advent reading 2021

Each year I put together a list of daily scripture readings for Advent. I hope these can be a resource that invites you to pause and contemplate the great love God has for you. Merry Christmas.

Advent 2021

Daily Readings as we wait with hope

Nov 28 Isaiah 61:1-11

Nov 29 Micah 5:2-5

Nov 30 Luke 1:26-38

Dec 1 Luke 1:46-56

Dec 2 Luke 1:57-66

Dec 3 Deuteronomy 18:18; Genesis 9:4-17

Dec 4 Isaiah 42:16; Luke 2:8-21

Dec 5 Isaiah 61:1-11

Dec 6 1 Chronicles 17:7-14; Isaiah 11:1-5

Dec 7 Exodus 3:13-21

Dec 8 Matthew 1:18-25

Dec 9 Luke 1:5-25; Isaiah 7:14-15

Dec 10 Mark 1:9-17; Isaiah 42:1-10a

Dec 11 Isaiah 42:16; Luke 2:8-21

Dec 12 Isaiah 61:1-11

Dec 13 Matthew 2:1-23

Dec 14 Luke 1:39-45; 2:67-79

Dec 15 Luke 2:22-40

Dec 16 John 14:8-21

Dec 17 Psalm 46:1-11

Dec 18 Isaiah 42:16; Luke 2:8-21

Dec 19 Isaiah 61:1-11

Dec 20 Isaiah 9:1-7

Dec 21 Luke 2:1-7

Dec 22 John 1:1-18 & 29-36

Dec 23 Psalm 78:4-8; Exodus 15:11-13

Christmas Eve Isaiah 40:1-5

Christmas Day Isaiah 42:16; Luke 2:8-21

Process:

I suggest you begin your time of quiet meditation with a few cleansing breaths.

Check in with your thoughts, your emotions, your body, and bear witness to whatever you are carrying around with your self. Ask God to draw near, and breathe deeply, reminding yourself that God breathes new life into us.

Read the prayer for the week and sit with it for a minute, holding onto whatever settles into you.

Read the scripture for the daily, and contemplate the gathering, pursuing love, embodied love of God for you.

Merry Christmas!

Brandi Kellett

Prayer for the 1st week:

“Lord, may you now let us this year once more approach the light, celebration, and joy of Christmas Day that brings us face to face with the greatest thing there is: your love.  What could we possibly bring and give to you?  So much darkness in our human relationships and in our own hearts!...So much over which you cannot rejoice, that separates us from one another and certainly cannot help us!  So much that runs directly against the message of Christmas!  What should you possibly do with such gifts?  And what are you to do with such people as we all are?  But all of this is precisely what you want to receive from us and take from us at Christmas—the whole pile of rubbish and ourselves, just as we are—in order to give us in return Jesus, our Savior, and in him a new heaven and a new earth, new hearts and a new desire, new clarity and a new hope for us and for all people.  Be among us as we once again…prepare to receive him as your gift. Amen.”      

-Karl Barth, 1960s

Prayer for the 2nd week:

Coming God, remind us these Advent days must be about the search and preparation for the way of Christ; the way that leads from light to darkness, from bondage to freedom, from brokenness to wholeness, from disunity to community, from death to life. Disciple our hearts in your active shalom: In praying for peace that is communal, holistic and tangible.  Help us embody your shalom that is not partial or private, but always growing into those who suffer, who live in darkness. Remind us we are only ready for Christmas to the extent we are prepared to follow in the way of Jesus, the light.   -Adapted from Ray A Owens and Randy Woodley

Prayer for the 3rd week:

Hopeful God, we know hope does not emerge from the self-aggrandizing act of recounting our successes. Hear our desperate pleas for God’s intervention that arises out of our lament. Reveal to us a flickering glimpse of hope….We are not elevated above You or even above Your creation.  We do not stand in the place of Christ, able to incarnate ourselves into another community as if we could operate as the Messiah. Surround us in hope as we recognize our frailty as created beings and feel our need to acknowledge this shortcoming before You. Our only hope for meaning and worth is in the fullness of Christ as God’s created beings.                                                                                          -Adapted from Soong-Chan Rah

Prayer for the 4th week:

“Soon-coming King, Giver of mercy and grace, the One who has done great things for others and for me, Hope in an uncertain world: We await your promised return in joyful expectation. We dance, sing, lift holy hands and sincere praise. Long-awaited Lord, we pray for the peace of our city, and the salvation of your people. We expect you. Our trust is in you. Amen.”                                           -Donna M. Cox