Advent & Christmas

Advent 2025

There are 26 days of Advent this year, and that gives us a little over three full weeks to prepare our hearts and minds, along with Christians around the world, for the celebration of Jesus’ birth…here in God’s created world. Our journey commences with scripture, travels through prayer, and ends in acts of kindness toward others.

Our theme for this year’s devotional is “hospitality.” Each day’s entry provides a scripture, a reflection on that scripture, and a prayer. Most of the scriptures come from the lectionary for this season of Advent. Others are drawn from those passages that point us to our call to provide hospitality (coming from the Latin hospes, meaning “a guest, stranger, sojourner, visitor or foreigner, also one who is bound by mutual ties of hospitality.”

As we prepare for the Celebration of Christmas, use this time of reflection to see how we act both as host to Emmanuel, God with us, who in turn welcomes us in Jesus Christ and calls us to welcome and care for others (Matthew 25). 

Interspersed into this devotional booklet, you will find a set of cookie recipes. These recipes come from our congregation members and friends, especially from our Sunday-morning hospitality teams. Think of ways, as you make cookies this season, that you can create hospitality for others through the simple act of baking. (And there are plenty of other ways to create hospitality. Perhaps scripture will inspire you as well to find ways to greet and welcome others.)