Tuesday, December 2

Tuesday, December 2
First Week of Advent

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel.

Look at the lyrics of this week’s hymn on page 46 and notice how this hymn
is structured around a repeated call and response. With each verse, we call
out for Jesus under a different title to come shape our lives—to ransom us
who mourn in exile, save us from depths of hell, and give us victory over the grave. We plead, dispel the shadows of the night. Each verse is a new call for help: the words create space for us to express our own particular yearnings for God. Each is met by the unchanging refrain, seemingly uttered in another voice. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you. This steady confidence is the faith carried to us by generations, those who tested life and found this hope to be honest and true. Across generations, believers have known that God is faithful and they urge us, Rejoice!

Prayer for Morning
Emmanuel, you come to bring us to our Father. Help me overcome division that weighs on my heart and form me to love as you love. Grant me
confidence in your desire to come and shape my life. Jesus, I wait with
ready joy for your coming.

Ponder Today
What signs do I expect will reveal Jesus’s presence and lead me to rejoice Today?

Prayer for Evening
Emmanuel, the gift of faith is handed on to us by generations of people
who have known, loved, and served you. Help me to trust their experience
of your love and, with them, follow you on our way to our heavenly home.
O Lord, when I call, you respond.