Many years ago, I purchased two gifts for our family to help point us each Advent season to Christ. One was created by Noël Piper, our pastor’s wife at that time and mother to my daughter’s dear friend, a woman who mentored me from afar. The other was created by Kathi Westlund, a woman from our church who was just a little bit farther down the road than me in her mothering; a woman who also mentored me from afar.

Noël created an advent calendar which she calls the Noël Calendar. Each day you add a wooden character to a piece of burlap making the Christmas story come to life. With it, there is a daily reading where you repeat what you read the day before and so by the end of Advent, you have memorized the entire Christmas story. We have all come to love this tradition in our home. We started this yesterday, December 1.

Kathi created an advent calendar which she calls the Messiah Vine. Before December, you hang a garland and wrap cranberries through it pointing to the fact that Christ is the common thread throughout all of history. Each day there is a reading from scripture with some good questions to provoke discussion. Along with readings, Kathi has created the most beautiful ornaments to go along with each daily reading. These ornaments are hung on the vine. The Messiah Vine goes through all of redemptive history from Genesis to Revelation. It’s something that stays up past Easter. We have all come to love this tradition in our home and we started this yesterday, December 1, as well.

Noël Piper is not making her Noël Calendars anymore, but she encourages families to make them on their own. Kathi Westlund had stopped making the Messiah Vines, but just started back up this year. Yeah!!!

I am going to focus our attention this month on who God is in the person of Jesus and who you are in Him and give you prayers points to pray each day based off of Kathi’s Messiah Vine. I had hoped to start this yesterday, but it ended up being too full for me to sit down and gather my thoughts. So, today I will share for both December 1 and today :)

December 1 – CREATION

Monday, December 1, 2020

When you pray, pray for your:

1. Yourself
2. Spouse
3. Children/Grandchildren
4. Immediate Extended Family: Parents, Siblings & their Spouses, Nieces & Nephews

Pray that you, your husband, children, and family would see Christ with fresh eyes this year thanking Him that He is the Creator of the heavens and earth and that in Him, we are a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come.

December 2 – Sin

Who is Jesus? He is Sinless.

For our sake He (God) made Him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him (Jesus) we might become the righteousness of God. II Corinthians 5:21

Who are You in Him? You are a Saved Sinner.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Romans 10:9-10

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9

Tuesday, December 2, 2020

When you pray, pray for your:

1. Yourself
2. Spouse
3. Children/Grandchildren
4. Church Family

Pray that you, your spouse, children/grandchildren, and church family would see Jesus afresh this Christmas season and rejoice in the salvation found in Christ alone, if saved. If not saved, pray that they would come to Christ, the One who became sin for them and believe.

Blessings to you,

Heather Haas