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Pr Lionel Neo (CPC)

EP Express Advent Devotionals '23 (Week 1)



Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,


Warmest greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!


As we enter the season of Advent, the Presbyterian Express team joyfully presents to you a series of Advent Daily Devotionals. They are written by contributors from various EP churches, and they reflect on the manifold dimensions of Advent, and its rich implications on our lives.


The devotions run from Mondays to Fridays, starting on 4th Dec and ending on 22nd Dec. They will be sent out in weekly batches, with 3 batches in total. They will be uploaded on Sunday, before the start of the week.


May God’s word speak to us afresh about Jesus, the Word made flesh! O come let us adore Him!


Pr Lionel Neo Presbyterian Express


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ADVENT DEVOTION DAY 1 – 4th Dec 2023

Title: Here We Go Again

So here we are with

Christmas around the corner.

Christmas lights adorn our streets,

Christmas trees deck our homes.

Christmas celebrations fill our diaries.

Yet, the sad irony is

Christ is nowhere to be found. Why?

A proud unbelieving world never asks “why” celebrate another Christ-less Christmas. Very often, we Christians in our forgetful hearts from success In our numbed lives from routine In our harried spirits from strife In our wounded souls from betrayal also seldom ask, "why another Christ-less” Christmas?


Could it be that we have embarked on the Great Exchange? Of listening to the voice the Father of lies rather than trusting the voice of our Heavenly Father. Who sent His beloved Son to our world To give us everything we desperately need But so proudly resist.

Why do we persist in singing the blues away momentarily with silly carols of Santa coming to town? When we can sing of Jesus coming in a manger to save us eternally?


Why do we insist on mindlessly pursuing world peace on our own when we cannot even bring peace in our hearts? Why do nations persist with faking peace while preparing for war? Could it be that we have embarked on the Great Exchange of selling our soul to gain the world? of being pleasured for a moment with Christmas. But paupered for eternity without Christ?


Could it be that we have not felt The full weight of our sin of our unlove of God and unlove of neighbour? Could it be that we have not confessed the deep subtlety of our flesh which so quickly accuse others, but so lightly excuse ourselves.


Could it be that we have not Woken to the deep depravity of our hearts that enslaves us to be so cutting with our words so short with our temper so long with our anger so forever with our unforgiveness so determined with our self redemption? Then I, then you, then we have truly embarked on The Great Exchange. Is that you? Is that me? Is that us?


So, let’s stop our mindless Christmases And start being forever mindful, thankful and worshipful of Jesus, for his humility which crushed our pride, for his love which cancelled our unlove, for his humble birth and horrific death, which alone grants us eternal life. The Lamb of God, who was born humbly in a manger and treacherously slained for us.


So, Spirit of the Living God please grant us the humility to not just hear the gospel but to honestly search our hearts. That I, that you, that we should repent of giving God leftover time, stop giving our gadgets prime time, and start giving Jesus all our time.


That in hearing the Good News this Christmas may we start praising Jesus in our hearts, in our homes, in our churches to rise to a clearer vision of God, a truer love of one another, a stronger witness to the nations.

May we never tire of singing true Christmas Carol to Jesus until we can sing forever in God’s presence to God’s forever glory.


Rev Dr Chris Chia

Adam Road Presbyterian Church


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ADVENT DEVOTION DAY 2 – 5th Dec 2023

Title: Worship the Lord

Passage: Matthew 2:9-11


“After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.


On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.”

(Matthew 2:9 - 11)


The birth of Jesus is God’s greatest gift to mankind. Most of us would want to proffer something back as grateful recipients. Our giving back to the Lord is also an act of worshipping Him in gratitude of His priceless gift to us and attributing glory to Him because “every generous act and every perfect gift is from above.” (James 1:17a)


When the magi or wise men saw the star in the east, they journeyed to worship the newborn baby who is the King of the Jews. Guided by a brilliant star, the wise men brought gifts to give to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

They brought him gold, a gift fit for a king. Frankincense, a perfect gift for a perfect Priest. Myrrh, an unusual gift for a baby, since it was a substance the ancients used to embalm the dead.


Certainly, it did not seem like an appropriate gift for the newborn child, but in this case, it communicates a theological truth that reminds us that Jesus was born to die so that humanity might find salvation in Him. This little child wrapped in warm clothing lying in a manger would one day hang on a cross and take on the sins of the world.


In addition to these gifts, there was also another gift from the wise men, their act of worship, which was in fact the very first gift they proffered to the baby. The moment “they saw the child and the mother, Mary, they bowed down and worshiped him.” (Matthew 2:11a)


Likewise, our offerings are an act of worship, coming before Him in deep gratitude for His saving and sanctifying grace. We have a spiritual need to worship God, and through our offerings we are able to express our love and devotion to God in simple and sincere way. The motivation of the giver is what counts most, not the size of the gift or the degree of benefit to the recipient.

Just as the wise men expressed their deepest devotion to worship the newborn Jesus, let us “praise the Lord with all our soul and our inmost being for His holy name is worthy of our praise” (Psalms 103:1, 145:3), not just during the Advent season but every day of our lives.


Prayer

Our Father in heaven, we thank You for Your gracious love in redeeming us through Your Son Jesus Christ. In this Advent season, deepen our gratitude towards You in our worship, in our offerings and in our service.

Open our hearts to the needs of others and spur us to care and share Your love with them.


In Christ name we pray. Amen!



Rev Daniel Lee

All Saints Presbyterian Church


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ADVENT DEVOTION DAY 3 – 6th Dec 2023

Title: From Despair to Hope

Passage: Matthew 1:18-25; I Samuel 4:17-22


The world we live in today can often bring us despair and fill us with a complete loss of hope or confidence.


In I Samuel 4, the grief of Eli’s daughter-in-law over the death of her husband and father-in-law had induced her into labour, and as she was dying, the midwives tried to encourage her by saying, “Don’t despair; you have given birth to a son.”

The birth of a baby boy would bring great joy to most parents. But not for this woman in distress; she did not respond or pay any attention and went on to name the boy Ichabod. Why? ‘Ichabod’ means ‘the glory of God has departed’ and she knew God’s glory had departed from Israel because the Ark of the Covenant had been captured by the Philistines.


Are you in despair today? Are you in a situation where you find hope or confidence slipping away? Perhaps, you are waiting for a promotion at work that never seems to come, or battling a chronic illness, or awaiting a new job offer. And you wonder how you are to keep your hopes from eroding under the constant drip of disappointments and despair.


The good news TODAY is we don’t have to go on despairing. This is because of the birth of Jesus (“Saviour”) who is also known as Immanuel (“God with us”) more than two thousand years ago. In fact, there are many instances in the Bible when God had shown His abiding presence with His people and turned their DESPAIR into HOPE:


[i] Remember the story of Daniel’s three friends and how they were victims of someone’s malicious scheme and thrown into the fiery furnace of King Nebuchadnezzar but survived when God personally walked with them in the furnace? (Daniel 3:19-30)


Have you been betrayed by your jealous colleagues who did not like what they saw in you and sought to bring you down no matter what?


[ii] Remember how Job was afflicted with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head? His friends who came to comfort him were more of a distress to him than a consolation. Their counsel had brought Job aggravated misery and pain until God’s personal intervention. (Job 42:1-17)


Have you been through what Job experienced? You are going about your life as usual – being a faithful spouse, a responsible parent, a diligent worker, a good student, a trustworthy friend – when all of a sudden the person you love most or the thing you treasure most is taken away from you. You are totally unprepared for it. You thought…

- your company is doing well but suddenly it reported huge losses and you are retrenched.

- your marriage is going fine but suddenly your spouse decided to walk out on you for another person.

- your daughter is going to come home for dinner but instead you got a call from the police saying that she was killed in a freak accident.

- your body is in the pink of health but then out of the blue you are diagnosed with a dreaded disease that restricted your movement and diet.


Whatever your present situation may be, DON’T despair. DON’T pre-judge God. The ending of our trials and afflictions may not be exactly the same as Job’s (in that “the LORD restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before”) but we can be sure that God knows what He is doing in order to accomplish His will in our lives.


We can rejoice and have hope today because God has not sent us a son named Ichabod to tell us that His glory has departed but rather God has given us His very own Son named Immanuel to assure us of His abiding presence with us. How then shall we live in times of despair? TURN to JESUS and TRUST in HIM who is ‘God with us’!


So as we enter the Advent Season to commemorate and celebrate the birth of Christ, let us remember that it is because of that first Christmas, that Incarnation of God, that we can all have this GREAT assurance that God will be with us always to give us comfort and strength to complete our faith journey here on earth victoriously as we march heavenward.


Prayer

Dearest God, thank You for giving us Jesus to save us from our sins and to turn our despair into hope. Help us to love You more, serve You more, and please You more each day of our lives. We love You, we need You, we thank You in the strong name of Jesus our Immanuel, AMEN.



Rev Dr Steven Gan

Amazing Grace Presbyterian Church


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ADVENT DEVOTION DAY 4 – 7th Dec 2023

Title: Joy, Peace and Hope

Passage: Romans 15:12-13


12 And again Isaiah says,

“The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.”

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

(Romans 15:12 - 13)


How do you feel when you receive your monthly bills? Each time I receive the bill, I grumble, “The cost of living has gone up…again.” I am tempted to switch off the water heater and let my children dance in cold water. I think they have mistaken the bathroom for a hot spring!


It is not just the cost of living that we are concerned about. At this point of writing, the war in the Middle East has cost many lives. There are also tensions among nations in different parts of the world. We also have our concerns and worries. A youth may wonder, “What should I pursue after N or O-levels?” The elderly are concerned about their deteriorating health. The young adult and adult are sometimes sandwiched between caring for the generation above and below them.


If you can ask God for a gift this Christmas, what will it be? Romans 15:13 shows what we yearn for – joy, peace and hope. How can we experience joy, peace and hope, especially when we cannot control what’s happening around us?


It is important to note that the hope mentioned in verse Romans 15:13 is centered on a Person mentioned in verse 12. Jesus is God’s hope for us. The peace, joy and hope we have in Jesus is powerful. We are encouraged not to grieve as though we had no hope in the face of death (1 Thess. 4:13-18). When Jesus comes again, He will bring a new heaven and earth (Revelations 21:1-4). There will be an end to pain and suffering. We will receive God’s comfort. When we believe in Jesus, we can experience the joy, peace and hope God has in store.


On this side of eternity, we may face uncertainties. We may struggle with health issues. We may face cost-of-living pressures. Sometimes life isn't what we thought it would be, whether it is the loss of a job, an unexpected diagnosis, or struggling with a wayward child. The never-ending negativity we read in the news can be overwhelming. We are also not immune to life’s challenges. But the peace, joy and hope Jesus offers gives us the strength to look beyond the present difficulties and sufferings and trust what God has in store for us.


Prayer

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.


Rev Srimal Marthenis

Ang Mo Kio Presbyterian Church


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ADVENT DEVOTION DAY 5 – 8th Dec 2023

Title: This Word

Passage: John 1:1-14


14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

(John 1:14)


Reflection:

The Holy Bible is the Word of God. We are reminded of this through 2 Timothy 3.16 that “all Scripture is breathed out by God…”. However, during the time when the Gospel of John was written, the Bible had not been compiled in its modern-day canon yet. What then was this “Word” which John was talking about?

We get some ideas as the Gospel writer described earlier in the chapter – this Word was with God and was God (v1); this Word was there since the beginning (v2); this Word created all things (v3, v10); this Word gave life (v4); this Word was full of grace and truth (v14).


This Word was more than just a physical written tome or the compilation of Scripture! This Word was more than just written words that filled pages! This Word was a person (was with God; was God), powerful (created all things) and bore truth (full of grace and truth).


What was this truth which this Word bore to the world? If this Word was more than mere pages of a book, surely the truth this Word bears is more than mere written words of knowledge. Verse 12 tells us,

12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,


That is the truth! That those who receive this Word and believe in the name of the Word, they would become children of God! That is the truth the Word seeks to convey. Not just truth of mere knowledge, but truth of a relationship with God Himself; as the intimate children of God!


Who is this Word?

This Word is with God, and yet is God! (v1)

This Word who gives light of life to all Mankind comes from God to us. (v9)

This Word went beyond mere words and ideas and concepts; but incarnated into physical flesh to dwell among those He had created, so that this Word might convey the truth. (v14)

This Word who came from God, was Son of God the Father. Being of the same substance as the Father, this Word who was the Son was God. (v14)

What is the name of this Word that we may receive Him and believe in Him (v12)? This Word is Jesus!

This Advent, let us read the Word, yes; but more importantly, let us know this Word.


Prayer

Dear Word of God,

This Advent season, teach us not just to read Your truths from Your Word;

But to understand the truth of Your Word.

And that truth is that You took on fleshly form, so that we might become children of God, and be in an intimate relationship with Him.

Teach us to receive You and believe in Your name… the name of Jesus.

We pray in Your name, Lord Jesus.

Amen.


Rev Jackson Wan

Incoming Pastor, Bethany Presbyterian Church (English Congregation)

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