"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 11
• Isaiah 40:1-11
Comfort, comfort ye my people. In this Advent season, we are desperately searching for comfort. Chaos has wreaked havoc on our world from hurricanes in southeast Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean; to earthquakes in Mexico; from flooding in Sierra Leone and South Asia; to famine in Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria, and Yemen. Where is God in these natural disasters? How can we proclaim God’s glory in the face of such loss?
In this time of anxious expectation, we still hear the prophet’s words crying out to prepare the way of the Lord. Who will make straight the highway in the dry desert parched of life? Who will lift up the valleys of mud that have swallowed up people? Who will make low the mountains of rubble? In the midst of disaster and destruction, humanity has the power to show up, to level the uneven ground, and to make the rough places plain. By coming together to support communities devastated by chaos, we can see the glory of God as it is revealed. When we provide food to our neighbors, the shepherd feeds his flock. When we listen to the pain of others, God carries the lambs close to her chest. Through the practice of showing up, we prepare our hearts and the world for the coming of the Christ.
God of chaos and of hope, we remain hopeful in our work as we eagerly await your coming as the infant Messiah, the comforter, so that your glory may be revealed to all people in times of abundance and in times of uncertainty. Amen.
Angela Williams
Student from Rock Hill, South Carolina
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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