Week One: November 28-29 - Wonderful Counselor - "Love"
**Luke 1:26-38 - Birth of Jesus Foretold
**Activity - Buy a gift for Christmas Store
Read Luke 1:26-38
“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 9:6
This week as we kick off our Advent Devotional, I want to look at the name Wonderful Counselor, which the prophet Isaiah uses to refer to Jesus - 700 years before He was born! Let’s break this into two parts. First, what does the word Wonderful mean? It means that something inspires wonder within us. It is almost too great to comprehend. Next, Counselor can be seen in two ways. A counselor can be someone who helps us work through the pain and hard things in our lives. A counselor can also be a person in a position of authority. Both of these can apply to Jesus, depending on our circumstances. Jesus is and always will be more than we can understand or comprehend.
The scripture we are looking at this week comes from Luke 1:26-38, and it tells the story of when the angel Gabriel appears to Mary to tell her that she will have a baby. He explains that the baby will be Jesus, the Savior of the world. Oh yeah, and she will get pregnant even though she is a virgin: the Immaculate conception. This whole story is beyond understanding or comprehension. An angel talking to Mary, the virgin will bear a child, he will be the Son of God, the Savior of the World.
This is all the beginning of the most beautiful love story that has ever played out. God loved each of us so much that he couldn’t imagine life without us, so he sent Jesus to die on the cross to forgive us from our sins that were keeping us separated from God. What we will see during this Advent Season is that the love of God expressed in Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor is something that we will never fully understand or comprehend.
Are you wondering how you could bring the love of Jesus to someone in a practical way this year? As a family, buy a gift for our Christmas Store. You can grab a tag from church or check out our Amazon gift list in the “Christmas Store” section at ehills.org/reachout. Make it a family event and have your kids help you pick a gift you could buy for a kid in our community that might help them see the love of God in their lives this Christmas season. You can also invite your friends and family to join you in helping bring the love of Jesus to a child this Christmas!
**Luke 1:26-38 - Birth of Jesus Foretold
**Activity - Buy a gift for Christmas Store
Read Luke 1:26-38
“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 9:6
This week as we kick off our Advent Devotional, I want to look at the name Wonderful Counselor, which the prophet Isaiah uses to refer to Jesus - 700 years before He was born! Let’s break this into two parts. First, what does the word Wonderful mean? It means that something inspires wonder within us. It is almost too great to comprehend. Next, Counselor can be seen in two ways. A counselor can be someone who helps us work through the pain and hard things in our lives. A counselor can also be a person in a position of authority. Both of these can apply to Jesus, depending on our circumstances. Jesus is and always will be more than we can understand or comprehend.
The scripture we are looking at this week comes from Luke 1:26-38, and it tells the story of when the angel Gabriel appears to Mary to tell her that she will have a baby. He explains that the baby will be Jesus, the Savior of the world. Oh yeah, and she will get pregnant even though she is a virgin: the Immaculate conception. This whole story is beyond understanding or comprehension. An angel talking to Mary, the virgin will bear a child, he will be the Son of God, the Savior of the World.
This is all the beginning of the most beautiful love story that has ever played out. God loved each of us so much that he couldn’t imagine life without us, so he sent Jesus to die on the cross to forgive us from our sins that were keeping us separated from God. What we will see during this Advent Season is that the love of God expressed in Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor is something that we will never fully understand or comprehend.
Are you wondering how you could bring the love of Jesus to someone in a practical way this year? As a family, buy a gift for our Christmas Store. You can grab a tag from church or check out our Amazon gift list in the “Christmas Store” section at ehills.org/reachout. Make it a family event and have your kids help you pick a gift you could buy for a kid in our community that might help them see the love of God in their lives this Christmas season. You can also invite your friends and family to join you in helping bring the love of Jesus to a child this Christmas!