Tag: advent devotional

A Canticle for Advent: With God in Unity

barnstormingblog2 Comments
Sveta Gora Nativity
Sveta Gora Nativity

Girls and boys, leave your toys. make no noise,
Kneel at His crib and worship Him.
At Thy shrine, Child divine, we are Thine,
Our Saviour’s here.

(Chorus)
“Hallelujah!” the church bells ring,
“Hallelujah!” the angels sing,
“Hallelujah!” from ev’rything.
All must draw near.

On that day – far away – Jesus lay,
Angels were watching round His head,
Holy Child – Mother mild – undefiled,
We sing Thy praise.

Shepherds came – at the fame – of Thy name,
Angels their guide to Bethlehem.
In that place – saw Thy face – filled with grace,
Stood at Thy door.

Wise men too – haste to do – homage new,
Gold, Myrrh and Frankincense they bring.
As ’twas said – starlight led – to Thy bed,
Bending their knee.

Oh, that we – all might be – good as He,
Spotless with God in Unity.
Saviour dear – ever near – with us here
Since life began.
~Zither Carol (Traditional Czech carol)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PVn01bKJqs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAjx5JTHnE4

…so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Ephesians 4: 12-13

..in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. 14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.
2 Peter 3: 13-14

A Canticle for Advent: Here with Us

barnstormingblog1 Comment
rainbowsunrise2
It’s still a mystery to me
That the hands of God could be so small,
How tiny fingers reaching in the night
Were the very hands that measured the sky
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Heaven’s love reaching down to save the world
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Son of God, Servant King,
You’re here with us
You’re here with us
It’s still a mystery to me, oh,
How His infant eyes have seen the dawn of time
How His ears have heard an angel’s symphony,
But still Mary had to rock her Savior to sleep
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Heaven’s love reaching down to save the world
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Son of God, Servant King
Here with us
You’re here with usJesus the Christ, born in Bethlehem
A baby born to save, to save the souls of man
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Heaven’s love reaching down to save the world
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Son of God, Servant King
You’re here with us
You’re here with us
~Joy Williams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlRssS2Xs0Y

2 …because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:  3 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.
2 John 1: 2-3

Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great:
He appeared in the flesh,
was vindicated by the Spirit,
was seen by angels,
was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory.
1 Timothy 3:16

How can God With Us not be a profound mystery?
From our myopic view of our one little corner of existence,
can we possibly comprehend how the Creator of all things is born to one of us?

In our wonder at what has happened
and continues to happen among us,
at the promise reaching down from heaven
to be held and rocked in our arms,
can we not accept and believe~
His Truth has come to dwell within us forever.

 

 

A Canticle for Advent: The Great I Am

barnstormingblog1 Comment
Roberto Ferruzzi Madonnina col Bambino
Roberto Ferruzzi Madonnina col Bambino

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has come to make you new?
This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will calm the storm with His hand?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little Baby you kissed the face of God?

Mary did you know..

The blind will see.
The deaf will hear.
The dead will live again.
The lame will leap.
The dumb will speak
The praises of The Lamb.

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would one day rule the nations?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy is heaven’s perfect Lamb?
The sleeping Child you’re holding is the Great, I Am.
~Mark Lowry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax5d8JzdyaA

46 After three days (of looking for him) they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”  50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.
Luke 2: 46-51

He asks her:  “Didn’t you know…?”
Of course, even with what she had been told from the beginning,  she didn’t really know and understand.
What Jesus had been sent to do was beyond her wildest dreams.

She must have been frantic looking for him in the big city of Jerusalem, yet didn’t right away think to look in the temple with the teachers.
He was just a boy lost, her very own son missing.  There is nothing more frightening than not knowing where your child is and where to look for him.

Yet He — God with us — was never missing–that is what was astonishing to her.
She, and we, lose sight of who He is, not knowing where to look.
She, and we, are the lost, now found.

A Canticle for Advent: Word Made Flesh and Blood

barnstormingblog1 Comment
Helix Nebulae www.nasa.gov
Helix Nebulae http://www.nasa.gov

1. Ye nations all, on you I call, come, hear this declaration.
   And don't refuse this glorious news of Jesus and salvation.
   To royal Jews came first the news of Christ the great Messiah,
   As was foretold by prophets old, Isaiah, Jeremiah.

2. To Abraham the promise came, and to his seed for ever,
   A light to shine in Isaac's line, by scripture we discover;
   Hail, promised morn! the Savior's born, the glorious Mediator--
   God's blessed Word made flesh and blood, assumed the human nature.

3. His parents poor in earthly store, to entertain the stranger
   They found no bed to lay his head, but in the ox's manger:
   No royal things, as used by kings, were seen by those that found him,
   But in the hay the stranger lay, with swaddling bands around him.

4. On the same night a glorious light to shepherds there appeared,
   Bright angels said, "Be not afraid, although we much alarm you,
   The angels said, "Be not afraid, although we much alarm you,
   We do appear good news to bear, as now we will inform you.

5. "The city's name is Bethlehem, in which God hath appointed,
   This glorious morn a Savior's born, for him God hath anointed;
   By this you'll know, if you will go, to see this little stranger,
   His lovely charms in Mary's arms, both lying in a manger."

6. When this was said, straightway was made a glorious sound from heaven
   Each flaming tongue an anthem sung, "To men a Savior's given,
   In Jesus' name, the glorious theme, we elevate our voices,
   At Jesus' birth be peace on earth, meanwhile all heaven rejoices."

7. Then with delight they took their flight, and winged their way to glory,
   The shepherds gazed and were amazed, to hear the pleasing story;
   To Bethlehem they quickly came, the glorious news to carry,
   And in the stall they found them all, Joseph, the Babe, and Mary.

8. The shepherds then returned again to their own habitation,
   With joy of heart they did depart, now they have found salvation.
   Glory, they cry, to God on high, who sent his Son to save us
   This glorious morn the Savior's born, his name it is Christ Jesus.
~William Walker 1835

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcomeit.
John 1:1-5

A Canticle for Advent: Rest Beside the Weary Road

barnstormingblog2 Comments

dawn752

It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold;
“Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From Heaven’s all gracious King.”
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come
With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly music floats
O’er all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plains,
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever over its Babel sounds
The blessèd angels sing.

Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not
The love-song which they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of strife
And hear the angels sing.

And ye, beneath life’s crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road,
And hear the angels sing!

For lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophet-bards foretold,
When with the ever circling years
Comes round the age of gold;
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world send back the song
Which now the angels sing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtV477Cqni0

24 People will live together in Judah and all its towns—farmers and those who move about with their flocks. 25 I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”
26 At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me.
Jeremiah 31: 24-26

Advent can be an overwhelming time — so much to get done, too many social obligations, mounting pressure to meet every expectation.  We feel weary and spent without respite.
Yet we are told there will be rest, there will be pleasant sleep, there will be refreshment for our tired minds and bodies.
This is the promise of the manger,
the sacrifice from the cross,
the result of an empty tomb.

We will be whole again because He is wholly with us.

A Canticle for Advent: The Wonders of His Glory

barnstormingblog1 Comment

sunrise12122

On December five and twenty
fum, fum, fum.
On December five and twenty,
fum, fum fum.
Oh, a child was born this night
So rosy white, so rosy white
Son of Mary, virgin holy
In a stable, mean and lowly,
fum, fum, fum.
On December five and twenty
fum, fum, fum.
On December five and twenty
fum, fum, fum.
Comes a most important day
Let us be gay, let us be gay.
We go first to church and then we
Have the sweetest buns and candy,
fum, fum, fum, fum, fum.
God will send us days of feasting
fum, fum, fum.
God will send us days of feasting
fum, fum, fum.
Both in hot months and in cold
for young and old, for young and old.
We will tell the holy story
Ever singing of his glory,
fum, fum, fum.

On this joyful Christmas day
Sing fum, fum, fum
On this joyful Christmas day
Sing fum, fum, fum
For a blessed Babe was born
Upon this day at the break of morn
In a manger poor and lowly
Lay the Son of God most holy
Fum, fum, fum!

Thanks to God for holidays
Sing fum, fum, fum
Thanks to God for holidays
Sing fum, fum, fum
Now we all our voices raise
And sing a song of grateful praise
Celebrate in song and story
All the wonders of His glory
Fum, fum, fum!

Praise we now the Lord above,
Sing fum, fum, fum.
Praise we now the Lord above,
Sing fum, fum, fum.
For upon this day at morn,
The wond’rous Son of God was born,
In a manger poor and lowly
Lay the blessed Babe most holy,
Fum, fum, fum!
Catalan Carol, 17th century

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIkl4QfVKnk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uxjEd3_7Ok

A Canticle for Advent: Lightens Every Load

barnstormingblog1 Comment

rainyrose5

Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming from tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse’s lineage coming, as men of old have sung.
It came, a floweret bright, amid the cold of winter,
When half spent was the night.

Isaiah ’twas foretold it, the Rose I have in mind;
With Mary we behold it, the virgin mother kind.
To show God’s love aright, she bore to men a Savior,
When half spent was the night.

The shepherds heard the story proclaimed by angels bright,
How Christ, the Lord of glory was born on earth this night.
To Bethlehem they sped and in the manger found Him,
As angel heralds said.

This Flower, whose fragrance tender with sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor the darkness everywhere;
True Man, yet very God, from sin and death He saves us,
And lightens every load.

O Savior, Child of Mary, who felt our human woe,
O Savior, King of glory, who dost our weakness know;
Bring us at length we pray, to the bright courts of Heaven,
And to the endless day!
~German Hymn ~ 1500

 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30

A Canticle for Advent: In Two Tongues One Song

barnstormingblog3 Comments
Armistice Day football match at Dale Barracks between german soldiers and Royal Welsh fusiliers to remember the famous Christmas Day truce between germany and Britain
Armistice Day football match at Dale Barracks between German soldiers and Royal Welsh fusiliers to remember the famous Christmas Day truce between Germany and Britain
German and British soldiers together on Christmas Day 1914
German and British soldiers together on Christmas Day 1914

My name is Francis Tolliver. I come from Liverpool.
Two years ago the war was waiting for me after school.
To Belgium and to Flanders, to Germany to here,
I fought for King and country I love dear.
It was Christmas in the trenches where the frost so bitter hung.
The frozen field of France were still, no Christmas song was sung.
Our families back in England were toasting us that day,
their brave and glorious lads so far away.
I was lyin’ with my mess-mates on the cold and rocky ground
when across the lines of battle came a most peculiar sound.
Says I “Now listen up me boys”, each soldier strained to hear
as one young German voice sang out so clear.
“He’s singin’ bloody well you know”, my partner says to me.
Soon one by one each German voice joined in in harmony.
The cannons rested silent. The gas cloud rolled no more
as Christmas brought us respite from the war.
As soon as they were finished a reverent pause was spent.
‘God rest ye merry, gentlemen’ struck up some lads from Kent.
The next they sang was ‘Stille Nacht”. “Tis ‘Silent Night'” says I
and in two tongues one song filled up that sky.
“There’s someone comin’ towards us” the front-line sentry cried.
All sights were fixed on one lone figure trudging from their side.
His truce flag, like a Christmas star, shone on that plain so bright
as he bravely strode, unarmed, into the night.
Then one by one on either side walked into no-mans-land
with neither gun nor bayonet we met there hand to hand.
We shared some secret brandy and wished each other well
and in a flare-lit soccer game we gave ’em hell.
We traded chocolates, cigarettes and photographs from home
these sons and fathers far away from families of their own.
Young Sanders played his squeeze box and they had a violin
this curious and unlikely band of men.
Soon daylight stole upon us and France was France once more.
With sad farewells we each began to settle back to war.
But the question haunted every heart that lived that wondrous night
“whose family have I fixed within my sights?”
It was Christmas in the trenches where the frost so bitter hung.
The frozen fields of France were warmed as songs of peace were sung.
For the walls they’d kept between us to exact the work of war
had been crumbled and were gone for ever more.
My name is Francis Tolliver. In Liverpool I dwell.
Each Christmas come since World War One I’ve learned it’s lessons well.
That the ones who call the shots won’t be among the dead and lame
and on each end of the rifle we’re the same.

— John McCutcheon “Christmas in the trenches”

Five months into WWI, on Christmas Eve 1914, the soldiers in the trenches of France declared an unofficial and spontaneous ceasefire after the German soldiers shared chocolate cake from home with the British soldiers, who responded in kind with tobacco and beer. According to eye witness accounts, they joined together in singing Christmas carols, exchanging gifts, and playing a game of impromptu soccer between the trenches in “no man’s land”. The high command was upset and tried to prevent this social exchange but to no avail. The truce lasted for at least one day along parts of the front, and longer in others.

What strikes me about this story and how it resonates with us is how similar the beliefs and upbringing were for those European soldiers in WWI and how easily they could find common ground. Would the soldiers on either side of gun sights have found this commonality in the Iraq war or in Afghanistan? Given the cultural and religious gulf that divides us, this is unlikely.

Still, there is inspiration in the sweet thought of “Stille Nacht” and “Silent Night” being sung by sons of different mothers, all children of the same Father in heaven, only hours before trying to kill each other. The WWI memorials we saw even in small towns while in the UK earlier this year listed so many names from even the small towns.

What sadness to think it took so many lost lives to resolve this war years later despite a shared faith.

A Canticle for Advent: Breath of Heaven

barnstormingblog2 Comments
Behold The Lamb Of God by Walter Rane
Behold The Lamb Of God by Walter Rane

I have traveled many moonless nights
Cold and weary with a babe inside
And I wonder what I’ve done
Holy Father, You have come
And chosen me now to carry Your Son

I am waiting in a silent prayer
I am frightened by the load I bear
In a world as cold as stone
Must I walk this path alone?
Be with me now, be with me now

Breath of Heaven, hold me together
Be forever near me, Breath of Heaven
Breath of Heaven, lighten my darkness
Pour over me Your holiness for You are holy
Breath of Heaven

Do you wonder as you watch my face
If a wiser one should have had my place?
But I offer all I am
For the mercy of Your plan
Help me be strong, help me be, help me

Breath of Heaven, hold me together
Be forever near me, Breath of Heaven
Breath of Heaven, lighten my darkness
Pour over me Your holiness for You are holy

Breath of Heaven, hold me together
Be forever near me, breath of Heaven
Breath of Heaven, lighten my darkness
Pour over me Your holiness for You are holy
Breath of Heaven, Breath of Heaven
Breath of Heaven
CHRIS EATON, AMY GRANT 2006

 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace
Ephesians 1:7

A Canticle for Advent: One for the Heart

barnstormingblog2 Comments
photo by Josh Scholten
photo by Josh Scholten

One for the star in the sky over Bethlehem
Two for the hands that will rock him to sleep
Three for the kings bringing gold, bringing myrrh, bringing incense
Four for the angels that watch over his bedside

Blue for the robe of the sweet Virgin Mary
White for the dawn of the first Christmas day
Red for the blood that he shed for us all on Good Friday
Black for the tomb where he rested ‘till Easter

Lullaby, see Jesus asleep. Angels and shepherds their watch on him keep
Lullaby he soon will awake for the oxen are stirring and morning will break

One for the star in the sky over Bethlehem
Two for the hands that will rock him to sleep
Three for the kings bringing gold, bringing myrrh, bringing incense
Four for the angels that watch over his bedside
And one for the heart, one for the heart,
One for the heart that I give as my offering to Jesus!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxQr–Di2PI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzZGJyj_phM

26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my Spirit in you…
Ezekiel 36:26-27

For so many people, the holidays are a reminder of painful memories, unfulfilled expectations, stressed schedules and family conflict.
Hearts are hardened tight in self-protection; so many tears, so many harsh words, so many sleepless nights.
Yet this is what we must give up to Him: He became flesh so that we no longer cling to our heart of stone.
We become full with God, our heart of flesh to be delivered to our Deliverer.