Home > Reading > Daily Reading – November 30, 2022


Wednesday of the First Week in Advent

Saint Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist. One day Andrew and another disciple were standing alongside John. As Jesus walked by, John looked at Jesus and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” Andrew and the other disciple followed Jesus and accepted Jesus’ invitation to spend the day with Him. As Andrew spent the day in conversation with Jesus, the Holy Spirit used Jesus’ words to grace Andrew with saving faith. Andrew now believed that this Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).” Andrew was so moved and excited the first thing he did was go find his brother and tell him about Jesus and take Simon Peter to meet Jesus.What a marvelous example for us of what it means to be a Christian. Christians are those who are so moved and excited by God’s gracious gift to them that they tell others about Jesus, and take them to meet Jesus. 
Now you might ask, “I know I can tell others about Jesus, but how exactly do I take them to meet Jesus?” Well, think about it. Who introduced you to Jesus? In my case it was my family — especially my parents and grandma. What did they do to introduce me to Jesus? They took me to the written Word of God — the Holy Bible — and there I met the living Word of God, Jesus of Nazareth. 
But they didn’t just give me a Bible and say, “Here, read this, it’s good for you.” They loved me enough to invest the time to read the Bible to me, and with me. But most importantly, they invested even more time discussing what Jesus’ teachings meant with me, and how God was calling me to apply them to my life. Of course, my parents also insisted that we faithfully participate in the teaching, preaching and ministries of our Lutheran congregation. Through weekly worship, Sunday School and VBS, youth groups and church dinners, mission trips and church camps, we met with Jesus often. These were joyous and wondrous times the Holy Spirit used to nurture and strengthen my faith in Christ.
So how do we introduce others to Jesus?  Follow Andrew’s example! Tell others about Jesus, yes, but also love them enough to introduce them to Jesus yourself. How? By investing the time to meet with them weekly for Bible study, prayer and discovery of what our living Lord Jesus is saying to us today. After all, Jesus of Nazareth is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. There is no better news than this, and the advent of Jesus means this Good News is available to all!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, faith tells me You desire that I be intentional about introducing others to You. Although You have given me many opportunities, I confess I have not always risked my relationship with others by introducing Your name into a conversation. I confess that I have not been willing to give of my time for Bible study with family or friends who don’t know You in order to introduce them to You. Forgive me and reveal to me now those You want me to introduce to You. Please give me the faith, desire, and confidence to commit to this. In Your name Lord Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Devotion written by The Rev. Dr. William “Bill” E. White

“St. Andrew, Apostle”

This daily prayer and Bible reading guide, Devoted to Prayer (based on Acts 2:42), was conceived and prepared by the Rev. Andrew S. Ames Fuller, director of communications for the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). After several challenging years in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been provided with a unique opportunity to revitalize the ancient practice of daily prayer and Scripture reading in our homes. While the Reading the Word of God three-year lectionary provided a much-needed and refreshing calendar for our congregations to engage in Scripture reading, this calendar includes a missing component of daily devotion: prayer. This guide is to provide the average layperson and pastor with the simple tools for sorting through the busyness of their lives and reclaiming an act of daily discipleship with their Lord. The daily readings follow the Lutheran Book of Worship two-year daily lectionary, which reflect the church calendar closely. The commemorations are adapted from Philip H. Pfatteicher’s New Book of Festivals and Commemorations, a proposed common calendar of the saints that builds from the Lutheran Book of Worship, but includes saints from many of those churches in ecumenical conversation with the NALC. The introductory portion is adapted from Christ Church (Plano)’s Pray Daily. Our hope is that this calendar and guide will provide new life for congregations learning and re-learning to pray in the midst of a difficult and changing world.

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