December 8, 2022 - Advent Devotion
Saturday
Saturday, December 10, 10a.m. - 12p.m.
Dress Rehearsal for Children’s Program
Sunday
Sunday Worship
December 11, 9:30 a.m.
The Third Sunday In Advent
Lighting of the Advent Wreath - The Shepherd’s Candle
Children’s Christmas Program - “Get Ready For the Real Story”
Sunday, December 11, 2022, 9:30am
Join us for our first Lord of Life LIVE on YouTube!
Share the link below with family and friends!
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Redner & Brooks
O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight
“This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness; ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’””
As our week focusing on preparation begins to come to a close, the question of priorities must be asked. In your preparations, at work or at home, for Christmas or in your spiritual walk, how do you give priority to making sure one thing gets done versus another? How do you decide? Is it with regard to the heart, what matters most to you, even if others do not understand?
This time of year can feel overwhelmed with stress and tension. "I need to get all this done." "If I do not get to that, Christmas will not be Christmas." "If 'so-and-so' can do it all, so can I." Yuck! Perhaps this can all feel true, but, yuck!
Just as true unfortunately, are those famous words spoken by almost everyone each year on December 26, "Next year, next year, I am going to do things differently."
Friends, there is still time this year to do things differently. If God could get Bethlehem ready for the birth of the Savior, if God could get you and I ready for the gifts of comfort and joy in The Christ, The Spirit, and grace, trust the same God will get you and all that needs doing, really needs doing, ready this year.
May you trust anew, The Lord will prepare the way for himself in your life and heart this year; The Lord will prepare the way for his everlasting light to shineth in your dark streets; The Lord will prepare the way to make clear your priorities in your preparation, and to make your paths straight, to fill you and bless you with comfort and joy, not just next year, not just when Christ returns, but each and every day!
Let us pray: Lord of perfect preparation, I often wait until next year to get it right, I can even get caught up in what feels wrong and yucky, and yet I do it anyway. Prepare me today, to prepare for you each and every day, to prepare for you in Christmas, to prepare for your return. As you prepared Bethlehem for a perfect birth, turn my heart and my spirit back to you, and prepare me for the perfect birth of your comfort and joy, your light and hope, your power and presence in my life. Amen.
