This year’s daily Advent devotional at Pinnacle is completely online. We have daily readings for you to see and hear, available on the Pinnacle Presbyterian Church app (downloadable from your Mac or Android app store), on the Pinnacle website, and posted on Facebook. Dr. Mike Hegeman assembled this year’s collection, with contributions from Pinnacle staff. Here’s a sample, written by Pinnacle’s new Director of Stewardship (part-time), Diane Jezek-Powell. Log on to see and hear more!

Comfort, Comfort You My People v. 2

For the herald's voice is crying
in the desert far and near,
bidding us to make repentance,
since the kingdom now is here.
O that warning cry obey!
Now prepare for God a way;
let the valleys rise in meeting,
and the hills bow down greeting.

Like many in the Valley of the Sun, I came to the desert as a transplant. It took awhile for the beauty of the landscape to feel like home, but once it did, I fell in love with the profound spiritual environment the desert provides. In the desert, sound travels differently, rain is relished and the mountains stand as silent sentinels keeping watch. In this place, I have come to better understand the Israelites and their relationship with I AM, the GOD and creator of our universe. I have come to understand why GOD is our only shelter and the only truth deserving our trust.

As the verse attests, there is a warning cry for America…and the world. Technology, entertainment, money, power, prestige and a thousand other distractions have turned our eyes from GOD. By pausing us in the middle of our mad, worldly pursuits, we have been given an opportunity to listen for the herald’s voice not speaking fear, but love; not warning of death, but the joy of eternal life.

“Comfort, Comfort You My People” washes over us to remind us we are children of the living GOD.  Take time this Advent season to pause with great compassion. Can you imagine what your life would be like without the comfort Christ brings? Now, reach out to the lost neighbor, colleague, or friend and share the hope and joy only Jesus can bring.

No greater Christmas present can be given.

Prayer: God, send your comforting Spirit, to bring us genuine renewal, as streams of living water refresh the desert. In Jesus may we experience such a living fountain.

Diane Jezek-Powell, Director of Stewardship