Day 7: Everything's Under Control

Welcome to our 25 day Advent study and Advent Calendar which we are preparing through November to be able to use in December.   Each day has a Bible Study related to Advent, a worship video, a passage telling the Christmas Story and a Bible verse to ise on your Advent Calendar.  You can download the PDF with today's study and verses here.

Advent Study
“Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long”.    Psalm 25:4-5

In what or in whom do you place your hope? Many children hope that Santa Claus might bring them a favorite toy. This becomes a great opportunity to teach children that they can’t always get the things they hope for, helping them appreciate what they have and keeping them from becoming spoiled. Perhaps you put your hope in your job or having enough in savings to get you through any circumstance. But even the most diligent, hard-working person can be laid off or lose a job, or an accident or illness can make money fly away like the wind. Yet this becomes a great opportunity for keeping us from getting spoiled and thinking that we don’t need God.

Paul reminds us in Romans 8:26 that “we do not know what we ought to pray for.” This is why in the Lord’s Prayer, we pray to God, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Since God is our Savior, we trust that He knows best and that He has everything under control. So we pray that God would show us His ways, teach us His path, and guide us in His truth, because He is our Savior in Jesus Christ, in whom we trust all day long.

Prayer
Dear Lord God, I praise and thank you for fulfilling the promises of your Holy Word in sending your son, Jesus, to redeem me from all my sins. I put my hope in you because you will never let me down. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Ponder
What do you let God be in control of in your life? What would you like to give Him control of?



Worship Video

Christmas Story
Luke 1:18-25
Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.” Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak. When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”


Bible Verse
Luke 1:19
The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.


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