Advent 13th December

“How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, and says to Zion, "Your God reigns!" Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, they shout joyfully together; For they will see with their own eyes when the Lord restores Zion. Break forth, shout joyfully together, You waste places of Jerusalem; For the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations, that all the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 52:7-10

Readings

Isaiah 52:7-10,   

Luke 2:8-10
Hebrews 2: 5-9

Reflection

Do you believe in miracles? Jesus’ advent was a true miracle and the  prophet Isaiah anticipates this miracle: His appearance to dwell with us, uniting the heavenly and earthly realms. Emmanuel, "God with us," distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. God so loved the world that He gave His very best. The Advent season commemorates God's visitation to live with us. God brought heaven and earth together that Holy night, splitting the physical heavens with visible angels announcing the birth of the Saviour. Why did the announcement go first to shepherds in the "waste places" of the land? Perhaps because they didn't ask God if He was sure He knew what He was doing. Had angels appeared to theologians, they would have first consulted their commentaries. Had He gone to the elite, they would have looked around to see if anyone was watching to give them credit. Had God gone to the successful, they would have first checked their calendars. So He went to the shepherds - folks who wouldn't tell Him that angels don't sing to sheep or that messiahs aren't born in stables and laid in feed troughs. In Bethlehem the spiritual world and physical world came together, realigned. What Jesus went on to accomplish on earth makes it possible for God one day to reconcile all disharmonies between both worlds. It is no wonder a choir of angels broke out in spontaneous song, disturbing not only a few shepherds, but the entire universe. Albert Einstein said, "There are two ways to live. One is as if nothing is a miracle. The other as if everything is." The events of Christmas remind us of the truth in living according to the latter.

Prayer

Lord, inspire me to live in such a way that my choices each day and my commitment to live in a positive way may transform the negative into something positive, 

and the ordinariness of daily life into something extraordinary. Amen. 

Advent 12th December

“Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk in it, "I am the Lord, I have called You in righteousness, I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations, To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in darkness from the prison. "I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images. "Behold, the former things have come to pass, Now I declare new things; Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you." Isaiah 42:5-9

Readings

Isaiah 42:5-9,
Mark 12: 28-34,
Hebrews 1:1-14

Reflection

 

That was indeed, a night divine! Just as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob looked forward to that day, you and I look back to that very day when God became incarnate as man. His life, death, and resurrection are the centre point of Scripture and of history. His birth was the day that the true light shone forth and a new covenant with God’s people was born. He came to give us life, to open our eyes to the one and only true and living God. As we look upon Christ, we see God, for He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature (Heb. 1:3). It was a time of expectancy for God’s people just as Simeon was looking for the consolation of Israel (Luke 2:25) and Anna was looking for the redemption of Jerusalem (Luke 2:38). The King of kings has come and our eternal redemption is secured! Through His mercy and grace our sins have been paid for, the chains have been broken, and His righteousness has been given to us through faith in Jesus Christ alone. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” (I John 4:7). And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments (I John 2:3). Christ is the Lord! Oh, praise His holy name forever!

Prayer 

Lord God, I stand amazed at your power and
majesty bowed by such humility. I stand amazed at the suffering love that transforms  lives. 

I stand amazed that you, O God most high, were brought low for our sake.   

I bow down, to praise, to worship and to adore. Amen 

Advent 11th December

“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins. A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken." Isaiah 40:1-5

Readings

Psalm 23,
Isaiah 40:1-5, 9,
John 1:1

Reflection

 

These are the words that God wants to communicate to Jerusalem and the rest of Israel. This is a message from Him to ease the distress of His flock. Listen to His words: “Comfort, comfort my people…speak tenderly to Jerusalem…” I can almost hear the gentleness in His voice. These are soothing words. And the message just builds with hope and promise. Anticipation replaces hopelessness as there is a message from the desert to actually get ready! “Prepare the way for the Lord!” This is assurance to a fear-filled flock and growing confidence in a Shepherd who can be trusted. Well, how else will He bring comfort? The glory of the Lord is going to be revealed. How will this message reach the people? How will good tidings be brought to Jerusalem? It will be shouted out loud, “Here is your God!” Our God? Messiah? Really? Can this be true? The promise was fulfilled exactly as stated when, years later, a man named John was lead by God out of the wilderness with the exact message to prepare the way for the Lord. And with every breath his shout was “Messiah is coming! Messiah is coming!” They looked forward. We get to look back and, with humility and gratitude, remember that Christ our Saviour was born on Christmas Day. “O tidings of comfort and joy.” 

Prayer 

 

Lord by our words let your forgiveness be known.
Lord by our words might others seek you.
Lord by our words might others experience you.
Lord by our words might others receive your love.
Lord by our words bring your healing.
Amen.

 

Advent 10th December

“It will become a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of oppressors, and He will send them a Saviour and a Champion, and He will deliver them. Thus the Lord will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the Lord and perform it. The Lord will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the Lord, and He will respond to them and will heal them. In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, "Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance." Isaiah 19:20-25

Readings

Psalm 96
Isaiah 19:20-25,   

John 4:1-26

Reflection

Do you spend time thinking about angels? Apart from at Christmas. I usually picture them as winged creatures flying around heaven’s throne worshipping God and occasionally making visits to earth to carry out His decrees and scare people. However, the first stanza of this great hymn catches my attention and wow , here they were present at the creation singing the praises of God as they viewed His handiwork, and now we see them singing, "Glory to God in the highest!" as they fly around Christ's earthly birthplace in Bethlehem that night. They are witnesses to the entire story of man; the creation, the fall, now the redemption and, one day, the glorification at the second coming of Christ: INCREDIBLE! The first word of each stanza coupled with the last phrase reminds me that the invitation to "come and worship" is now open to all from the lowliest shepherd to the esteemed sage, and, from the Isaiah reading, from the God-fearing nation of Israel to the nations of Egypt and Assyria surrounding them. It is all about right worship—worship of Christ the new born King.

Prayer

I wait and look for you in my life.
I wait longing for the news I desperately want to hear.
I wait in desperation.
Help me to remember that “your grace is sufficient for me”   

So I lay it down, my tears, my fears .. my all and I come and worship. Amen