Suggestion for Daily Use

Follow the ‘Daily Prayer’ at the side+++Suivez le ‘Prière Quotidienne’. Read the bible passages and then the meditation. Pray, tell God how you felt about the reading and share the concerns of your life with him. Maybe you will continue the habit after Lent. Lisez les passages bible et après la méditation. Priez, dites à Dieu que vous avez ressenti à propos de la lecture et de partager les préoccupations de votre vie avec lui. Peut-être que vous allez continuer l'habitude après le Carême. Daily Prayer Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. Luke 4.1-2 Now is the healing time decreed For sins of heart, of word or deed, When we in humble fear record The wrong that we have done the Lord. (Latin, before 12th century) Read: Read the Bible passage. Read the meditation Pray: Talk to God about what you have just read. Tell him your concerns - for yourself, your family, our church family, our world. Praise him. Pray the collect for the week – see next pages. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Prière Quotidienne Jésus, rempli de l'Esprit Saint, revint du Jourdain et le Saint-Esprit le conduisit dans le désert où il fut tenté par le diable durant quarante jours. Luc 4.1-2 Maintenant le temps de la guérison est décrété Pour les péchés du cœur, de la parole et des actes, Lorsque nous nous souvenons avec humilité Le mal que nous avons fait au Seigneur. Lire : Lisez le passage de la Bible. Lisez la méditation. Prier : Parlez avec le Seigneur de ce que vous avez lu. Parlez-lui de vos préoccupations pour vous-même, votre famille, notre famille de l’église, notre monde. Louez-le. Priez la collecte pour la semaine. Voyez les pages suivantes Mon âme, bénis le Seigneur ! Que tout qui est en moi bénisse son saint nom. Mon âme, bénis le Seigneur, et n’oublie aucun de ses bienfaits !

25 December 2021

Christmas Night/Christmas Day +++ Rejoice!

Psalm 98│Isaiah 52.7-10│Hebrews 1.1-12│John 1.1-14

 

Rejoice!



 

The wait is over. Christmas is here and we rejoice. We celebrate Jesus, ‘the Lord saves’. Immanuel ‘God with us’. God became one of us to enter fully into life, suffering and death to open the way of glory. Light shone in the darkness and the darkness could not grasp it and destroy it.

 

However, sometimes we struggle to rejoice at Christmas. Our lives can feel like ‘Groundhog Day’, a movie where a man (played by Bill Murray) relives a day time and time again, till he finally finds a way forward (a hopeful story!). Christmas can feel that way. ‘Here we go again….’

 

There is a way forward. A way out. We can celebrate ‘hope fulfilled’. Besides just celebrating what God did in the past, we can rejoice in what He will do. After centuries of prophetic waiting, God did what he promised. He will do it again. Although human history can feel like a very long Advent (waiting for God’s final reckoning - our Psalm 98 rejoices in that foresight!), at Christmas, we celebrate God is faithful. We can take God at his word. God will complete the work he has begun. The ultimate Christmas and the ultimate Easter all rolled into one will come. Ultimate joy and victory after the longest wait.

 

……and all the ends of the earth shall see

   the salvation of our God. (Isaiah 52.10b)

 


Paul Vrolijk

Image: 'Christmas at the Annunciation Church in Nazareth 1965/12/24.  By Photographer: Israel Press and Photo Agency (I.P.P.A.) / Dan Hadani collection, National Library of Israel / CC BY 4.0, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95594862

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