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Advent Devotion, John 1:9 The True Light ————— The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ————— The word “true” here means real. Genuine. Bona fide. Looking at the earth from the Space Station, it’s getting hard to find any dark spaces. The night is alight with artificial illumination. But […]

Advent Devotion: John 1:6-7 Bearing Witness to the Light —————————- There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. —————————- We’ve been talking about light overcoming darkness. In Jewish thought, the light was the truth–and it […]

Advent Devotion: John 1:5 Overcoming Darkness (Part 5) —————————— The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. —————————— It’s just not Christmas until you hear John Henry Faulk tell this story. It may sound like a whole different world–but for some of us these echoes of memories are still fresh […]

Advent Devotion: John 1:5 Overcoming Darkness (Part 4) —————————— The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. —————————— A long, long, time ago (sometime in the 20th century) I heard a story from an old pastor whose first appointment was in a small New England town. On December 23 there […]

Advent Devotion: John 1:5 Overcoming Darkness (Part 3) —————————— The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. —————————— Christmas Eve 2020 will be the first time in 37 years that I will not lead a candlelight service in a sanctuary. I love the moment at the end of that service […]

Advent Devotion: John 1:5 Overcoming Darkness (Part 2) —————————— The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. —————————— When I was a child I thought the darkness had power. It transformed the tree branches outside my window into monstrous fingers clawing in the wind. It created black corners in my […]

Advent Devotion: John 1:5 Overcoming Darkness (Part 1) —————————— The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. —————————— Dark is a vanishing commodity in our world. I’ve been blessed to live in a few places where the dark is plumb dark. Slap dark. Dark dark. In complete dark, the starlight […]

Advent Devotion: John 1:4 Let there be Light —————— In him was life, and that life was the light of all people. —————— In the beginning the darkness covered the face of the deep. This was not the kind of darkness you get by turning off the light. It’s the darkness of despair and chaos. […]

Advent Devotion: John 1:3 All things came into being through the Word, and apart from him not one thing came into being. Christ is the Word that became flesh and lived among us. That Word–the Logos–the plan of God has been Creating, Loving, and Redeeming this world from the beginning. Christ’s work did not start […]

Advent Devotion: John 1 God’s Plan ———– And the Word (the Logos) was with God, And the Word (the Logos) WAS God. ———– That great philosopher, Mike Tyson, once said, Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. You may find this hard to believe, but I do not often take my […]