Advent Devotional | 3rd Thursday in Advent | Year C | December 17th, 2015

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Jeremiah 31:31-34

 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. 

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There are few passages in scripture that bear within them as much cause for comfort as today's passage from the prophet Jeremiah.  There are plenty of scriptures that come to us in the season of Advent that speak of our actions and what we should do regarding social justice and righteousness.  However, today's passage is not one of them.  All of the action of today's passage belongs to God.

Take a look at the verbs that describe what God is going to do:  

  1. God will make a new covenant
  2. God will put God's law within us
  3. God will write it on our hearts
  4. God will be our God and we will be God's people
  5. God will forgive us
  6. God will remember our sins no more

If you need any proof of God's steadfast love, there are six items for consideration right there!  The Good News of the gospel is summarized in these six action items from Jeremiah 31.  

So for today, take a moment to sit back and marvel at the actions of the God who calls us children.  If you have a few free minutes, read the first few chapters of Luke's gospel and see them through the context of these six declarations from today's passage from Jeremiah!  See the good that God is doing and then perhaps you will feel God's law being written upon your heart as you do so!

Prayer of the Day:
Giving God,
thank you for writing your love upon my heart.
Thank you for forgiving me and remembering my sin no more.
Thank you for being my God and calling me to be your child.
My faithful response begins and ends with your faithful actions in my life.  
Help me to live my life according to the grace you shower upon me.  Amen.

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Stephen Fearing

Stephen was born in 1988 in Cookeville, TN, where his parents met whilst attending Tennessee Tech. Shortly after, they moved to Dalton, Georgia where they put down roots and joined First Presbyterian Church, the faith family that taught Stephen that he was first and foremost a beloved child of God. It was this community that taught Stephen that it was OK to have questions and doubts and that nothing he could do could every possibly separate him from the love of God. In 1995, his sister, Sarah Kate, joined the family and Stephen began his journey as a life-long musician. Since then, he has found a love of music and has found this gift particularly fitting for his call to ministry. Among the instruments that he enjoys are piano, trumpet, guitar, and handbells. Stephen has always had a love of singing and congregation song. An avid member of the marching band, Stephen was the drum major of his high school's marching band. In 2006, Stephen began his tenure at Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC where he majored in Religion and minored in History. While attending PC, Stephen continued to explore his love of music by participating in the Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, Jazz Combo, Jazz Trio, as well as playing in the PC Handbell ensemble and playing mandolin and banjo PC's very own bluegrass/rock group, Hosegrass, of which Stephen was a founding member (Hosegrass even released their own CD!). In 2010, Stephen moved from Clinton to Atlanta to attend Columbia Theological Seminary to pursue God's call on his life to be a pastor in the PC(USA). During this time, Stephen worked at Trinity Presbyterian Church, Silver Creek Presbyterian Church, Central Presbyterian Church, and Westminster Presbyterian Church. For three years, Stephen served as the Choir Director of Columbia Theological Seminary's choir and also served as the Interim Music Director at Westminster Presbyterian Church. In 2014, Stephen graduated from Columbia with a Masters of Divinity and a Masters of Arts in Practical Theology with an emphasis in liturgy, music, and worship. In July of 2014, Stephen was installed an ordained as Teaching Elder at Shelter Island Presbyterian Church in Shelter Island, NY. Later that year, Stephen married the love of his life, Tricia, and they share their home on Shelter Island with their Golden Doodle, Elsie, and their calico cat, Audrey. In addition to his work with the people who are Shelter Island Presbyterian Church, Stephen currently serves as a commission from Long Island Presbytery to the Synod of the Northeast and, beginning in January of 2016, will moderate the Synod's missions team.