This session has not been translated into your language yet, so it is shown in English.

Session 1

1. Devotional

   Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

   Isaiah 7:14 & Matthew 1:23

   The first Sunday of Advent often catches me by surprise. When I see the Advent wreath at the front of the sanctuary, I can’t help but think, Christmas can’t be only four weeks away! Immediately, a flood of everything I have to do before Christmas fills my mind. Christmas Carols are one of the best things to take my mind off my to-do list. The one I long to sing on the first Sunday of Advent is O Come, O Come Emmanuel. The mournful tune slows my mind and the words remind me of the ache just below the surface of daily life, even for God’s people:

   O come, o come, Emmanuel
    And ransom captive Israel
   That mourns in lonely exile here
    Until the Son of God appear.

   Loneliness, mourning, and captivity may be discordant with the bright cheerfulness of Christmas in the West, but they are actually the reason for the season. Our creator paid us a visit to fix the problem at the root of all our other problems: the broken relationship with God that spills out into all of our other relationships. In Ephesians 2:14-16, the apostle Paul described this transformative work:

   For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity… so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross (NASB 1995)

   This verse points to one of the crucial roles fulfilled by Jesus Christ: that of a priest, someone who mediates and brings together estranged parties. In Thirdmill’s course, We Believe in Jesus: Jesus as Priest, Canadian theologian Dr. Glen Scorgie explains, “There's a very real sense in which the incarnation itself, inasmuch as it was the arrival amongst us of the eternal Son, was a uniting and priestly act… It was Emmanuel, God with us.” One of our great joys, as my husband Tim and I train believers around the world who work with teenagers and young adults, is seeing how God’s transformative power brings unity where there was division and joy where there was pain. One vivid example of this was in Kadoma, Zimbabwe. The participants of a youth ministry leadership training course got together after our sessions to prepare a special worship time to close the event. They seemed to be taking a long time preparing so I asked one of the participants why. She explained to me that the participants actually all knew the same worship songs but they knew them in different languages. “You see,” she said, “I speak Ndebele and she [here she nodded at the girl she was standing with arm in arm] speaks Shona. We hate each other.” The other girl nodded in assent. I was shocked and confused. Hate each other? How could they hate each other yet act like best friends? When I asked our host about this, he gave us a quick overview of the country’s history. Then I understood that the girls weren’t saying that they hated each other personally. They were recognizing that their tribes hated each other and had been killing each other for generations. This background helped us appreciate the miracle of the worship time as Shona and Ndebele Christians sang and danced together, alternating between the two languages, a testimony to the truth we sing in the carol:

   O come, desire of nations, bind
   In one the hearts of all mankind
   Bid Thou our sad divisions cease
   And be Thyself our King of peace.

   This Advent, let's not be caught by surprise. On behalf of Third Millenium Ministries,our hope is that these devotionals will help you look back at the miracle of the Incarnation and and look forward to the second coming, as the carol says:

   Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
   Shall come to thee, O Israel

2. Personal Application

   • Listen to O Come, O Come Emmanuel. Which verses or aspects of Jesus' work give you the most cause for rejoicing right now?
   • What specific divisions or conflicts in your life, whether internal or external, could benefit from the healing and unity that Jesus the high priest brings, especially during this Advent season? Pray, asking him to intercede in that situation.
   • God calls his people a “royal priesthood”(1 Peter 2:9). In what relationships or context can you carry out this role, mediating and interceding on behalf of others?

   ---------------------------------
   Annette Gulick and her husband Tim work with OC International to provide resources and training for people working with emerging generations around the world. Her latest book Aligned: Flourishing in a World of Choice is available on Amazon.

3. Watch

   Jesus As Priest