Second Sunday in Advent: Love

love – a strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties; warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion; unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another

Light the first  and second candle on your Advent Wreath.

Read Luke 1:26-56

²⁶ In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For nothing is impossible with God.”

³⁸ “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

³⁹ At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, ⁴⁰ where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! ⁴³ But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”

⁴⁶ And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord

⁴⁷       and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

⁴⁸    for he has been mindful

of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

⁴⁹       for the Mighty One has done great things for me—

holy is his name.

⁵⁰    His mercy extends to those who fear him,

from generation to generation.

⁵¹    He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;

he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

⁵²    He has brought down rulers from their thrones

but has lifted up the humble.

⁵³    He has filled the hungry with good things

but has sent the rich away empty.

⁵⁴    He has helped his servant Israel,

remembering to be merciful

⁵⁵    to Abraham and his descendants forever,

even as he said to our fathers.”

⁵⁶ Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

Where do you see love in this passage? How does it reveal itself?

How can you express God’s love to others this holiday season?

Father God, help us to receive the great love You have for us 

and enable us to generously offer Your love to others.

The Prevenient Way

way: how someone or something does something

I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14: 6

The words of John keep flowing through my thoughts…

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

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: 1 and 14

This is the way God is going to save us?  This is the thing the prophets foretold?  Those after the time of prophecy had spent years trying to figure it out.  The way God would redeem…but none…not one I know of considered this. 

I held the sweet week old baby of a friend today.  I asked her, “Can you believe it?”  How does this happen?  Ten months ago nothing and now...a life right here in my hands.  The miracle of a baby never ceases to amaze me…to remind me that this is how God chose to save the world.

There in the blue eyes and chubby cheeks resides the message of prevenient grace. Prevenient grace describes the grace God uses to draw us to Himself.  From the very moment we are born God loves us.  He covers us with grace even though we have no way of responding or even understanding.  Babies bring that out in us…an unconditional love.  We stir up this same kind of love from God when he looks upon our faces.

I wonder if all those who held the holy child felt the same way.  Did they look into the tiny face and recognize that good deeds and knowing the right things…behaving a certain way…could not bring about this miracle?  This way…God coming as an infant…keeps me grounded in the knowledge that there is nothing…not one thing…that I can do to save myself. 

Tomorrow marks the second Sunday in Advent.  The word for the day is love.  Love came down in the still of a night, from the virgin’s womb.  Love all warm and wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a feed trough.  Love clothed in fresh skin and baby smell. 

Love given not because of what we are…but because of whose we are.

Father, thank you for the miracle of life.  Help me to journey through this season reminded that you made a way for me…not because of who I am…but because of whose I am.  Amen

Stacy

Grace

 grace - the exercise of love, kindness, mercy, favor; disposition to benefit or serve another; favor bestowed or privilege conferred

For it is by Grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do

Ephesians 2: 8 – 10

 As we move into the season of celebration for the birth of our Savior, I am reminded of the true meaning of this gift from God.

The message from the book of Ephesians has been my favorite scripture for a long time.  It is even written on the cover of my Bible to remind me of God’s promise. For years I leaned on this scripture to give my life meaning, but my spiritual life was out of balance.  I have always been involved in mission trips, good deeds, and service but I still felt empty.  Like many people I grabbed onto this one part of the scripture without understanding the entire message. 

I think it is interesting that Paul wrote this letter while he was in prison.  In this letter Paul was trying to get the people to see themselves differently.  He suggested that people who saw themselves as sinners would benefit by thinking of themselves as people in Christ:  “….remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ” – Ephesians 2:11-13.  Paul is trying to encourage everyone that although we may be spiritually dead (separated from God) our salvation comes from our faith that Gods overwhelming love for us has reunited us to Him through Jesus Christ.

For many years I fought God calling me into prison ministry.  I was happy doing the “good works” that I wanted to do.  I did not want to be immersed into “jailhouse religion”.  At the time I was fighting Gods call, I was a simple man and I had simple understanding of the word.  I was convicted as soon as I entered the Chapel in the prison for the first time.  Prison ministry has been my passion for the last twelve years because I believe it is the “good works” that God prepared in advance for me to do.

I have been saved by God’s unearned favor given in Christ – Grace.   None of this would be possible without the birth of Jesus.  God’s ultimate gift of grace!

John Burns

Pray

pray - to speak to God especially in order to give thanks or to ask for something, to make a request in a humble manner, to address God or a god with adoration, confession, supplication, or thanksgiving.

Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you.

Mark 11: 24

Many of you know a couple of years ago Canyon got laid off work.  After a couple of weeks of sulking he picked himself up and went back to school.  While in his last semester he decided to also take on a job.  He got hired and loved it only to be “let go” after six months.  What a bummer, right?! Some people have said how they can’t believe how supportive I am and most wives would be nagging their husbands to hurry up and get another job.  I know God is over our lives and so I do not worry.  I pray the right job will come along in God’s timing.  I have prayed that God will show Canyon the way and I believe he will. 

How many times do we find ourselves in a bind and need a little help from God?  What do we do as a last resort?  We pray.  We are a selfish people who pray for our own wants and desires.  Yes it would have been easy to complain and be frustrated about a job loss, but what good does that do for anyone?  I believe that loss was a huge blessing for my family. 

As we approach this Advent season, I would like to encourage you to pray for others, ask God how he can use you and pray and seek His will and not your own. 

I thank God that Canyon did get laid off because he has had the chance to be more involved in his children’s lives which would not have happened in that previous job.  So again, pray in the bad times as well as the good times because both hold the blessings we may not yet can see……“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” —Philippians 4:6.

Monica Hamilton

Silence

silence – 1: to compel or reduce to silence: still 
2: to restrain from expression: suppress

Read: Luke 1:5-20

Shut up! 

My daughter reminds me that these words are off limits for the grandkids and I need to stop saying them. So, I’ll say it nicer … Stop talking! Like the angel who told an unbelieving Zechariah: You will not be able to speak until Elizabeth gives birth. 

Why would God do that?  They had wanted a child for so many years, they had given up. It was ridiculous to believe his wife was pregnant at this late date. So, instead of saying Thank You God and being able to run to all his friends and tell them the good news, his voice was taken away.

Again, why? Maybe it was a lesson in listening. Maybe it was a chance to look around at the events in a different way, a way that was internal, personal and intentional. Instead of a conversation, where you are thinking about your reply, you are instead noticing, not the words another person was speaking, but the heart of the matter that concerned them. Maybe it was a lesson in trusting. What if God were saying I’m going to give you some time to think this whole thing over to make sure you know it was Me who caused this to happen, not you. Maybe time was needed to contemplate the bigger picture.

Before my husband died I was involved in a prayer ministry where I prayed out loud. I was even starting to get comfortable speaking my thoughts and concerns and hopes and needs, for others and myself, to a group of people. After Nick died, my mouth closed and my words stuck in my throat. I’ve been asked to join in other prayer groups, I go, I try, but I am tongue-tied, my thoughts can’t seem to express the reality of the situation others are facing. I’m silent.

Again, why? Honestly, I don’t know. But God does. I hear Him say listen and trust. That’s all for now. So simple and yet so hard. Wait on the Lord for His timing is perfect. Look around and just see. Trust in me and wait. I have a plan and it’s all going to work out.

My new words: Please …stop talking.

“Be still, and know that I am God…”

Psalm 46:10

Linda Tomlinson