It is only a few days until Christmas, and many of us are working on last-minute preparations. Our plans for celebrating involve gifts, feasting, laughter, and joy. We will attend Christmas Eve worship services and joyous family gatherings. Christmas music will fill our ears and touch our hearts. Our church choirs will blend their voices and remind us of the Angels singing on the first Christmas and the listening shepherds tending their flocks.

All manner of happy festivity will fill our time, and we will feel happy and blessed.

But the news will continue to fill our eyes and ears with the worries of the world – wars and rumors of wars, political fighting, the loss of financial help or income for so many, joblessness, and homelessness suffered by millions of our neighbors.

We can tune all that out and carry on, or we can help. We can remember that we are the hands and feet of Jesus and ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do?” We can’t feed the whole world, but we can donate more to the blessing box, serve on Thursday nights at Welcome Table right here at our church, and donate more to local food banks. We can open our eyes and hearts to the needs all around us and make those in need more important than usual. We can sacrifice a few extravagances to give more to the needy, the sick, the lonely, the homeless.

We can let the sad news we see and hear pull upon our heartstrings and remind us of today’s scripture as we give generously of our time and money. And overflowing with hope for the needy, hope for the homeless, hope for those in great need, hope for peace of mind, we will be filled with that promised joy at Christmas and beyond.

Let’s pray together using the words from today’s scripture – “May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” And as we overflow with hope, joy, and peace, help us Lord, to let ourselves overflow with generosity of time, hearts, and pockets, today and every day. Thank you, Jesus. Amen!

This devotional was written and read by Bernice Howard.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.