Advent 2 - Friday
By Pat Lee | December 12, 2008
Friday - December 12,2008
Not Mere Angels
Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 4: 7-10
Scripture Verse: “But we have this treasure in clay pots…we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed but not driven to despair…” 2 Corinthians 4: 7, 8
By coming into the world in Jesus, God changed everything, including us. We are not perfect but we are not the same.
Our situation is captured in Genesis, where “the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground.” With every other creature we share the needs, hungers and desires of all nature. Except Genesis also tells us that: God breathed into us and that we are created in the image of God.
Because of that, we are able to respond to God, to trust him and reflect him.
By coming into our lives, Jesus restores this connection, so that we can live in his “new” way.
Sometimes the brightness of God’s face is clouded by sickness, suffering and war but we can look to Jesus to remember how God is. Thus we “are perplexed but not driven to despair”.
The clearest sign that Jesus lifts us beyond our creaturely self-centredness is when we turn our regard, concern and energy towards others. Through our baptism, we clay-pot people, formed of dust, are also connected to God’s Spirit.
We are not mere angels and we are not just animals either. God came into the world at Christmas bringing anew hope, peace, joy, trust, love. With Jesus in our lives, even in the times we struggle, we have these treasures here and now.
Prayer: Loving God, help us this Advent Season to see the dignity you have given all people and help us to treat ourselves and others with the respect we are all due as we love our neighbours as ourselves. Amen.
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Advent 2 - Thursday
By Pat Lee | December 11, 2008
Thursday - December 11,2008
Down With Tyrants
Scripture Reading: Isaiah: 40:1-11
Scripture Verse: “Get you up to a high mountain…lift up your voice with strength…do not fear: say, ‘Here is your God’.” Isaiah 40:9
Sometimes God comforts His people by confronting them. Could our occasional vague feelings of discontent, that nothing counts, actually be God’s gift to us to arouse us to the possibility that we may be setting for too little?
Is our life measured by our possessions? Is our biggest concern which teams make the playoffs?
Through Isaiah God calls us to be one of his people who gets up and does meaningful things in life. “I’ve got mountains for you to climb, good tidings to shout: Here is your God.”
Our individual call depends on our God-given abilities—but God beckons us to get involved—visiting someone who we know is lonely—phoning or sending s card to someone who hurts, getting involved in a church activity—volunteering in the community. The list is endless because the needs are endless but there are meaningful things for each one of us to do.
There are times in our lives when God’s job for us is to use our energy and time to raise and provide for our families—there are, as well, everyday opportunities to live out our faith in care and concern for others. God knows the value of our little acts of kindness and love.
Prayer: Loving God, we thank you for calling us to use the gifts and talents you have given us to serve you in Jesus name. Amen .
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Advent 2 - Wednesday
By Pat Lee | December 10, 2008
Wednesday- December 10, 2008
Look For the Lord
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 40: 1: 11
Scripture Verse: “…in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord” Isaiah 40:3
Sometimes we are down in the dumps because we run into circumstances that are insurmountable. The ancient Jews in captivity not only felt helpless, they were helpless under the power of the mighty Babylonian empire. It seemed impossible that they would ever be restored to their land.
But “prepare the way of the Lord” says Isaiah, reminding us that we are not the only ones working. God is working too. The fact that we are helpless does not mean that God is helpless. We will never be more helpless than we are at the moment of our death, when God’s power to give life again will be most evident.
And in case we think these are empty words, we should know that, while the prophet was comforting God’s people with words, God was already raising up Cyrus, the Persian (Isaiah 45:1-7) who, as history records, overthrew the Babylonians. What’s more, in the first year of his reign, Cyrus permitted the Israelites to return to Jerusalem and begin to rebuild the city and restore the temple.
Many of us have had the experience of looking back after a crisis has passed and seeing how God was at work all the time, preparing for our relief, even though we couldn’t see it when all seemed so hopeless. The poet Robert Browning wrote, “Before man’s first and after man’s last, God operated and will operate.”
God is the God of the unexpected. One example would be the first Christmas—another the Cross. But we can also look back over our own lives and see how God was with us in our problems. When we are down in the dumps “prepare the way for the Lord.”
Prayer: Loving God help us to learn again that, in Jesus, you are always with us even when things seem hopeless. Amen
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Advent 2 - Tuesday
By Pat Lee | December 9, 2008
Tuesday- December 9, 2008
Comfort My People
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 40: 1-11
Scripture Verse: “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem…” Isaiah 40:2
If anyone deserved to feel depressed, it was the Jewish people to whom these words of comfort were first written. Their country had been conquered by the Babylonians, the temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed, Jerusalem itself levelled and the people scattered or taken into captivity in Babylon where they had slaved for 60 years. What’s more they felt they had brought all this on themselves by failing to keep the covenant with God. They not only felt helpless but hopeless.
Feelings of depression are not limited to ancient people. They can happen to us today—sometimes because of what we have done or failed to do—sometimes because of events over which we have no control.
How does God confront us when we feel we’ve failed? Does He say “Serves you right.”? No.
“Comfort my people,” says our God. “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her sins are forgiven.” At the first Christmas, when God came into the world, he came as Jesus our Saviour. But throughout the Old Testament we see the God who stoops to pick us up. God knows our sins and failures and does not belittle them—instead God reaches past them. In God’s forgiveness, there is a restorative power to believe in our ultimate worth and dignity.
This week we will read this passage from Isaiah and allow God to speak His affirmation and love to us. God wants us to believe in his love and acceptance more than we believe our self-doubts. In the words of Corrie ten Boom from the Ravensbruck Concentration Camp: “No pit is so deep that God is not deeper still.”
Prayer: Loving God, we thank you for accepting us as we are and for your faithfulness to us. Amen
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Advent 2 - Monday
By Pat Lee | December 8, 2008
Advent Take-Homes
The following have been used as resources for these take-homes.
In the Presence of the Lord—Advent Devotions by Caroline Pignat
Daybreaks—Daily Reflections for Advent and Christmas by Patricia Livingston
Wake Up To Joy Devotions for Advent by Mark Neilsen
Following the Star—Daily Reflections for Advent and Christmas by Mark Boyer
Living in Hope Advent Meditations—Henri Nouwen
Second Week of Advent
Monday - December 8, 2008
Our Purpose
Scripture Reading: Mark 1:1-15
Scripture Verse: “Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe the good news” Mark 1:14-15
Would an Old Testament prophet or John the Baptist or Jesus visit our culture and accuse us of being captured by our accumulation of things—by a reliance on our possessions.
The baby whose birth we are preparing to celebrate will grow up to challenge people to rely on him instead.
“The kingdom of God is near,” (Mark 1:15). We define “kingdom of God” every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.” The Christmas baby grew up as the Son of God by doing the will of his heavenly Father. We live as children of his Kingdom when we try to discern and do the will of the God revealed to us in Jesus.
Even with all that God has done for us—giving us Jesus, forgiving our sins, bringing us into Jesus’ church, supporting us with His Holy Spirit—God still calls us to “repent and believe the good news.”—to turn to God each day and each day to allow the good news of God’s love for all people to touch our hearts and affect our lives.
William Barclay wrote that Christianity does not withdraw us from life but equips us for life.
Allowing Jesus to touch our hearts and affect or lives does not release us from problems or concern for the problems of others. Instead it equips us to face our problems and to help others who are experiencing challenges in life.
Prayer: Loving God, help us during this Advent Season to turn to you and to allow your Son Jesus to touch our hearts. Amen
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