Advent 2025
Stir up your power, O Lord, and come.
Protect us by your strength and save us from the threatening dangers of our sins, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
An Advent message from our NALC Bishop, the Rev. Dr. Daniel W. Selbo
December 21, 2025 | Fourth Sunday in Advent
St. Thomas, Apostle,O Oriens/O Dayspring
Genesis 3:8–15; Revelation 12:1–10; John 3:16–21; Psalms 126,117 & 150 (AM); Psalms 25 & 110 (PM)
John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
– John 3:17–21 ESV
Today is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Where I live, the sun rises at 8:42 a.m. and will set at 4:24 p.m. for just 7 hours and 41 minutes of daylight. Since I live in a valley with large hills to the west, the darkness will creep in even earlier. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that Advent traditions around candles and the biblical metaphor of light in John’s Gospel has so powerfully captured the religious sensibilities of residents of the north.
When we speak of the longing of the season of Advent, it is easy to associate that longing with the coming of light, the lengthening of days that lies beyond the celebration of the Advent of this child who is the light of the world. I remember visiting my daughter in the winter while she was working on her masters in Fairbanks, Alaska, and wondering how anyone, for any length of time, could “love darkness rather than light.” One’s whole being leans into the hope of light “coming into the world.” Cold December cannot fly away soon enough and yet we will have to wait for the world to waken when “April’s crowning glory breaks.”
Winter in the north brings its own kind of already-not-yet. The light comes into the world, but the warmth of it takes time. Yet the full assurance of hope is there, even as we wait for the bud to come to bloom and the lily’s sweet perfume delightful!
This for me is the message of the 12th chapter of the Revelation to John, our other reading for today. The light has come into the world, but the warmth of it, the sweet perfume delightful has yet to awaken. The heavens rejoice at the birth of the Son beloved of heaven, but “the devil has come to you with great wrath, because he knows his time is short” (Rev. 12:12). Unfortunately, we get all our cold weather after December flies away. And yet on a still day, a day perhaps of rest, one can find a sunny spot out of the wind and feel the warmth on your face, even though the ground is still stone cold.
Many will sing or chant a common hymn or canticle on this Fourth Sunday in Advent, “Oh, Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel,” which is based on the O Antiphons and captures this longing, and especially today the longing for light. “Oh, come, blest Dayspring, come and cheer our spirits by your advent here. Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death’s dark shadows put to flight.” There is perhaps no better hymn that captures the longing of Advent, invoking the Messianic titles of Jesus to come quickly. And yet, it is not just a prayer for the coming or advent of the Christ-child, but the coming of Christ again. “Oh, Come, Oh, Come, Emmanuel” recognizes an already-not-yet character of hope.
In fact, try the verses going forward to anticipate the celebration of the birth of Jesus this week, and then work the verses backwards to pray for Christ to come again. Even better, there is a hidden message in the acronym formed by the first letter of the Latin messianic titles of each O Antiphon if you start with the last and move back to the first (the hymn has the actual Antiphons out of order) so here they are, already in reverse order:
O Emmanuel (God with us), O Rex Gentium (King of Nations), O Oriens (Dayspring—and today’s antiphon), O Clavis David (Key of David), O Radix Jesse (Root of Jesse), O Adonai (Lord), and O Sapientia (Wisdom)
The acronym spells ERO CRAS, which in Latin means, “Tomorrow I will come!”
Prayer: O Dayspring, splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness: come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. Lead us to walk the length of our days in Your light. Amen.
Devotion written by the Rev. Kevin Ree (kree@thenalc.org)
December 22, 2025 | Monday of the Fourth Week in Advent
O Rex Gentium/O King of Nations
Zephaniah 3:14–20; Titus 1:1–16; Luke 1:1–25; Psalms 122 & 145 (AM); Psalms 40 & 67 (PM)
Zephaniah 3:14 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
he has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you shall never again fear evil.
16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Fear not, O Zion;
let not your hands grow weak.
17 The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
18 I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival,
so that you will no longer suffer reproach.
19 Behold, at that time I will deal
with all your oppressors.
And I will save the lame
and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
and renown in all the earth.
20 At that time I will bring you in,
at the time when I gather you together;
for I will make you renowned and praised
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
before your eyes,” says the Lord.
– Zephaniah 3:14–20 ESV
One of the most stunning pictures in all of Scripture is here in Zephaniah: God Himself singing over His people. It is hard to grasp, isn’t it? We are used to singing about God and to Him: hymns of praise, psalms of lament, carols of joy. But here the roles are reversed. The Lord sings over us.
And what a beautiful picture this is, for we know ourselves too well. We know our sins, our failures, our lukewarm hearts. Left to ourselves, we expect God’s voice to thunder with judgment or disappointment.
And yet, because of Christ, His voice breaks forth in song. He quiets us with His love, not our accomplishments. He rejoices over us because of His mercy, not our merit. This is exactly what Advent is about. We prepare to celebrate the astonishing reality that the “mighty One who will save” has entered our world, Emmanuel, God with us. Not just “up there” or “out there,” but here, in the midst of His people. Born of Mary, laid in a manger, walking our dusty roads, dying our death, rising to give us life.
As Lutherans, we confess that our God comes not just in history long ago, and not only in glory at the end of time, but also now, present and active through His Word and Sacraments. In Baptism, He claims us. In His Supper, He feeds us. In the preached Word, He speaks His promises again and again. The Lord your God is still in your midst.
And this changes everything. We are not a church that clings to sentiment or nostalgia. We are a people who cling to the living God who is with us, who saves us, and who rejoices over us with gladness. That is the cornerstone we need as individuals and as His Church.
So, in these last days before Christmas, when the noise of the season threatens to drown out hope, pause and listen. Hear His song: a song of mercy, a song of joy, a song of salvation. The King of the nations has come, and even now He is singing over you.
Prayer: O Rex Gentium, O King of the nations, cornerstone who unites all peoples, come and reign in our hearts. Quiet our fears with Your love, and teach us to rejoice as those who are redeemed. Turn us from anxious striving to joyful trust, and make us a people who live in Your truth and show forth Your goodness. As You once came in humility and will come again in glory, dwell with us now in mercy and peace; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Devotion written by the Rev. Ryan Henkel (pastorhenkel@gmail.com)
December 23, 2025 | Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Advent
O Emmanuel/O Come, Emmanuel,Thorlak, Bishop of Skalholt, 1193
1 Samuel 2:1b–10; Titus 2:1–10; Luke 1:26–38; Psalms 33 & 146 (AM); Psalms 85 & 94 (PM)
1 Samuel 2:1 And Hannah prayed and said,
“My heart exults in the Lord;
my horn is exalted in the Lord.
My mouth derides my enemies,
because I rejoice in your salvation. 2:5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.
The barren has borne seven,
but she who has many children is forlorn.
6 The Lord kills and brings to life;
he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
7 The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
he brings low and he exalts.
8 He raises up the poor from the dust;
he lifts the needy from the ash heap
to make them sit with princes
and inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
and on them he has set the world.
9 ”He will guard the feet of his faithful ones,
but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness,
for not by might shall a man prevail.
10 The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces;
against them he will thunder in heaven.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
he will give strength to his king
and exalt the horn of his anointed.”
– 1 Samuel 2:1, 5–10 ESV
We are usually quick to notice what has been added to a room; complimenting the new furniture, banners, or tree ornaments. We’re less likely to look for what’s missing; the chair that remains empty, the photo or certificate that was taken down. Maybe we try to ignore the place where the ache of something missing leaves a hollow space. In Advent, maybe it is especially appropriate to take a moment to meditate on these places of absence and need in our lives and in our world, so that we may ask God to enter in and transform the places our hearts ache.
Hannah’s song of anticipated victory reminds me that God shows up in those places where we feel the pain of something not yet fulfilled. Hannah could not simply fill up her grief and shame with new dreams. She could not ignore what was missing, so she brought this tender place within her life to God and in faithful lament asked for Him to enter. In her son Samuel’s birth, she received more than what she had asked for.
God had not only given her a son, but the door to humanity’s hope cracks open a little more for us to see a redeemer King is coming. Hannah sings prophetically, “he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed” (1 Samuel 2:10).
Hannah’s hope will be fulfilled in King David and one day the Messiah King. One thousand years before Mary will sing her own “Magnificat,” Hannah is already singing its first verse! In these women’s prophetic songs, perhaps we are invited to join our voices as we ask God into the empty places of our lives where we long for His presence. And we will find we do not sing alone or in vain, for God’s plan has culminated in a victory cry from a manger in Bethlehem that once laid empty, born from Mary’s empty womb. God’s answer is the final verse to humanity’s song of hope. It is better than we could have ever prayed for. God places His love in the person of His Son, who enters in to the place of our greatest need. Our hope is alive, and His name is Emmanuel, God with us. Amen.
Prayer: O Come, Emmanuel, transform our hearts into ready mangers, that even the places of emptiness in our lives may be places that You are exalted. In that place where the groaning of our hearts is too deep for words, bring us the hope of Hannah and Mary, that we may pray in faith “Let it be” in anticipation that You will enter in. Our hope is in You alone, O Lord, our Savior and Redeemer. Amen.
Devotion written by the Rev. Alliyah Blakeley (revalliyah@gmail.com)
December 24, 2025 | Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Advent / The Nativity of Our Lord
2 Samuel 7:1–17; Titus 2:11—3:8a; Luke 1:39–56; Psalms 50 & 147:1–12 (AM); Psalms 132 & 114 (PM)
Luke 1:46 My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
47 my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed.
49 The almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 He has mercy on those who fear him
in ev’ry generation.
51 He has shown the strength of his arm;
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
52 He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
54 He has come to the help of his servant Israel,
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
55 the promise to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his children forever.”
– Luke 1:46–55 (from Luke 1:39–56) LBW
And Mary said…and the words that ushered from her lips have filled lives for centuries. Her proclamation has given God’s people hope, for she knew the Lord in ways that no other human being could know Him.
Unseen, in the depths of her womb, a promise grows. Her fear is vanquished, for despite any outward circumstances she trusts in the goodness of God. His Word comes to His people not by their will, but by His. So she sings of the ancient promises made to Abraham and his children forever.
She will bear this Holy One into the brokenness caused by human sin, the hunger caused by hoarding, the enslavement caused by grasping for wealth, the brutality caused by human arrogance. She will bear the Holy One, a defenseless babe, and He will bring the mighty down from their thrones. He will do it all, she sings, by mercy, by insisting on using human beings as His temples, tabernacles of His holiness. He will do it, so not only will all generations call her blessed, but all generations will be blessed as they come to life in the womb of the Church.
In the song of this faithful young woman, we hear the story of God’s salvation. He comes to life for us. His life will only speak that which is true. He will fill the starving and forgotten with all good things. He will bring healing to families and nations. His death will be the death of all our false illusions about our right to force others to do our will. And, at last, His resurrection will reveal the promise the angel made to Mary, “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High…[and] He will reign over the house of Jacob forever…” In the coming of God in human flesh our destiny is changed, for “of His kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:32–33).
Sing it for us Mary, sing it for all the world to hear—a world that is drowning in its own opulence, a world that is starving in its desert famine. For the Word that you will bear is our only hope. And the Word that you sing is not only your song, but His, the promised Saviour for whom all the world awaits.
Prayer: Fill us, O Lord, that we, too, may sing Mary’s song.
Fill us, O Lord, that our hearts will overflow with joy.
Fill us, O Lord, that we may always remember Your mercy.
Fill us, O Lord, that we will forever proclaim the holiness of Your name,
Father, ✠ Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Devotion written by the Rev. Dr. Amy C. Schifrin (acschifrin@gmail.com)
December 25, 2025 | The Nativity of Our Lord
Micah 4:1–5; 5:2–4; 1 John 4:7–16; John 3:31–36; Psalms 2 & 147:13–21 (AM); Psalms 98 & 96 (PM)
Micah 5:2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.
3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of his brothers shall return
to the people of Israel.
4 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth.
5 And he shall be their peace.
– Micah 5:2–5 ESV
We know and recognize the world into which Christ is born. It is an old world where nothing fundamental ever seems to change. It is an ambiguous world where the future is ever uncertain. It is a dark world where one is never quite fully safe. Yes, we know that world well. We know it from the inside out. We know it from the dreadful things we discover at work within our very selves; the wearying strains of anxiety which drain our energy, and the scars of conscience which torment our souls.
But God has done a new thing in our old world. The canopy of darkness is pierced by the light of Bethlehem.
In the birth of Jesus Christ, God inaugurates a kingdom among us, and in our very midst. It is not like the fragile and fractious kingdoms of the earth which moth and rust destroy. It represents the incursion of a new order of things, an everlasting kingdom of blessedness, a dominion of imperturbable peace ruled and made secure by the One who bears the might and authority of divine majesty (5:4).
The agitations of the old world sputter on, of course, and are occasions for the exercise of faith, hope, and love in the meantime as we wait for the final unveiling of things to come. But such things do not speak the final word for those who belong already even now to God’s new and coming kingdom. By the grace of God, the struggles and disappointments of this earthly sojourn are no longer a source of ultimate concern and consternation, for those who abide within the “house of the God of Jacob” (4:2) “shall dwell secure,” the prophet insists, and the Lord Himself “shall be their peace” (5:5).
It is possible the angelic multitude had this very passage from Micah in mind while singing forth its mirthful promise of “peace on earth” before the shepherds on that bleak midwinter’s night so long ago. Whether then or now, the only suitable response to the announcement of such unthinkably glad tidings as these is to join our voices to that eternal chorus of joy and wonder which fills the heavenly throne room even now, and thus with angels and archangels to offer our praise and thanksgiving without delay to the one who makes all things new.
As a means of doing precisely this, I want to conclude this devotional by encouraging you first slowly to read (thenalc.org/read) and then meditatively to listen (thenalc.org/listen) to the joyous words of Paul Gerhardt’s wonderful Christmas hymn, “All This Night My Heart Rejoices.” I pray that you will be richly blessed in doing so. Praise be to the God who has “called [each of us] out of darkness” and “into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
Prayer: “Dearest Lord, Thee will [we] cherish.
Though [our] breath
Fail in death,
Yet [we] shall not perish,
But with Thee abide forever
There on high,
In that joy
Which can vanish never.”
(Paul Gerhardt, “All This Night My Heart Rejoices,” The Lutheran Hymnal, 77.)
Devotion written by Dr. David J. Luy (dluy@thenals.org)
December 26, 2025 | Second Day of Christmas
St. Stephen, Deacon and Martyr
Jeremiah 26:1–9, 12–15, 2 Chronicles 24:17–22; Acts 6:8—7:2a, 51–60; Matthew 10:17–22,Matthew 23:34–39; Psalms 31 & 148 (AM); Psalms 119:1–24 & 27 (PM)
Acts 7:54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 ”Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep. 8:1 And Saul approved of their killing him.
– Acts 7:54—8:1a NIV2011
December 26 is the day that the Church remembers St. Stephen, the first martyr for the Christian faith. Christian martyrs have been a topic of discussion in recent months as we have witnessed the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the killing of Catholic schoolchildren Fletcher Merkel and Harper Moyski in Minneapolis. Christians from many traditions recently gathered in Rome to remember more than 1,600 martyrs during the first quarter of the 21st century. A similar gathering was held in 2000 to remember the 35 million Christian martyrs of the 20th century—the greatest number of Christians to die for their faith in any century.
Our first response to the killing of Christians because of their faith is sadness. It is a good and right emotion as we grieve the loss of fellow believers. We think about all that they could have done if they had lived.
Another emotion we feel is disgust for those who kill those who bear witness to Christ and for those who celebrate their deaths.
But the story of Stephen’s death does not let us stay in our sadness or disgust. The story of Stephen’s death points us to the redemption and transformation that are possible in Jesus. Stephen’s last words were words of forgiveness: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Stephen was given a vision of Jesus in glory right before his death, and he echoed the words of our Lord: “Father, forgive them.”
Luke tells us that Saul was there as Stephen was stoned to death and that Saul approved of Stephen’s death.
Our first response to that could be disgust. But we know the rest of the story. Saul, one of the greatest enemies of those first Christians, was chosen by Jesus and transformed from being an enemy of Christians into St. Paul, one of the greatest proclaimers of the Christian faith.
We know how our Lord transformed Saul into Paul—from enemy to apostle. We know that our Lord can transform those who hate Christians into people who love and serve Him and His Church. We trust that even in our time as people show hatred toward our fellow believers that no one is beyond the reach of God’s transforming love. We can join with Stephen in following our Lord’s difficult command to love and pray for our enemies. We can even live in hope not just of the heavenly glory that Stephen saw but also of the possibility that even those who hate us might one day become our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Prayer: Grant us grace, O Lord, that like Stephen we may learn to love even our enemies and seek forgiveness for those who desire our hurt; through Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Lutheran Book of Worship)
Devotion written by the Rev. Dr. David Baer (djbaer@rushmore.com)
December 27, 2025 | Third Day of Christmas
St. John, Apostle and Evangelist
“Genesis 1:1–5, 26–31”; 1 John 1:1—2:2; John 21:20–25; Psalms 116:10–17 & 149 (AM); Psalms 19 & 121 (PM)
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
– Genesis 1:1–5 ESV
While you are reading this devotion, you may still see the lights on your Christmas tree or colorful lights covering your neighbor’s front yard. It’s almost impossible to imagine Christmas without these lights, even though they give little clue as to what Christmas is truly about.
Those lights are most visible and beautiful at night when darkness covers the land. This somehow reminds me of God’s creation on the first day—especially if your Christmas lights are set to turn on automatically at a certain time by a timer. It’s like a miniature echo of that majestic moment: “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light… And God separated the light from the darkness.”
While those flashing, twinkling, and dazzling Christmas lights brighten the most celebrated holiday of the year, they cannot enlighten the lives of millions who still dwell in spiritual darkness. Only Jesus Christ our Lord can do that, for He is the light of the world—the transcendent light that far surpasses all the transient lights we see in this world.
He became flesh and came into this world. He shines in the darkness. And to all who receive Him, believe in Him, and are baptized, He gives the right to become children of God. Jesus comes into us and dwells among us. As Psalm 46:5 declares, “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved.” This truth applies to an individual, the Church, a city, or even an entire nation.
We once lived in darkness, like jars of clay without purpose. But praise the Lord! The great light of Jesus now shines upon us and within us, becoming the light of our lives. He illuminates us from the inside out and transforms our lives. Because Jesus is in us, we can stand firm and not be shaken in this turbulent world.
Because He is with us, we—though fragile vessels—can shine as lights in this dark world. May the Lord shine His light upon each of us and use us to bring light and blessing to those around us—to our families, our communities, our cities, and even our nation.
Prayer: Our Heavenly Father, we thank You for choosing us to be Your children and for sending Your Son, Jesus Christ, to us. Lord Jesus, help us to walk in Your light as Your disciples and to bring many to You, the true Light. Amen.
Devotion written by the Rev. Ray Zhu (ray.zhu@clch.org)