Today, spend sometime brainstorming someone that you can love a little extra this advent season. This could be a grandparent that lives far away, a neighbor down the street, or even a specific friend that you don’t see everyday.

Once you pick your person, brainstorm what you may want to do for that person. Would you want to bake them cookies or maybe bring them flowers? Maybe they would like a special card or some kind of craft. Make a plan and mark your calendar for Wednesday, December 17th. On that day, your activity will be to do what you brainstorm today, to share a little extra love with someone special!

Today we want to focus on a specific prayer. You can pray this now, or you can pray right before bed.

We know prayer can be hard sometimes because you have to be quiet and focus, but prayer is important because it is an opportunity for us to talk to God! There isn’t a right way to do this or a perfect formula, you are simply talking to God, giving Him praise, and asking for His help!

Use the prayer below as we continue to remember how it felt long ago when God’s people were waiting and longing for the Savior!

God, thank you for loving me enough to send Jesus to make things right again. Give me eyes to see your love each and every day. Amen.

Reminder, this week’s verse is “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” Isaiah 9:2 NIV

Make sure you have it memorized because when you go to Tsunami, if you can recite the verse from memory there is a special prize for you! You may get free pizza, you may get candy, or you may even get to play the game on stage!

GO MEMORIZE THIS WEEKS VERSE!!!

Wilmington- find Brett or Caroline TONIGHT and recite the verse!

Leland- find Matt on Sunday and recite the verse!

New Bern- find Jonathan on Sunday and recite the verse!

"God with us." Two simple words that change everything. When Isaiah spoke this prophecy to King Ahaz, the nation was in crisis mode. Enemies were threatening them, fear was thick, and the king was trying to figure out political alliances that might save his kingdom. Into that anxiety, God offers a sign: A young woman will have a baby boy, and he will be called Emmanuel, which means God is with us.

READ

Let’s take a moment to read Isaiah 7:14:

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

REFLECT

The remarkable thing isn't just that God promised to send someone. It's that He promised to be with them. Not God watching from a distance. Not God occasionally checking in. God with us—in the mess, in the fear, in the uncertainty.

We're pretty good at keeping God at arm's length. We'll go to church, read our Bibles, maybe even pray. But actually inviting God into the complicated, messy, un-glamorous parts of our lives? That feels vulnerable. It feels easier to try to clean ourselves up first, to present our "best self" to God, to keep certain rooms of our hearts locked until we can get them under control..

But Emmanuel means God doesn't wait for an invitation to the cleaned-up version of our lives. He steps into the chaos. The Incarnation—God taking on flesh—was about nearness. Jesus didn't keep distance, offering advice from heaven. He moved into the neighborhood. He got hungry, tired, frustrated. He attended weddings and funerals. He touched lepers and let questionable people into His friend group.

That's the kind of "with us" God chose. Not looking down on our problems but entering into them. Not fixing everything from a safe distance but sitting in the mess with us, getting His hands dirty with our humanity.

This matters for how we understand God's love. It’s not a distant, theoretical kind of love that just hopes we’re okay from far away. It's a fierce, committed, show-up kind of love that refuses to leave us alone in our struggles. When we're facing uncertainty, God is with us. When we're overwhelmed by circumstances we didn't choose, God is with us. When we feel alone and unseen, God is with us.

During Advent, we prepare to celebrate the moment when "with us" became literal—when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. But Emmanuel isn't just about something that happened two thousand years ago. It's about how God continues to show up in our real lives. Every moment we're tempted to think we're facing life alone, Emmanuel whispers a different truth: you're not abandoned, you're not forgotten, you're not left to figure this out by yourself. The God who tore open the heavens to be born in a Bethlehem stable is the same God who enters into your Tuesday afternoon, your difficult conversations with friends, your feelings of worry and fear. He didn't come just to visit; He came to stay.

• What does it mean to you personally that God chose to be "with us" rather than remain distant?

• Where do you need to experience Emmanuel—God with you—most right now?

• How would your life look different if you truly believed God is present in every moment?

PRAY

Emmanuel, God with us, thank you for not keeping your distance. Thank you for entering into our mess, our pain, our ordinary moments. Help me recognize your presence today—not just in the big, obvious ways, but in the quiet, everyday ways you show up. Teach me what it means to live with you, not just for you. Amen.

READ

"God with us." Two simple words that change everything. When Isaiah spoke this prophecy to King Ahaz, the nation was in crisis mode. Enemies were threatening, fear was thick, and Ahaz was trying to figure out political alliances that might save his kingdom. Into that anxiety, God offers a sign: a virgin will conceive and bear a son, and his name will be Emmanuel—God with us.

Let’s take a moment to read Isaiah 7:14:

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

REFLECT

The remarkable thing isn't just that God promised to send someone. It's that He promised to be with them. Not God watching from a distance. Not God occasionally checking in. God with us—in the mess, in the fear, in the uncertainty.

We're pretty good at keeping God at arm's length. We'll go to church, read our Bibles, maybe even pray regularly. But actually inviting God into the complicated, messy, unglamorous parts of our lives? That feels vulnerable. It's easier to try to clean ourselves up first, to present our "best self" to God, to keep certain rooms of our hearts locked until we can get them in order.

But Emmanuel means God doesn't wait for an invitation to the cleaned-up version of our lives. He steps into the chaos. The Incarnation—God taking on flesh—was about proximity. Jesus didn't keep a divine distance, offering advice from heaven. He moved into the neighborhood. He got hungry, tired, frustrated. He attended weddings and funerals. He touched lepers and let questionable people into His friend group.

That's the kind of "with us" God chose. Not hovering above our problems but entering into them. Not fixing everything from a safe distance but sitting in the wreckage with us, getting His hands dirty with our humanity.

This matters for how we understand God's love. It's not a detached, theoretical love that wishes us well from afar. It's a fierce, committed, show-up kind of love that refuses to leave us alone in our struggles. When we're facing uncertainty, God is with us. When we're overwhelmed by circumstances we didn't choose, God is with us. When we feel isolated and unseen, God is with us.

During Advent, we prepare to celebrate the moment when "with us" became literal—when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. But Emmanuel isn't just about something that happened two thousand years ago. It's about how God continues to show up in our present reality. Every moment we're tempted to think we're facing life alone, Emmanuel whispers a different truth: you're not abandoned, you're not forgotten, you're not left to figure this out by yourself. The God who tore open the heavens to be born in a Bethlehem stable is the same God who enters into your Tuesday afternoon, your difficult conversation, your middle-of-the-night worry. He didn't come just to visit; He came to stay.

RESPOND

Take a moment to process what God might be leading you to do in light of what you read.

• What does it mean to you personally that God chose to be "with us" rather than remain distant?

• Where do you need to experience Emmanuel—God with you—most right now?

• How might your life look different if you truly believed God is present in every moment?

REST

Take a moment to rest in God’s presence and consider one thing you can take away from your time reading, then close your devotional experience by praying:

Emmanuel, God with us, thank you for not keeping your distance. Thank you for entering into our mess, our pain, our ordinary moments. Help me recognize your presence today—not just in the big, obvious ways, but in the quiet, everyday ways you show up. Teach me what it means to live with you, not just for you. Amen.