Arotahi is the Missionary Society of the Baptist Union of New Zealand. They have created a prayer resource for the season of Advent. We will publish a week of readings at a time a few days before the week starts.
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Sunday | 21 December
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14
Christmas Is Waiting to be Born
Where refugees seek deliverance that never comes
And the heart consumes itself as if it would live,
Where children age before their time
And life wears down the edges of the mind,
Where the old man sits with mind grown cold,
While bones and sinew, blood and cell, go slowly down to death,
Where fear companions each day’s life,
And Perfect Love seems long delayed.
Christmas is waiting to be born:
In you, in me, in all mankind.
Howard Thurman in The Mood of Christmas & Other Celebrations (1985)
Light a candle of love to proclaim God’s light in the midst of darkness. As you do, take a moment of reflection. In this season of Advent consider these questions:
tWhere do you see God dwelling amongst our world?
tHow are we invited to build upon the foundations that Christ has laid?
Monday | 22 December
Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvellous deeds among all peoples.
Psalm 96:1-3
In September 2024, Arotahi was invited to a conference of Baptist communities in the Pacific. This opened opportunities for renewed partnerships in the Pacific. In October this year, a group gathered together for a hui to explore what this could mean.
Please join us as we listen and see what God is doing in the Pacific, and where we may be invited to partner.
God,
Your kingdom calls us forward.
Grant us wisdom as we navigate new waters and ways of relating.
May we rest assured in your Spirit that you are already at work.
Help us to take your hand.
Amen.
Tuesday | 23 December
By Jo & Charlie
Our home is a construction site – it has been for many weeks, and will be for many many more weeks to come. Our home is also a community centre (normally). There is a ground floor, a flat roof, and there are many rooms and spaces to be renovated.
Our home is made of brick walls, with thick layers of plaster inside and out, and with marble floors and 8ft ceilings. Renovation includes chipping off the plaster, sorting out any revealed brick problems, re-bricking, plastering, and painting. The workers have, sensibly, started on the top and outside walls, and are working down and inwards. The bamboo scaffolding protrudes into our rooms, and we are unable to move the shutters to be either fully closed or fully open. The whole house and scaffold is shrouded in green netted cloth.
Our home is also home to the workers who are living on site to save time and energy used up by travelling. There are up to 14 men at a time living on the premises. They are completely independent of us in all their living, but they are there.
For the many weeks that renovation has been going on we have moved downstairs. Our configuration of living has changed to work with what spaces are available. The middle floor doesn’t have access to the patio or roof. There are no windows that we can look outside and see the sky, the rain, the neighbouring trees, the neighbourhood monkey, or any other thing that we would normally look for. The dust and grit is on-going, hour by hour. Cleaning feels pointless. We feel a bit claustrophobic, and find ourselves a bit irritable at the way it is different to what we usually experience living in our home. In fact, it kind of doesn’t feel like our home anymore.
The project manager assures us that once the renovations are complete, we will feel like we can breathe properly again (given the amount of dust, that may not be only a figurative term!). He tells us to remember that soon we will be living in a beautiful, newly renovated house; and of course, we know all the current house-related worries and stresses will melt away.
I actually am not so sure. I actually really liked the house the way it was. It was familiar, cosy. I knew exactly how to move myself to avoid the awkwardly-placed load-bearing pole. I knew which marks on the wall were never going to come off, and which ones were new. I knew the exact sound of each door opening or closing, and what a myriad other noises meant too. I knew how to move around in the dark and not crash into anything. It was a well-lived-in and much loved home.
The current situation is uncomfortable. Our old, comfortable home is gone. It won’t be like that ever again. The new, when we get there, will also be uncomfortable. The bones are mostly the same, but details will have changed. The doors will swing freely, and the ‘bang’ of them closing will be different. The spiral staircase to the roof will likely have been re-strengthened, and won’t do the wobble that has gradually increased over time. The rain won’t seep through the cracks in the doorframes like it used to.
Things will be different when we move back upstairs, but in all truth, I know they will be better. The doors won’t scrape the same. The spiral staircase will be firm, and I won’t have to go down in the pattern that I do to stop from wobbling so much. How wonderful to have a trusted steadiness under-foot!
So actually, the newly renovated house is something to look forward to. We will settle into a place that is going to be better for hosting, more flexible, and, best of all, has a paddling pool built into the roof!
The house will end up as a home. I will re-learn how to manoeuvre, what to not bother scrubbing, and what the noises mean. The patio and the sky will be ours to access at leisure again. The dust will be back to normal-dust levels, and the grit will be a distant memory. The new wall colours will be delightful to start with, and become familiar friends quickly after that.
It’s only because of the discomfort, of facing the fears, that we will be able to find how much better our lives will be. How much richer, how much fuller, more joyful, more peaceful, more like home than our old house ever was.
In this season, we invite you to consider, what is your current comfort? Where is your middle-discomfort? And what about your currently-feared new house that can become a home – where is that? What is that? Is 2026 the time to lean into that sacrifice of comfort? You might find the good life waiting on the other side for you!
Wednesday | 24 December
By Alan Jamieson, Arotahi General Director
“My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
Luke 1:46-55
I love Mary’s response to the Angel’s announcement of her upcoming pregnancy. In Luke 1:38 she says “Here I stand, the servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word.” Under Torah law she could be stoned for becoming pregnant while betrothed, be forced to drink ‘bitter waters’ to prove her innocence (Numbers 5) and faced the prospect of divorce. She must have known she would be verbally abused and disrespected, becoming a disgrace to her family, and then the anxiety of not knowing how Joseph would respond. To say nothing of entering a completely unknown future, yet she responds saying:
Here I stand
The servant of the Lord
Let it be to me according to your word.
Her response is an amazing model of discipleship. Her willingness to let God’s word shape her life both challenges and inspires me. However, more recently I have been curious about what Mary was thinking and how she felt as she stood at the foot of her son’s cross. John 19:25 tells us “near the cross of Jesus stood his mother”. She stood. She wasn’t lying in despair on the ground, screaming at the soldiers, yelling at them to have mercy or to bring her son down. No! She stood as a compassionate witness. She was present, she was watching, she was there. I wonder if again those words, from so long ago, echoed in her heart? Was this her response again? Was this her heartfelt prayer?
Thursday | 25 December
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
Luke 2:4-7
Son of God, Child of Mary,
born in the stable at Bethlehem,
be born again in us this day
that through us the world may know
the wonder of Your love.
Amen
Friday | 26 December
By Michelle Ritchie, Arotahi NZ Operations Manager
The following day John was again standing with two of his disciples. As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and declared, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!” When John’s two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus.
Jesus looked around and saw them following. “What do you want?” he asked them.
They replied, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
“Come and see,” he said. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon when they went with him to the place where he was staying, and they remained with him the rest of the day.
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus. Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means “Christ”).
Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, “Your name is Simon, son of John—but you will be called Cephas” (which means “Peter”).
John 1:35-42
This year I was privileged to do a pilgrimage to many places in Europe that have been on my bucket list. One church we stumbled upon in Venice was beautiful: Basilica de Santa Maria dei Frari, commonly called The Frari in Venice. Consecrated in 1492, it holds many stunning paintings and sculptures.
As I wandered past many immense works of art, I was drawn to a fresco in a corner of the building and this small painting of a woman looking out from behind a curtain, peeking into the ornate space. I was struck by this and kept pondering the words, “Come and see”, reminded of the scripture above from John 1.
As you look towards this New Year, I invite you to “Come and see” too.
Come and see where Jesus may lead as you choose to follow him.
Come and see what he might have in store as you remain with him, as the early disciples did.
Come and see who you might invite to your table as you seek his heart for the lost, lonely, & vulnerable.
Come and see who you might introduce to Jesus this New Year, like Andrew brought Simon Peter.
Lord,
You continuously invite me to come to You, to be with You and to sit with You in Your divine presence.
Please help me to hear this gentle invitation of Your love.
As I do, please open the eyes of my soul to see You, know You and love You more fully.
And as I see You, give me grace and strength to follow You wherever You lead.
Jesus, I trust in You.
Amen
Oh Lord, how shining and festive is your gift to us, if we only look, and see.
-Mary Oliver
Michelle Ritchie
Arotahi NZ Operations Manager
Saturday | 27 December
When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
Matthew 2:13-15
My Savior was born a refugee
Was hunted in his own country
From heaven, an unplanned pregnancy
Adopted by his own family
My Savior, he did not save himself
He suffered and brought the sick to health
His kingdom, for those in poverty
To know him, for those with eyes to see
God is not untouchable
Jesus bared his heart and soul
Our eyes have seen the invisible
Now God is one of us
My Savior, he died a lonely death
Forsaken at his final breath
No one to sing at his funeral
Did this life mean anything at all?
Who could have thought? Who could imagine?
This kind of love, God has blood
Pouring out on a cross we made
God has a face, God has a name
Who could have thought? Who could imagine?
This kind of love, God has blood
Pouring out on a cross we made
God has a face, God has a name
God has a face, God has a name
Refugee by Common Hymnal
Image: From the cover of Arotahi’s Daily Advent Readings 2025 PDF
