Joyful Anticipation

Advent Devotional Message

Central Baptist Church of Woodbury

December 17-24, 2023

Scripture: Luke 1:39-45

Thought/Verse of the Week:  “As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” – Luke 1:44 (NIV)

Elizabeth must have been busy preparing her home for Mary’s visit.  She was not hosting a big party – rather, she was giving hospitality to her cousin who was facing a very challenging time in her life.  Both were carrying precious lives made possible by the miraculous power of God but the people in their communities may not have understood it that way.  Both women, one older and the other younger, were God’s instruments in blessing all people through their sons.  They were meeting together in mutual support for each other, and eager to share each other’s story of angelic visitations.  

Before Mary arrived, Elizabeth must have been struggling with her own feelings.  While grateful for God’s blessing of a child, she was probably nervous about having a child in old age.  She may have worried about Mary’s pregnancy and how Joseph, Mary’s fiancé, would react when he knew about it.  There is no way that we will know how Elizabeth felt or what she was thinking about prior to Mary’s arrival.   Luke didn’t include these details except Elizabeth’s response to Mary’s greeting.  Filled with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth expressed a joyful affirmation of her cousin as the mother of her Savior.  She was not alone in her joy – her baby leaped for joy in her womb!   God transformed their family reunion into a worship service.   This small community of faith gathered in Elizabeth’s home, praised and worshipped God with great joy!  Whatever anxieties were felt by the two women were replaced by God’s joy and loving presence.  

This is the time of the year that many of us prepare to host family and friends who come to visit us on Christmas Eve or Christmas day.  We have family and church traditions that we cherish and no Christmas celebration would be complete without them. 

Every year most of us look forward to Christmas and all that we do together to celebrate the first coming of Jesus Christ.  However just like Elizabeth, some of us may be struggling with personal, family, or community issues.   Or like Mary we may feel like we need time to get away and seek the quiet companionship of a trusted family member or friend.  If we find ourselves in any of these situations, like Elizabeth and Mary, we can trust God’s Spirit to empower us to support one another in prayer, through words of encouragement and attentive presence.  Together we can joyfully anticipate the coming of Christ in our midst and in our hearts.  (CRK)

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Carla Romarate-Knipel

Ever since I was a child, I enjoyed reading and writing. Perhaps it was because my parents were great storytellers and voracious readers. As soon as I learned to write (yes I did it in cursive like everybody else did then!) I started a diary. When I was nine years old I sent a letter to my Dad who was an overseas contract worker in Guam. I wrote it in a form of a comic book and illustrated it myself. As a student at the Central Philippine University Elementary School, I was the Filipino literary editor of our school paper, the Mini Echo. To this day I was baffled by that because I was not that good in Filipino! In highs school I served as literary editor in the Central High Herald. I began to write poems and short stories that unfortunately I don't have any copies saved because we didn't have computers and flash drives then. II joined a short story writing contest sponsored by Central echo, CPU's college paper some time in the 1980's. I joined because I needed money to buy a new pair of sandals. My short story was titled, "Leaves," and it won first place! The chief judge was Prof. Alfredo Q. Gonzales, author of the classic essay, "The Will of a River," one of my favorite reads of Filipino literature in English. I did a lot of writing in college/seminary and graduate school but the most fun I had was when I was writing poems and short stories. Fast forward to the 21st century, I now write sermons every week and articles for our monthly news letter. Currently I serve as Senior Pastor of Central Baptist Church of Woodbury in Woodbury, New Jersey, U.S.A. This is my twelfth year at CBC, where my husband and I served as co-interim pastors from 2010 through 2012. We have a 19-year old son who is a college freshman, and my technical adviser in all things digital. In this continuing writing adventure I am thankful to God for giving me the inspiration to write and the joy that goes with it. I hope that my poems, prayers and prose inspire joy in my readers.

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