1st - 7th December 2025
It all begins with an idea.
Yesterday marked the beginning of Advent, that yearly chance to anticipate, to wait, for the joy of Christmas ... it’s almost here, but not yet …
So often that opportunity to sit in the waiting and reflect gets swallowed up by “preparing”, or it does if you’re wired like me! Trying to squeeze catch-ups into diaries already overflowing with Christmas fairs, and choir practices, and family gatherings; working out when to go shopping for gifts, or bake that shortbread, or write the cards; lists upon lists upon lists. Our three and a bit weeks of Advent disappears so quickly.
The Bible might not tell us whether the early Christians marked Advent, but it’s full of moments where God’s people are waiting for Jesus’ arrival. Not for weeks, but for years, decades, centuries. Prophesies stretching back of a promised Saviour, a Rescuer sent from God, a King who would reign forever. Generations of God’s chosen people who held firm to the promise God would send him. Yet their ideas of what that looked like are unlikely to have included a pregnant teenager far from home, a new baby in a cattle trough, a childhood refugee experience, an unjustified execution by the state.
And very few of those alive that first Christmas spent the preceding weeks actively anticipating the Nativity. Mary did, and Joseph. Probably her cousin Elizabeth and husband Zechariah. Perhaps others in Mary’s social circle … though who knows what they thought of her story! But most of the world went about their day to day oblivious to what was coming.
In this season of Advent waiting, it’s good to remind ourselves that we too await Jesus’ arrival. The confident expectation the Jews had, that God’s Messiah would come, should echo in our confident expectation, that he will come back to earth a second time.
Traditionally the first week of Advent is marked liturgically by a focus on Hope. What a precious thing to stop and grasp the Hope that Jesus, Immanuel, came all those years ago as a baby; and will come back again one day, to put all the broken things of this world right. What a precious thing to know that he longs to be with us this Advent, through busy days and late nights, through joyful laughter and moments of deep sadness, in the totality of our lives, and speak his hope afresh to us in this season.
I’ve included a verse each day, but you might find it helpful to lift your Bible and read a fuller passage round the verse.
Written by Janet Burnside
MONDAY
“The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 NLT
Father God, when we stop and think of who you are, it amazes us that we can approach you as our Father. We thank you that you have chosen and adopted us, and that we are secure in our identity as your daughters and sons. We thank you that you care to listen to our feeble words, and choose to see them as precious. We praise you Abba Father.
As we come to you today, help us to keep a right view of who you are. Help us reflect on the words you gave Isaiah nearly 3000 years ago. We praise you Wonderful Counsellor. We praise you Mighty God. We praise you Everlasting Father. We praise you Prince of Peace. We know that even now we see only a glimpse of who you are, as if looking in a mirror. Thank you, Jesus, that one day we’ll understand fully who you are, when you return. Help us to place our hope in who you are, and will always be.
TUESDAY
(Elizabeth said to Mary) “You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.” Luke 1:45 NLT
Father God, as we draw close to Christmas, don’t let our senses be dulled to the wonder of the Nativity story, however familiar it may be.
Help us just now to grasp again the enormity of Mary’s meeting with Gabriel. Let us imagine the wonder and awe she felt. Excite us with the picture of dependent, responsive faith she shows us. Help us hold as confidently as she did to Gabriel’s words, “for the word of the Lord will never fail”.
You promised her she would carry your Son, and she believed and placed her hope in you. Help us to familiarise ourselves with your promises to us. Help us read the Bible and let it rest in our minds and hearts. Help us to believe, like Mary did, that you will do what you’ve said. Keep us living expectantly and embracing the work you’ve given us to do, anticipating your return.
WEDNESDAY
“So the Word became human and made his home among us.” John 1:14 NLT
Father God, help us pause and sit with this thought today. Thank you that Jesus, who had always been, and will always be, chose to clothe himself in flesh. Thank you that in doing so he experienced human life in all its fullness, and yet never sinned.
Thank you for the hope we draw from knowing he chose to be our Immanuel, God with us. When we are so aware of our sin and frustrated by our failures, help us to remember our great High Priest understands our weaknesses. Forgive us, Lord, for how easily we follow our own way and not yours. Help us come boldly to you and receive your mercy and grace. Help us place our hope this Advent not in the things we do, however good they are, but in the One who loves us and gave himself for us.
THURSDAY
“He is a light to reveal God to the nations and he is the glory of your people Israel!”
Luke 2:32
Father God, we rejoice that when Jesus first arrived on earth, his birth marked the opportunity for extension of your kingdom beyond the Israelites, to us born as Gentiles too. Thank you that through his birth and death and resurrection we are welcomed into your family. Thank you that though we were once outsiders, you make a way, through faith, for us to be your children.
We pray for our Christian brothers and sisters around the world. Thank you for the beauty and diversity of your family, for those who worship you in contexts so different to our own. We pray for those in our mission family serving in other countries, be especially close to them this Christmas.
We pray for mission partners abroad, and at home, as they share the good news of Christmas. Be with those delivering our gifts via Prison Fellowship and Foodbank, and use them to bring light and hope into difficult places. Help us to invite those who find themselves on the outside to experience your love and welcome, and the hope that there is room for them in your kingdom too.
FRIDAY
“An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! 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 search for the child to kill him.”” Matthew 2:13
Father God, we read these words and are struck by the horror sitting side by side with the joyful story of Jesus’ birth. You chose to have this portion of the story recorded for us. We see the darkness of Herod’s evil scheme and, as we pray today, we remember those places in our world where evil regimes still rule, seemingly unhindered.
We pray for those who find themselves unsafe in their home countries. We pray for fellow believers who are persecuted for their faith. Give them strength to endure, and your eternal hope to sustain them.
We pray for those who have had to flee their homes. We pray particularly for those who find themselves on our doorsteps. For those who love you and worship with us on a Sunday morning. Give them hope as they trust in you as their anchor. For those who may not know you personally yet, but who experience the welcome and love of your people in our Conversation Café or through our Welcome Church team. In your time, we pray you will reveal your hope to them in the person of Jesus Christ, before he comes again.
SATURDAY
“I heard a loud shout from the throne saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”” Revelation 21:3-4 NLT
Father God, we worship you today that this prophesy is true. Help us set our hope on it. We pray especially today for those among us who have special cause to cling to it at this time.
We pray for those walking through death and loss, through sorrow, through crying, through pain. For those who mourn loved ones, whether this Christmas is the first, or latest of many, missing them. For those dealing with ill health, physical or mental. For those who struggle with the reality of how their life hasn’t gone along the paths they hoped it would. For those who are lonely. For those whose families are fractured and challenging. We name those known to us who face these difficulties ……………………………………………..
Father God who knows and cares, draw alongside them. Be their comfort and strength. Help them deal with all that this festive season holds. Give them patience and grace. Give them a renewed hope, as they wait for the time when you will mend all that is broken, and restore all things to how you intended them to be.
SUNDAY
“The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it.” John 1:5 NLT
Father God, help us to hold to this unchangeable fact through all the uncertainty of life, and through all the distractions that come our way. Thank you that your light shines in the darkness, and will never go out.
As we wait for the future day when we will see that Light face to face, help us to be people of hope, holding out the light of your love, grace and forgiveness to others. Help us point others from the baby in the manger to the Saviour who welcomes us with outstretched arms.
Holy Spirit, empower us, let the light you’ve placed in us shine in all our circumstances. Help us take every opportunity you give us to do so, for your glory and our good.