December 1st, 2025
by Sarah Hines
by Sarah Hines
Advent 2025 DevotionalCore | Peace
December 1, 2025
Written by: Angie Rataj
Title: Something Better is Coming
Scripture:
My Reflection
Scholars estimate this scripture was written about 700 years before a baby was born in a manger and named Jesus. And here we are, on the 1st day of December, approximately 2,025 years after that baby was born. We read this ancient text in an effort to know our creator more and prepare our hearts in the Advent season. Let’s ask, “What can we learn from Isaiah, potentially the most famous prophet, when he is concerned with Jerusalem (the capital city of Judah) and the whole kingdom of Judah?” Really, what in the world does this have to do with me and Christmas?
I think we have to go back a little farther in the text to figure out something. Chapter 1 ruthlessly lays out sins that don’t seem so ancient, but Chapter 2 comes in to let us know that new days are coming. Let’s have Chapter 2 be our hope for what is promised after we lived through a Chapter 1 mess. We’ve neared the end of this moment in our calendars and maybe it seems like we’ve had more mess than we’d like. We want more for our next year and we are setting aside time today to prepare and be more centered and more focused on the God of the universe.
Our desire for change is not new; longing “Lord, hear our prayer” is deep within us and has been for generation upon generation. We are promised, in Isaiah’s words, the Lord’s mountain will be the highest. It will be lifted up and people will stream to it. Many nations will want to go to this mountain to be taught by God and learn to walk in God’s paths of peace. A time will come when people seek the Lord’s teaching and then we will walk and not grow faint. People will no longer oppress the poor and delight in bribes. Orphans will be defended and widows cared for because many nations will learn God’s ways and walk in God’s paths. Chapter 2 is coming and we will keep seeking this mountain during the Advent season.
My Prayer:
God of Jacob, thank you for the ancient words of Isaiah that promise a new time of peace. Let us seek places to learn your ways and walk in your paths. Lord, hear our prayer.
Sign up to receive the Advent Devotional here.
December 1, 2025
Written by: Angie Rataj
Title: Something Better is Coming
Scripture:
This is what Isaiah, Amoz’s son, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
In the days to come
the mountain of the Lord’s house
will be the highest of the mountains.
It will be lifted above the hills;
peoples will stream to it.
Many nations will go and say,
“Come, let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the house of Jacob’s God
so that he may teach us his ways
and we may walk in God’s paths.”
Instruction will come from Zion;
the Lord’s word from Jerusalem.
(Isaiah 2:1-3)
In the days to come
the mountain of the Lord’s house
will be the highest of the mountains.
It will be lifted above the hills;
peoples will stream to it.
Many nations will go and say,
“Come, let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the house of Jacob’s God
so that he may teach us his ways
and we may walk in God’s paths.”
Instruction will come from Zion;
the Lord’s word from Jerusalem.
(Isaiah 2:1-3)
My Reflection
Scholars estimate this scripture was written about 700 years before a baby was born in a manger and named Jesus. And here we are, on the 1st day of December, approximately 2,025 years after that baby was born. We read this ancient text in an effort to know our creator more and prepare our hearts in the Advent season. Let’s ask, “What can we learn from Isaiah, potentially the most famous prophet, when he is concerned with Jerusalem (the capital city of Judah) and the whole kingdom of Judah?” Really, what in the world does this have to do with me and Christmas?
I think we have to go back a little farther in the text to figure out something. Chapter 1 ruthlessly lays out sins that don’t seem so ancient, but Chapter 2 comes in to let us know that new days are coming. Let’s have Chapter 2 be our hope for what is promised after we lived through a Chapter 1 mess. We’ve neared the end of this moment in our calendars and maybe it seems like we’ve had more mess than we’d like. We want more for our next year and we are setting aside time today to prepare and be more centered and more focused on the God of the universe.
Our desire for change is not new; longing “Lord, hear our prayer” is deep within us and has been for generation upon generation. We are promised, in Isaiah’s words, the Lord’s mountain will be the highest. It will be lifted up and people will stream to it. Many nations will want to go to this mountain to be taught by God and learn to walk in God’s paths of peace. A time will come when people seek the Lord’s teaching and then we will walk and not grow faint. People will no longer oppress the poor and delight in bribes. Orphans will be defended and widows cared for because many nations will learn God’s ways and walk in God’s paths. Chapter 2 is coming and we will keep seeking this mountain during the Advent season.
My Prayer:
God of Jacob, thank you for the ancient words of Isaiah that promise a new time of peace. Let us seek places to learn your ways and walk in your paths. Lord, hear our prayer.
Sign up to receive the Advent Devotional here.
Posted in Advent Devotional
Recent
Christian in Name Only // M-Note 4.11.2026
April 11th, 2026
CoreGroup Guide | Christians In Name Only - Part 1
April 10th, 2026
Experience the Surprise of Easter | Lent Devotional Day 47
April 5th, 2026
CoreGroup Guide | Easter 2026
April 4th, 2026
The Day Between | Lent Devotional Day 46
April 4th, 2026
Archive
2026
January
CoreGroup Guide | Shift Happens Part 1Three Reasons to Worship This Weekend // M-Note 1.10.2026A Mix of Celebrations and Bittersweet News // M-Note 1.17.2026CoreGroup Guide | Shift Happens Part 2CoreGroup Guide | Shift Happens Part 3Spread the Word: Online Only Worship on January 25 // M-Note 1.24.2026A Hard Lesson to Learn...Life's Not Always Fair // M-Note 1.31.2026
February
CoreGroup Guide | Shift Happens Part 4CoreGroup Guide | Power of Serving Part 1CoreGroup Guide | Power of Serving Part 2Ash Wednesday - The Party's Over | Lent Devotional Day 1Led Into the Wildnerness | Lent Devotional Day 2Take a Step Back to Grow Closer to God // M-Note 2.21.2026Celebrating Lent - An Oxymoron? | Lent Devotional Day 3CoreGroup Guide | Power of Serving Part 3Let's Journey With Openness | Lent Devotional Day 4What we Mean by "Penal Substitution" | Lent Devotional Day 5The Cross - Sin and Nearness | Lent Devotional 2026 Day 6The God Who Doesn't Look Away | Lent Devotional 2026 Day 7Worthy of Belonging | Lent Devotional Day 8Confession Without Self-Hatred | Lent Devotional Day 9The Repairer | Lent Devotional Day 10The Lamb of God | Lent Devotional Day 11Why Did Jesus Have to Die? // M-Note 2.28.2026
March
Turning the Lights On | Lent Devotional Day 12CoreGroup Guide | Why Did Jesus Have to Die? - Part 1Love That Leads to Change | Lent Devotional Day 13Like Ads for Love | Lent Devotional Day 14Who are You…Really? | Lent Devotional Day 15Nothing Between Us | Lent Devotional Day 16Let It Rip | Lent Devotional Day 17Christ + Nothing | Lent Devotional Day 18An Unjustifiable War // M-Note 3.7.2026CoreGroup Guide | Why Did Jesus Have to Die? - Part 2A Queer Atonement | Lent Devotional Day 19In Christ Was Life, the Light For All People | Lent Devotional Day 20Failure and the Invitation To New Imagination | Lent Devotional Day 21Jesus & Queerness: Entertaining Angels | Lent Devotional Day 22The Least of These | Lent Devotional Day 23The Good News For All Creation - and the Strange Wonder of God’s People | Lent Devotional Day 24Ready to Receive an Invitation // M-Note 3.14.2026Christ’s Death Frees Us So His Reconciling Life Can Flow Through Us | Lent Devotional Day 24 CopyFeminist Atonement Theory | Lent Devotional Day 26CoreGroup Guide | Why Did Jesus Have to Die? - Part 3Time to Tear Down | Lent Devotional Day 27God Doesn’t Glorify Violence, Man Does | Lent Devotional Day 28God Shares in Our Emotions, Death, and Resurrection | Lent Devotional Day 29A Meal that Matters | Lent Devotional Day 30The Cross is About Community | Lent Devotional Day 31Only Later Did It Begin to Make Sense | Lent Devotional Day 32CoreGroup Guide | Why Did Jesus Have to Die? - Part 4Jesus is Liberator of the Oppressed | Lent Devotional Day 33The Bigger Picture - Exodus, Jesus, and the God of the Oppressed | Lent Devotional Day 34Marginalized Prophetic Voices Emphasize God’s Character | Lent Devotional Day 35Freedom from Sin is both Personal AND Communal | Lent Devotional Day 36Christ’s Victory Empowers His People to Serve | Lent Devotional Day 37Jesus and Community | Lent Devotional Day 38CoreGroup Guide | Why Did Jesus Have to Die? - Part 5Serving (at Easter) is Powerful // M-Note 3.28.2026Working Out My Own Salvation | Lent Devotional Day 39Christ’s Triumphal Entry in Jerusalem | Lent Devotional Day 40Do I Trust that Christ’s Sacrifice is Enough? | Lent Devotional Day 41I Will Sing to the Lord | Lent Devotional Day 42
April
Embracing the Gift of Presence During Holy Week | Lent Devotional Day 43The Wonder of Dust and Dirty Feet | Lent Devotional Day 448 Reasons to Join Us for Easter // M-Note 4.3.2026Good Friday | Lent Devotional Day 45The Day Between | Lent Devotional Day 46CoreGroup Guide | Easter 2026Experience the Surprise of Easter | Lent Devotional Day 47CoreGroup Guide | Christians In Name Only - Part 1Christian in Name Only // M-Note 4.11.2026
2025
January
Happy New Year // M-Note 1.4.2025Cancel the Noise // M-Note 1.11.25Cancel the Noise Discussion Guide - Part 1The Beloved Community // M-Note 01.18.2025Cancel the Noise Discussion Guide - Part 2What A Coincidence // M-Note 1.25.25Cancel the Noise Discussion Guide - Part 3Cancel the Noise Discussion Guide - Part 4The Original Influencer // M-Note 2.1.25
February
The Beloved Community Discussion Guide - Part 1Exploring New Sites…And You’re Invited // M-Note 2.8.25The Beloved Community Discussion Guide - Part 2Uncovering Implicit Bias // M-Note 2.15.2025A "Flurry" of Activity // M-Note 2.22.25The Beloved Community Discussion Guide - Part 3The Beloved Community Discussion Guide - Part 4
March
Beloved Community Action Steps // M-Note 3.1.25Vulnerability & Wilderness | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 1Trusting the Spirit's Lead | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 2Courageous Connection | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 3What's Your Emotional IQ? // M-Note 3.8.25The Spaces Between Us | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 4Emotional Rollercoaster Discussion Guide - Part 1Jesus Weeps With You | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 5When Sadness Lingers | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 6Lurking in the Shadows | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 7Cycles of Life and Death | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 8Inked in Memory | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 9
No Comments