 5 or so miles to Bethlehem to worship the

King that their own God, and their own scriptures had foretold. Yet they

didn't.

Why?

Why is it so much easier to be like the chief priests and the scribes? They

could quote scripture and had great head knowledge of the prophesies and

scriptures and totally missed the main message.

The details of this small story are few and often vague. The implications

however are huge. It is a glimpse of how Jesus will be treated throughout

history.

Some will give him their all and worship him with everything they have, and

others will fail to see the necessity of worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ

at all, despite being in the church and having access to scripture their

whole lives.

How are you worshipping this Christmas season, this moment, this coming

year, the rest of your life?

Will you fail to make the short journey to your knees and worship Him

completely?

Are you willing, if necessary to make a long exhausting, expensive journey,

in order to arrive at His feet and worship Him, as He should be worshipped?

The choice is yours. The results are eternal.

Song: ‘King of Kings’ by Hillsong Worship

Tuesday, December 29th

Scripture Reading: Matthew 2:13 - 18

Matthew 2: 13-18

“After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get

up and flee to Egypt with the child and his mother.”

The angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to kill the child.”

That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until

Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son

out of Egypt.”* Herod was furious when he learned that the wise men had outwitted him.

He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and

under, because the wise men had told him the star first appeared to them about two years

earlier* Herod’s brutal action fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah: “A cry of anguish is heard in

Ramah – weeping and mourning unrestrained. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be

comforted – for they are dead.”

After a brief review online about hearing God’s voice, I learned that God wants us to hear him. He is

always communicating with us, giving us direction, comfort, wisdom and so on. Like a radio and

television station, Andrew Womback comments that,

“[They] transmit twenty-four hours a day, 7 days a week; but we only hear [the station] when

we turn the receiver on and tune in. Failure to hear the signal doesn’t mean the station isn’t

transmitting.”2

He says further that God’s voice is often spoken through our own thoughts, impressions, gut feelings

and of course through His Word.

In a Crosswalk article Whitney Hopler says in part that God will sometimes speak in visions, dreams,

angels, or miraculous events. These are dramatic ways to get our attention when necessary, but

more often He is the “still small voice” we think is our own thoughts1 presuming we are praying for

guidance (my thought).

So, why is it that some of us currently or sometime during our lifetimes have felt we cannot hear God’s

voice? We pray but it feels silent. We worry, why is He not answering? Why am I not getting a warm

fuzzy feeling? According to the forementioned authors and from personal reflection there are

common reasons why we feel we cannot hear Him. Being overly busy and stressed out can make it

very difficult to discern what He is saying. During university in a communication class, we also learned

about noise pollution how it hinders a one-to-one conversation, and therefore, we are to get rid of all

distractions. I think the same is true of us communicating with God. Of this “noise pollution” we think

of TV’s or children fighting, or other demands distracting us constantly, leaving us feeling worn out.

Another type of noise pollution is mental illness. Some mental illnesses, like Generalized Anxiety

Disorder, or Paranoid Personality Disorder, or Clinical Depression (only a few examples) can also

create unwanted noise pollution. Our minds are not well, our thoughts are distorted but we cannot

tell the difference. Am I seeing things truly as they are? Is God telling me this or is it my anxious,

thoughts?

When I am personally filled with anxiety, I cannot know what God’s leading is; I am caught up in a

vortex of panic. Through my personal journey with mental illness, I was (still at times) not able to allow

the peace of God to guide me. The Bible says something like pray in all circumstances and the

peace of God will pass over you. That has not always been my experience. Mental illness can be like

a blaring radio stuck on maximum volume and we have no way/no access to the controls to turn it

off or down. Then, sometimes well-meaning Believers think by telling us what the Bible says will help

comfort or guide us. In my experience it did not help. It just made me feel a sense of shame, like

something was so wrong with me that God does not even communicate with me. Like a leper

pushed out of the community. There is much that could be discussed on this topic.

Joseph had a visit from an angel. According to some this is a drastic measure to get his attention.

Perhaps he too struggled with hearing the still, small voice. Whatever the reason that God chose an

angel to communicate with Joseph, the main point for me is that God is faithful. Whether we think we

hear Him or not, God knows how to guide us when we ask for His help or guidance. Just because we

do not hear an audible voice or have an angel come to us, does not mean He does not answer and

that we do not hear. He can use a variety of ways to get through to each of us as unique human

beings; He is our Creator. For me, this is a huge relief; I know somehow God will be able to

communicate with me, even if I do not realize it.

Dear Father,

I am so grateful that even when we’re not aware of Your voice, You are able to tune us in, using a

variety of ways that You know we will follow when we ask for Your help and guidance. Our own

immaturity or misled choices may lead us astray, but You do not give up or stop talking. You are God.

Your ways are above our ways and Your thoughts far above ours, and we are so thankful for that!

Amen.

1 Hopler, Whitney. 10 Ways to hear from God regularly. https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/how-to-hear-from-god-regularly.html

2 Womback, Richard. How to: hear God’s Voice. https://www.awmi.net/reading/teaching-articles/gods_voice/

Wednesday, December 30th

Scripture Reading: Matthew 2:19 - 23

Submitted by Ruth Isaac

When I pause and think about when it was that I started to remember my dreams, I

can think back around my teenage years. At times, the dreams would be vivid and

at other times I felt led to write them down. I found my dreams interestingly long or

sometimes quite short, curated experiences.

It was only in my late 30s that I realized there was some rhyme or reason to my

dreams. I decided to take a course at a local church on dream interpretation and

then my eyes were opened. In fact, I was instructed that if I wanted to remember my

dreams more clearly to ask the Lord to wake me up before my alarm every morning

and so I did. Now every morning I am awake anywhere between eight minutes and

two hours before the music turns on, before that prayer that was a rare occasion.

This is a game changer in remembering what I had just dreamt, it wasn’t long that I

would find I was averaging sometimes up to three dreams daily remembering the

vivid colours and stories. My best bet was to wake and review it even if it meant

writing it backwards to recall it like rewinding your movie!

With my experiences of dreams, reading that Joseph received instruction through his

dream does not seem that far-fetched. The Holy Spirit has used dreams to guide me,

alert me of danger, help me avoid potential problems, even solve the problem.

Who knew! So I sit up and take notice when I dream. And as you can imagine we all

are happy Joseph chose to listen to his dream so our Lord could be raised safely,

amen! Thankful for the glorious ways that God uses to reach out and speak to His

children.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You so much for speaking to Joseph through that dream that

led him and his family to safety. Help us not to take for granted the many ways You

choose to communicate with us, whether it is a dream, a song, scripture, an

encouragement from a friend, or a nudge in our hearts. We especially thank You for

Your life on earth so we would have the example on how we should live.

We pray this in Your name, Jesus,

Amen

Thursday, December 31st

Scripture Reading: John 1:1- 5 and 10 -14

Submitted by Keith St. Jean

In the beginning the Word already existed.

The Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

He existed in the beginning with God.

God created everything through Him,

and nothing was created except through Him.

The Word gave life to everything that was created,

and His life brought light to everyone.

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness can never extinguish it.

He came into the very world He created, but the world did not recognize Him.

He came to His own people, and even they rejected Him.

But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God.

They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that

comes from God. So, the Word became human and made His home among us.

He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.

And we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

John 1:1-5 and10 -14

The birth of Jesus is an event that we celebrate annually, and rightly so, but the reason we celebrate

is because this event points to a much deeper reality than the physical birth of a baby in a stable in

the town of Bethlehem. This reality has been true from the beginning of time and continues to be true

today. This is the reality of Immanuel, the God who is with us.

The beauty, the wonder, the astonishing nature of the event of Immanuel, of God with us, is not so

much in the fact that it happened but that it is happening, every day; all around us we can see

evidence of the reality of Immanuel. God is with us. The truth of that day is not simply in the baby

lying in the manger but what that baby represented. God was with us.

Jesus’ birth, his entry into human existence is symbolic of this greater reality, that God has been with

us, He is with us, and He always will be with us. I have often heard people say that they wished they

had lived during the time of Christ that they could have been around during the days of Immanuel.

By saying that we completely forget that we are living in an Immanuel world today.

God is with us.

Right now. In this moment.

There has never been a moment where God has not been with us.

This is the reality that the birth of Jesus points to.

Take a moment today and discover God in the moments of your day. In a smile, a kind word, the

smell of supper cooking, or simply the wonder of your breath. Be aware of the God that is with you.

Be aware of Immanuel.