We made it! It's Christmas, and I know that your day is filled with gift-giving and family and food and fun. Let's make a little room for Him, perhaps at the beginning of the day as we remember and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. Light your advent candles, ALL of them and do this devotion.

Read Luke 2:1-20.

Do you remember the song, the Little Drummer Boy?

This song is about a little shepherd boy who doesn't want to go see baby Jesus without a gift. Finally he decides he can give the baby Jesus a song, and he plays his little drum. 

Come, they told me, pa rum pa pum pum.

A newborn King to see, pa rum pa pum pum. 

Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pa pum pum.

To lay before the King, pa rum pa pum pum, rum pa pum pum, rum pum pum pum, 

So to honor Him, pa rum pum pum pum. When we come.

Little baby, pa rum pa pum pum

I am a poor boy too pa rum pa pum pum

I have no gift to bring, pa rum pa pum pum

That's fit to give the King, pa rum pa pum pum rum pa pum pum rum...

I hope that you will finish out your advent season by lighting these final 2 candles; one on Christmas Eve and the other on Christmas Day. We will light our Love candle after 4 Christmas Eve services at church on Christmas Eve. It's going to be good to all sit around the table together, enjoy our meal and spend a few minutes talking about LOVE.

Ask: How do you define love? Share a time when you especially felt loved.

How does the world define love? Do you think people feel loved? 

Invite everyone to quote John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." 

How did God express His love? (by sending Jesus)

What did Jesus do to demonstrate the love of God?

Did He come to judge the world? 

Invite someone to read the verses that follow John 3:16, John 3:17-18

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ ...

This week we light our 3rd candle in the advent wreath. We've lit two purple candles, and this week we get to light the pink one representing joy. Here's a devotion to help guide your conversation centered on the joy we have when we remember what God did for us at Christmas time. 

Invite everyone to share the difference between joy and happiness.

You might wrap us the conversation by saying something like this: 

Happiness Is External, Joy Is Internal

One of the very obvious differences between happiness and joy is that happiness tends to be achieved externally, while joy is something achieved internally. For example, we can feel happy when we receive something like a gift or achieve something like awards or honors. These things are external or belong to the surface of our lives. It is not something deeper but, rather, superficial.

Joy, on the other hand, is something deeper. It is something we feel internally in our lives as human beings. For example, when we feel great...

There was a gospel tract that was (and is) very popular, it was printed and distributed by the Billy Graham Association. In fact, that little gospel tract has turned into a website, it's titled

Peace with God

Peace. 

This is the 2nd week of advent and we are going to spend a bit of time meditating on this beautiful word. Consider using this devotion with your family or group of friends as you celebrate the season of advent this year.

Invite family members to define peace.

After everyone has had an opportunity share what peace means to them, share this definition--

Peace is a stress-free state of security and calmness that comes when there's no fighting or war, everything coexisting in perfect harmony and freedom.

Invite someone to read Isaiah 9:6,

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Share this: When Jesus came to...

Hope is traditionally the first word we reflect on during advent. If you use colored candles for your advent celebration, hope is represented by one of 3 purple candles.

Here is a devotion you can do with your family to celebrate HOPE this advent season.

Ask: What does hope mean to you? Use hope in a sentence. (let everyone share) Share a time when something you hoped for happened, or didn't happen. 

Read Scripture: Ask 2 people to read these verses:

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Romans 15:13

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Teach: When the Bible speaks of hope, it's not the same as our kind of hope. We say, "I hope it doesn't rain!" And we know it might, and it might not. Our kind of hope is sort of a "wish." When the Bible speaks of hope, it is talking about being certain...

This is a quick update for my personal community, but this one time you are welcome to read on...

Throughout my years of ministry I've had one agenda and this is it:

I want to teach you to pray in such a way that you experience God's presence and His power in your life daily.

And, I want to do that same thing for your church.

To do this, I'm relaunching my leighannmccoy.com website SOON... (like hours and minutes not days and months soon). When the website is up and running you will be the first to know! 

I'm also podcasting this month on a subject that is not discussed enough. I'm going to address the crisis of faith in our young adult children who are declaring their freedom from the bondage of their Christian upbringing as they "deconstruct their faith."

This is a subject that is raw for me. If you've got kids you'd like to give a piece of your mind for Christmas, you can let me do it for you by simply sharing the podcast with them. We will send you an email each week when...