Hey Wheatland! Every Tuesday and Thursday of Advent, look for a brief video with an encouragement related to the week’s Advent Scriptures. Bob Mueller is kicking it off with a brief discussion of Isaiah 2:5-1 and Psalm 122. Enjoy!

“We are to create communities of love and justice out which healing can flow to others.” ~ N.T. Wright

Advent is the season where we “learn to yearn.” It’s the season where God grants us new desires and new hope. It is time to prepare to once again see, and celebrate, the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

Hope is not optimism. Hope is has to have its source in God himself. The God who entered the world as Mary’s son.

This past Sunday was the Feast of Christ the King. Thursday is Thanksgiving day. And this coming Saturday marks the beginning of Advent. These are times of celebration, gratitude, and yearning. I’ve included one prayer for each of these special dates below.

This is the collect for the last week of the year, especially suited for Christ the King.

Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Morning Prayer Service, from the Book of Common Prayer, includes the “General Thanksgiving.” It is a little bit longer than they typical collect, but it is the perfect spoken hymn to express our gratitude to God.

Almighty God, Father of all mercies,
we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks
for all your goodness and loving-kindness
to us and to all whom you have made.
We bless you for our creation, preservation,
and all the blessings of this life;
but above all for your immeasurable love
in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ;
for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.
And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies,
that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise,
not only with our lips, but in our lives,
by giving up our selves to your service,
and by walking before you
in holiness and righteousness all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.

Finally, since Wheatland worships in the evening, the Phos Hilaron is the perfect invocation in Advent. This hymn is ancient, and, the title and content both confirm, it is a joyful song. I urge you to make it part of your daily Advent practice. Here’s some more information about Phos Hilaron.

O gracious light,
pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!

Now as we come to the setting of the sun,
and our eyes behold the vesper light,
we sing your praises, O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of Life,
and to be glorified through all the worlds.

May God bless you as you pray prayers of worship, thanksgiving, and longing. Happy Thanksgiving!

The Feast of Christ the King marks the end of the Church year. It is the perfect ending to a year’s worth of worship and reflection on Jesus Christ. The only proper response is to proclaim that Jesus is Lord, King of the Universe and our hearts!

An important question remains, what kind of king is he? Jeremiah 23:16 contrasts the kings who failed to shepherd their people with God’s shepherd heart. The Lord promises to shepherd them as his own, calling himself, “the LORD our righteousness.”

Christ’s kingship is marked most fully by the location of his cross. Between two sinners, the one understood the kind of king Jesus was and the other didn’t, Jesus was asked, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” The cross displays the kind of king Jesus is.

J.R. is one of the leaders of our relational network, Ecclesia. He is also a dear friend to Wheatland. His latest book is The Art of Asking Better Questions and it is excellent! Go buy it.

Here is a recent interview with J.R. Watch, listen, and see your life improve. (Did I oversell it? It’s still really good.)

Not all marriage counselors are created equal. If your counselor eats, drinks, and breathes, then you have a chance. If not, it’s only going to tell you want to hear which is a lot less therapeutic than it seems. — If you Ask AI for marriage advice, it will probably tell you to get divorced

The world needs more Betties. We need more everyday saints, keeping everyday sinners in contact with the living God. — Then I Saw Her

Wheatland’s own, Ted Kriwiel talks about coffee, Nora Ephron, non-profits, and his favorite local bookstore. — The Godfather Is The Sum Of All Wisdom

Way to go, Cameron Combs. Again. — Hopeful But Not Optimistic Read, and or listen, to Cameron over at — Extra Credit

Is this weekend. It is the end of our liturgical year. This hymn is a good way to celebrate Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe, and our hearts. Amen.

Tim Loftin brought the message this weekend, speaking about one of his heroes. However, while talking about Jimmy Carter, Tim also painted a picture of many saints. Some are world famous and others who may be sitting in a pew next to you.

Jimmy Carter, irrepressible, unstoppable, a saint pointing us toward the Christ. Not to mention, tough.

(Sorry folks, this may be the longest sermon in Wheatland’s recent memory.)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer has been called many things: neo-orthodox, radical, spy, dissident, even assassin. But one term stands above all of them, pastor. (And possibly saint?)

His life and death were another “arrow pointing toward heaven,” directing our attention to God in Jesus Christ.

Bonhoeffer knew well the temptation to take good things, like the fellowship found within the Christian community, and make them the ultimate things. He knew that we don’t make idols only out of bad things, but more often out of the good. In Life Together, he says,

He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial.

He understands that when we love our brothers and sisters as Christ would have us, our attention is rightly focused upon God.

Human love constructs its own image of the other person, of what he is and what he should become. It takes the life of the other person into its own hands. Spiritual love recognizes the true image of the other person which he has received from Jesus Christ; the image that Jesus Christ himself embodied and would stamp upon all men.

Though they didn’t cross paths, Thomas Merton helps sum up some of Bonhoeffer’s thoughts when he says,

… to be human in this most inhuman of ages, is to guard the image of man for it is the image of God.

Thank you, Lord, for the witness of your servant, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Amen.

Mary is the example par excellence for saintliness. But she doesn’t become a saint on her own. She is always pointing to another.

Sometimes prayer is just one word. Or a groan. Or a repeated phrase. For all of you who have been awake in the night—in the grips of grief or anxiety, or simple insomnia—the fact that you have nothing else better to do doesn’t mean prayer comes easily.

Jason Gaboury speaks to this experience in — Spiritual Practice When You’re Just Trying To Survive

In this older article, James B. Jordan reminds us of the origins of Halloween. This holiday, so associated with evil acts and bad horror movies, is actually an opportunity for the Christian to take joy in Christ’s defeat of evil and death. So, go trick-or-treating! — Concerning Halloween

In a recent discussion on Emilie Griffin’s book, Clinging, some of us wondered aloud about the word “mysticism.”

Is it good? Is it bad? Is it anything at all? Frederica Matthews Green, an Orthodox Christian, makes the case that all Christians are mystics (and therefore none of us are.) — The Problem With Mysticism

Kelly did an amazing job sharing about one of Wheatland’s personal saints, the pastor, Eugene Peterson.

This talk is both a great homage to a pastor whose impact will last long after his death, but an encouragement to be the kind of church St. Eugene would be proud of. A church where one encounters the living God, accompanied by Jesus’ friends.