Christmas Eve

¹⁸This is how Jesus Christ was born. A young woman named Mary was engaged to Joseph from King David’s family. But before they were married, she learned that she was going to have a baby by God’s Holy Spirit. ¹⁹Joseph was a good man and did not want to embarrass Mary in front of everyone. So he decided to quietly call off the wedding. ²⁰While Joseph was thinking about this, an angel from the Lord came to him in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph, the baby that Mary will have is from the Holy Spirit. Go ahead and marry her. ²¹Then after her baby is born, name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” ²²So the Lord’s promise came true, just as the prophet had said, ²³“A virgin will have a baby boy, and he will be called Immanuel,” which means “God is with us.”     ²⁴After Joseph woke up, he and Mary were soon married, just as the Lord’s angel had told him to do.

Luke 1:18-24

Friday – Week 4

Make your ways known to me, Lord; teach me your paths.

¹ I offer my life to you, Lord.
² My God, I trust you.  Please don’t let me be put to shame!
Don’t let my enemies rejoice over me!
³ For that matter, don’t let anyone who hopes in you be put to shame;
instead, let those who are treacherous without excuse be put to shame.
⁴ Make your ways known to me, Lord;
teach me your paths.
⁵ Lead me in your truth— teach it to me—because you are the God who saves me.
I put my hope in you all day long.
⁶ Lord, remember your compassion and faithful love—
they are forever!
⁷ But don’t remember the sins of my youth or my wrongdoing.
Remember me only according to your faithful love for the sake of your goodness, Lord.
⁸ The Lord is good and does the right thing;
God teaches sinners which way they should go.
⁹ God guides the weak to justice,
teaching them his way.
¹⁰ All the Lord’s paths are loving and faithful
for those who keep his covenant and laws.
¹¹ Please, for the sake of your good name,
Lord, forgive my sins, which are many!
¹² Where are the ones who honor the LORD?
God will teach them which path to take.
¹³ They will live a good life,
and their descendants will possess the land.
¹⁴ The Lord counsels those who honour him;
he makes his covenant known to them.

Psalm 25:1-14

Have we learnt of God’s paths this Advent?

Have we straightened any kinks our own pathways so as to better welcome the Messiah?

Have we finally learnt to put our trust in God, all day long?

Thursday – Week 4

From sunrise to sunset, let the Lord’s name be praised!

¹ Praise the Lord!  You who serve the Lord — praise!
Praise the Lord’s name!
² Let the Lord’s name be blessed
from now until forever!
³ From sunrise to sunset,
let the Lord’s name be praised!
⁴ The Lord is high over all the nations;
God’s glory is higher than the skies!
⁵ Who could possibly compare to the LORD our God?
God rules from on high;
⁶ God has to come down
to even see heaven and earth!
⁷ God lifts up the poor from the dirt
and raises up the needy from the garbage pile
⁸ to seat them with leaders—
with the leaders of God’s people!
⁹ God nests the once barren woman at home—
now a joyful mother with children! Praise the Lord!

Psalm 113

The whole idea of posting the morning psalms during Advent this year came from Ambrose of Milan’s commentary on the psalms when he asks ‘…what is more pleasing than a psalm?’  In particular his words  ‘Day begins to the music of a psalm,  Day closes to the echo of a psalm.’  As regular as sunrise and sunset psalms are sung, said, or murmured to God; they revive, encourage and remind of God’s love and promises.  Possibly the most wonderful thing however about the reciting the psalms is that as today we say God’s glory is higher than the skies!  God’s glory is proved as voices in other tongues, even of other faiths too say with confidence and faith God rules from on high.  For from sunrise to sunset in every corner of the world, the Lord’s name is being praised.

Wednesday – Week 4

Play your best with joyful shouts!

 ¹ All you who are righteous, shout joyfully to the Lord!
It’s right for those who do right to praise God.
² Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre!
Sing praises to God with the ten-stringed harp!
³ Sing to God a new song!
Play your best with joyful shouts!
⁴ Because the Lord’s word is right,
God’s every act is done in good faith.
⁵ The Lord loves righteousness and justice;
the Lord’s faithful love fills the whole earth.
 ²⁰ We put our hope in the Lord.
Who is our help and our shield.
²¹ Our heart rejoices in God
because we trust God’s holy name.
²² Lord, let your faithful love surround us,
because we wait for you.

Psalm 33:1-5, 20-22

Now bag pipes can cause people to run and stick their fingers in their ears, a similar response can occur when someone starts to learn that well-known stringed instrument, the violin.  I have also heard many a person mutter that they can not sing, but as this bagpipping angel reminds us God hears the praise of our hearts and not what we hear with our flawed human ears.  So sing a new song to God, get out your strings or bagpipes raise your voice in song and let your heart rejoice.

Tuesday – Week 4

Mighty gates: lift up your heads! Ancient doors: rise up high! So the glorious king can enter!

¹ The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it,
the world and its inhabitants too.
² Because God is the one who established it on the seas;
God set it firmly on the waters.
³ Who can ascend the Lord’s mountain?
Who can stand in his holy sanctuary?
⁴ Only the one with clean hands and a pure heart;
the one who hasn’t made false promises, the one who hasn’t sworn dishonestly.
⁵ That kind of person receives blessings from the Lord and righteousness
from the God who saves.
⁶ And that’s how things are with the generation that seeks him—
that seeks the face of Jacob’s God.
⁷ Mighty gates: lift up your heads!  Ancient doors: rise up high!
So the glorious king can enter!
⁸ Who is this glorious king?
The Lord — strong and powerful!   The Lord — powerful in battle!
⁹ Mighty gates: lift up your heads!  Ancient doors: rise up high!
So the glorious king can enter!
¹⁰ Who is this glorious king?
The Lord of heavenly forces — he is the glorious king!

Psalm 24

For century upon century people have lift up their voices in praise, but while the psalms urge the whole earth to praise and worship God, they also urge us to open our hearts and minds and allow God to enter into us so that we don’t end up in ruins.

And if we do that we need ask, ‘who is this glorious king?’, for the Holy Spirit will dwell within us.

Monday – Week 4

you are my rock and my fortress

¹ I’ve taken refuge in you, LORD.
Don’t let me ever be put to shame!
² Deliver me and rescue me by your righteousness!
Bend your ear toward me and save me!
³ Be my rock of refuge where I can always escape.
You commanded that my life be saved because you are my rock and my fortress.
⁴ My God, rescue me from the power of the wicked;
rescue me from the grip of the wrongdoer and the oppressor
⁵ because you are my hope, Lord.
You, Lord, are the one I’ve trusted since childhood.
⁶ I’ve depended on you from birth— you cut the cord when I came from my mother’s womb.
My praise is always about you.
⁷ I’ve become an example to many people
because you are my strong refuge.
⁸ My mouth is filled with your praise,
glorifying you all day long.

Psalm 71:1-8

As Advent draws towards its end and Christmas pulls us from focussing on Christ’s return to focusing on his birth at Bethlehem, we must not forget that promise that he will return.  Once the tinsel is packed back away, the turkey all eaten and the Magi are westward bound, God will remain our rock and fortress.  Years might have passed since that first birth indeed years have passed since our birth, since when Paul put it we first believed, but still the promises of God stand true and will come about in God’s time.

Are we an example to others a strong refuge for God’s promise – Christ will return are we ready to welcome him?

Advent 4

let God's glory fill all the earth

¹¹ Let all the kings bow down before God;
let all the nations serve God.
¹² Let it be so, because the Lord delivers the needy who cry out,
the poor, and those who have no helper.
¹³ The Lord has compassion on the weak and the needy;
and saves the lives of those who are in need.
¹⁴ The Lord redeems their lives from oppression and violence;
their blood is precious in God’s eyes.
¹⁵ Let the king live long! Let Sheba’s gold be given to him!
Let him be prayed for always!  Let him be blessed all day long!
¹⁶ Let there be abundant grain in the land.   Let it wave on the mountaintops.
Let its fruit flourish like Lebanon.  Let it thrive like grass on the land.
¹⁷ Let the king’s name last forever.  Let his name endure as long as the sun.
Let all the nations be blessed through him and call him happy.
¹⁸ Bless the Lord God, the God of Israel—
the only one who does wondrous things!
¹⁹ Bless God’s glorious name forever;
let God’s glory fill all the earth!  Amen and Amen!

Psalm 72:11-19

From the furthest north

to the absolute south.

From the eastern most orient

to the western most occident.

From the deepest of depths

to the heighest of heights.

Let us cry ‘Glory and Amen!’

Saturday – Week 3

Let the mountains bring peace to the people; let the hills bring righteousness.

¹  God, give your judgments to the king.
   Give your righteousness to the king’s son.
²  Let him judge your people with righteousness
   and your poor ones with justice.
³ Let the mountains bring peace to the people;
   let the hills bring righteousness.
⁴ Let the king bring justice to people who are poor;
   let him save the children of those who are needy, but let him crush oppressors!
⁵ Let the king live as long as the sun,
   as long as the moon, generation to generation.
⁶ Let him fall like rain upon fresh-cut grass,
   like showers that water the earth.
⁷ Let the righteous flourish throughout their lives,
   and let peace prosper until the moon is no more.
⁸ Let the king rule from sea to sea,
   from the river to the ends of the earth.

Psalm 72:1-8

Friday – Week 3

let God's face shine on us

 ¹ Let God grant us grace and bless us;
   let God’s face shine on us,
² so that your way becomes known on earth,
   so that your salvation becomes known among all the nations.
 ³ Let the people thank you, God!
   Let all the people thank you!
 ⁴ Let the people celebrate and shout with joy
      because you judge the nations fairly and guide all nations on the earth.
 ⁵ Let the people thank you, God!
   Let all the people thank you!
 ⁶ The earth has yielded its harvest.
   God blesses us—our God blesses us!
⁷ Let God continue to bless us;
   let the far ends of the earth honour God.

Psalm 67

Why not spend sometime today just listing all the things you have to be thankful to God for?  If you don’t know where to begin try begining at ‘A’ and see how far the alphabet you get.

Thursday – Week 3

Lord, you brought me up from the grave

¹   I exalt you, Lord, because you pulled me up;
you didn’t let my enemies celebrate over me.
²   Lord, my God, I cried out to you for help,
and you healed me.
³   Lord, you brought me up from the grave,
brought me back to life from among those going down to the pit.
⁴   You who are faithful to the Lord, sing praises;
give thanks to God’s holy name!
⁵   The Lord’s anger lasts for only a second, but God’s favour lasts a lifetime.
Weeping may stay all night, but by morning, joy!
⁶   When I was comfortable, I said,
“I will never stumble.”
⁷   Because it pleased you, Lord, you made me a strong mountain.
But then you hid your presence. I was terrified.
⁸   I cried out to you, Lord.
I begged my Lord for mercy:
⁹   “What is to be gained by my spilled blood, by my going down into the pit?
Does dust thank you?  Does it proclaim your faithfulness?
¹⁰  Lord, listen and have mercy on me!
Lord, be my helper!”
¹¹  You changed my mourning into dancing.
You took off my funeral clothes and dressed me up in joy
¹²  so that my whole being might sing praises to you and never stop.
Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

Psalm 30

As we await Christ’s birth, we are also drawing closer to his return and to our death.  But we have nothing to fear for the Lord is indeed our helper, the Lord has listened to our cries, God sent Jesus into the world to turn our mourning into dancing and shed bright light to dispel our darkest fears.

If we live we live for the Lord and if we die we die for the Lord so living or dying we are the Lord’s, surely that is something to give thanks for regardless of what today might bring.