Advent Devotional Dec 11
Week Three:
Creating Shalom means Sounding Joy
Sunday, December 11, 2022
“Be Truly Glad. There is a Wonderful Joy Ahead!” – Read Isaiah 35:1-10
The desert and the parched land will be glad; / the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. / Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom . . . (vv. 1-2, NIV)
Isaiah 35 invites us to reflect on this Advent season, not only as God’s coming in Christ, but also as our coming home. “Those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing, everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them and sorrow and sighing will flee away” (v. 10, NIV). God comes. God is here. We leap and shout and sing. And together we walk home.
The OU Wesley International Ministries is still in mission, preaching the good news of grace and peace in Oklahoma and seeing God's light shine brighter in the darkness. During these times of challenge and uncertainty, we continue to thrive. We connect, invest, serve and transform through practicing radical hospitality to the OU international students’ community in Norman and beyond. God has multiplied our Chinese ministry into multiethnic ministries, and now we have a foretaste of the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. We minister to over 320 different international students from 29 countries on 5 continents through weekly worship and Bible study, free dinners & ESL classes, and monthly grocery and hiking trips—all despite COVID. During the pandemic, three Chinese students prayed to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior and received baptism. Glory be to God! God is good!
Gracious and Loving God, great is your faithfulness (Lam. 3). Your love never fails (1 Cor. 13). You rebuild and restore all that’s broken (Amos 9). You give beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness (Is. 61). You work everything for our good (Rom. 8). You make all things new (2 Cor. 5)!
Help us press into this new season to keep our focus on Christ and be shining examples of hope to the world. Help us love and serve others who don’t have what we have in Christ. With God’s grace and help, let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12). We are more than conquerors in Christ (Rom. 8)! In the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, Amen.
Rev. Fuxia Wang, GBGM Missionary
Director of International Ministries, University of Oklahoma Wesley Foundation
“Be Truly Glad. There is a Wonderful Joy Ahead!” – Read Isaiah 35:1-10
The desert and the parched land will be glad; / the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. / Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom . . . (vv. 1-2, NIV)
Isaiah 35 invites us to reflect on this Advent season, not only as God’s coming in Christ, but also as our coming home. “Those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing, everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them and sorrow and sighing will flee away” (v. 10, NIV). God comes. God is here. We leap and shout and sing. And together we walk home.
The OU Wesley International Ministries is still in mission, preaching the good news of grace and peace in Oklahoma and seeing God's light shine brighter in the darkness. During these times of challenge and uncertainty, we continue to thrive. We connect, invest, serve and transform through practicing radical hospitality to the OU international students’ community in Norman and beyond. God has multiplied our Chinese ministry into multiethnic ministries, and now we have a foretaste of the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. We minister to over 320 different international students from 29 countries on 5 continents through weekly worship and Bible study, free dinners & ESL classes, and monthly grocery and hiking trips—all despite COVID. During the pandemic, three Chinese students prayed to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior and received baptism. Glory be to God! God is good!
Gracious and Loving God, great is your faithfulness (Lam. 3). Your love never fails (1 Cor. 13). You rebuild and restore all that’s broken (Amos 9). You give beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness (Is. 61). You work everything for our good (Rom. 8). You make all things new (2 Cor. 5)!
Help us press into this new season to keep our focus on Christ and be shining examples of hope to the world. Help us love and serve others who don’t have what we have in Christ. With God’s grace and help, let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12). We are more than conquerors in Christ (Rom. 8)! In the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, Amen.
Rev. Fuxia Wang, GBGM Missionary
Director of International Ministries, University of Oklahoma Wesley Foundation
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