Devotionals

Advent Week 2: Participation in God’s Promises

Taking inspiration from Mary and Joseph

Advent Week 1: Waiting for the Promise

Lessons from Zechariah and Elizabeth

Thanksgiving and Praise

Reflections for this season of thanksgiving.

Being Content In Christ

Heeding the call of our Good Shepherd.

Embracing Easter's Everlasting Promise

As the gentle rays of Easter morning cascade across the horizon, they carry with them a message of hope. What was once a bleak and grief-stricken tomb is now a resplendent garden of divine grace.

Weathering the Storm of Good Friday

Sometimes, the forces outside of our control seem to overwhelm us. Suffering and uncertainty beat down on us from all sides like a tempest. seems imminent and inescapable. For Jesus and the disciples, Good Friday was just this type of storm.

On Lent: The Other Side of Surrender

“Easter is the miracle of transformation as seen in the change of seasons, in the maturation of mortal persons, and in the resurrection of souls.” — Richelle E. Goodrich

Preparing For the Journey: Ash Wednesday 2024

“To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair.” — Isaiah 61:3v

Letting Go of the Things We Can No Longer Hold

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." —Isaiah 43:18-19

Refreshed Hope

As we reflect on who we became over the last year, we make promises with resolution to a future that we hope for. And so, we practice the art of active waiting with hope.

Advent Week 4: Prince of Peace

As Christmas approaches, unrest often characterizes the final weeks of the year.

Advent Week 3: Everlasting Father

Exploring what it means to be a child of God.

Advent Week 2: Mighty God

How does Jesus defy our expectations?

Advent Week 1: Wonderful Counselor

Ruminating on the wisdom and guidance of Jesus.

Facing Changing Seasons with Thankfulness

Embracing the blessings and opportunities of new seasons.

Gratitude in Grit

Giving thanks even in the midst of the difficult seasons of life.

Leaning into the Holy Spirit

The Spirit is our helper, our guide, and our comforter.

Contemplating Fellowship with God

When we commune with God regularly we get the chance to experience spiritual milk to the bones, and honey for the soul.

Discussing Creativity and Healing with Anh Lin

Pursuing Excellence

What does a life modeled after excellence look like?

Love Without Conditions

"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them." — 1 John 4:16

Music in Our Lives of Faith

Exploring the spiritual connection between music and life lived in pursuit of God.

Spiritual Disciplines—On Simplicity

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” — John 15:1-2

Easter: Stepping Into New Beginnings

The rhythms of the seasons, baked into creation, happening all around us, are God-given reminders of a healthier and more fruitful state of being that we can experience.

The Image of Good Friday

Ruminating on human nature and the divine invitation for who we might be.

On Spiritual Practices: Examen

Allowing God's presence to awaken in our thoughts.

On Lent: Preparing Our Hearts For Easter

On Lent: Preparing Our Hearts For Easter

Faith Like a Child

Faith Like a Child

Humility and Transformation

The Invitation of Ash Wednesday

Embodying the Imago Dei

Our bodies are an essential part of the expression of who we are.

Celebrating Diversity

“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ." — 1 Corinthians 12:12

The Transformative Nature of Mercy

Mercy moves us to see the world and our relationship with one another through a different lens.

Promises of God

God’s ultimate promise is presence—God’s willingness to be present with us continually throughout our lives.

Epiphany Reflections

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

Contemplating Christ’s Divinity in Infancy

Approaching the Christ child with wonder.

Rhythms of Rest

From the very beginning of creation, rest is a gift given to us by our Creator.

Experiencing Art as Worship

Let us engage in our making with a worshipful heart, following the example set for us by God, and living into the gifts, skills, and talents we have been given.

Coming to the Table

Embracing the invitation of Luke 11.

Living Out of Shalom

What does it look like to live out of God's vision of peace in our daily lives?

The Song of Simeon | Advent Week Four

Exploring what happens on the other side of Christmas.

The Song of the Angels | Advent Week Three

Rejoicing in the promise of peace.

The Song of Zechariah | Advent Week Two

Meditating on the Advent invitation to pause and listen.

The Song of Mary | Advent Week One

Advent is a time for joyful remembering and retelling.

Thanksgiving Reflections

Exploring the season of gratitude through the lens of Acts 4.

Spiritual Disciplines—On Hospitality

Certain spaces and people hold the ability to welcome others into rest. We call this trait hospitality and it comes from a place of love.

Practicing Patience

When trouble plagues us, we can patiently weather the storm because we are anchored in our trust, our relationship, and our love of Jesus.

On Restoration and Renewal

Discovering an encouraging and hopeful narrative for the future

Embracing Peace

Peace is what guards us because it is rooted in the promise of life with God.

Hope As Resistance

To hope is to resist giving in or giving up. To hope is to believe this world is not the way it’s supposed to be—that this world is not yet all that it shall become.

Seeking Beauty

For as long as humans have tried to seek beauty, God has been pouring it out in love.

Stewarding Grace

God bestows grace upon all of creation. May we be moved to respond to this gift within our daily lives.

On Spiritual Mindfulness

Moments of quiet contemplation, of slowing down allow us to rest in the company of our Creator as we move through the situations around us.

The Goodness of God

What does “good” actually mean? Ultimately, what defines the criteria for goodness?

Basking in the Love of God

The love of God is infused into all of creation; the wonder and beauty of our world are born directly out of the Lord’s delight and joy.

Stewarding Creation

Creation care is respecting and celebrating the beauty and bounty of the world in which we share and, in so doing, rightly honoring and worshiping the Creator of all.

Spiritual Disciplines—On Lament

Bringing our pains and griefs to our Creator in the midst of a fractured world.

Reflecting on Discipleship

Discipleship is merging our brokenness with the willingness to seek Jesus even in the messiest tangles of imperfections and failures. It is accepting that no fault is unseen and yet grace is given.

On Lectio Divina | Attuning Ourselves to God’s Wisdom

We explore this age-old spiritual practice and cultivate an intentional space for reading Scripture.

Silencing Our Fears

Ruminating on the perfect peace of Jesus.

Moving Forward Through Forgiveness

Reflecting on the healing and restoration of forgiveness through the lens of Ephesians 4.

The Beauty of Easter

Easter offers us the ability to envision a better, renewed, beautiful world. It encourages us to embrace hope, not as a figment of our imagination, but as a tangible goal we can strive for.

Experiencing Quiet Connection, A Good Friday Reflection

Finding community and common understanding in the midst of our pain.

On Courage and Resilience

Relying on God in the midst of the chaos of this world.

Listening with Intention

Adapting our daily rhythms to hear where the Spirit is leading.

Ash Wednesday Reflections

A remembrance of our beginnings as well as what can become our destiny.

Discovering True Love

Reflecting on the unabashed love of God.

On Becoming Creative: Practical Tips from Alabaster's Co-Founders

We talk with Bryan Chung and Brian Chung about their tips for cultivating a life of creativity.

Spiritual Disciplines—On Community and Fellowship

Exploring what it means to intentionally cultivate and grow our communities.

The Unexpected Beauty of Brokenness

Rediscovering the beauty of our lives in the midst of pain and struggle.

Love in the Unexpected | Advent Week Four

For all our preparation, the love made manifest through Christmas is unexpected. Love leads us into the restoration and renewal that is to come; it welcomes us into this rebirth as we are.

Joyful and Triumphant | Advent Week Three

We are all invited to embrace joy, celebrating the beauty and goodness that our Creator intends and enacts for all the earth.

The Path of Peace | Advent Week Two

Meditating on the Advent invitation to enter into God's vision of peace for all the world.

The Thrill of Hope | Advent Week One

Entering into the Advent season through a reflection on John 1:1-5.

On Gratitude and Generosity

A reflection on what it means to give thanks and to give back

Adopting a Posture of Thankfulness

Pausing in the midst of our busyness to ruminate on God's faithfulness

Giving Ourselves Over to the Holy Spirit

Running the Race with Endurance | Reflecting on the Olympics Through the Book of James

A reflection on the 2020 Olympics in the midst of a challenging season.

Waking Up in the Word | Intentional Morning Rhythms

Be At Peace—A Bedtime Meditation | Psalm 121

Easter: Experiencing the Resurrection

The Balance of Good Friday

Advent Week Four: Where Love Is Found

Advent Week Three: Joy

Advent Week Two: Participating in Peace, Shalom

Advent Week One: Waiting With Hope, Isaiah 9:6-7

Practicing Gratitude | Psalm 100:4-5

The Book of Genesis: The Story of Creation and Covenant

The Book of Ecclesiastes: Hevel, The Fleetingness of Life | Alabaster Co

The Book of Revelation: An Unveiling of Hope | Alabaster Co

On Experiencing God's Grace in Weakness and Imperfection

Spiritual Disciplines—On Silence and Solitude | Luke 5:16

On Relinquishing Control, A Prayer for Anxiety | Philippians 4:6-7

Psalm 23 | A Reflection on Coronavirus, the Bible, and Our Response

We reflect on the bible verses in Psalms 23 and how it should inform our faith and response to the current coronavirus.

The Integrated Life

Advent Week Four — Love Moves In

In Christ’s birth, God demonstrates that love is not merely a matter of sweet words or acts of kindness. Love is moving in. He loves us because he lives with us, and in us—and he invites us to love similarly.

Advent Week Three — The Person of Joy

Reframing the concept of "waiting" during Advent—through the practice of thoughtful preparation.

Advent Week One — Mary Magnifies a History of Faithfulness

For Advent: Exploring the Magnificat and how Mary places her life in the larger story of God's faithfulness.

Advent Week Two — The Virtue of Preparation

Reframing the concept of "waiting" during Advent—through the practice of thoughtful preparation.

Finding God in Mystery and Wonder

Exploring the depths of God through mystery and wonder.

Afternoon Practices to Cultivate Creativity

Christian practices to help with creativity during the afternoon, "midday slump".

Recovering The Garden Experience In Our Creative Calling

In the midst of a culture of speed and efficiency, we are invited to courageously advance creativity by reaching back to its simple origins.

Evening Practices to Cultivate Creativity

Lenten Reflection on Noah, the Flood, and God's Universal Covenant

Morning Practices to Cultivate Creativity

Our Lives As Clay Pots

Letting Jesus Sustain Our Hustle

Letting the Psalms Shape Our Spirituality

We believe that when we let the Psalms shape our spirituality, we open ourselves to learning new ways and new words for articulating our relationship with God.