The Collect for Advent Sunday

Almighty God,
give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light,
now in the time of this mortal life,
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day,
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen

Contentment in Christ

Each time I think I can find contentment in the things of this world I find myself on my knees before the cross, with my arms  outstretched, empty handed, towards Jesus.
In the words of the song by Jarrod Cooper
"Your majesty, I can but bow,
I lay my all before you now.
In royal robes I don't deserve
I live to serve your majesty"

Colossians 2:6-7

⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 
⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Joel 2:23

“Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.” 

Romans 10:13-15

 “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: 
“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

A Journey to Harmony

Glance back from where you’ve come and let it go.

Look up, bare open your heart and draw Christ into the centre.

Enfold your arms around the travellers who surround you and reach out to those who don’t.

Give thanks, be still, and move forwards towards the Light.

A New Heaven and a New Earth Revelation 21:1-4

¹ Then I saw "a new heaven and a new earth," for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God."
⁴ "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

Matthew Chapter 4:1-12

Click on the link to hear the sermon
http://clown.ithil.org/~bill/20110123AM.mp3

Psalm 100- A psalm for giving grateful praise

¹ Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
 ² Worship the LORD with gladness;
   come before him with joyful songs.
³ Know that the LORD is God.
   It is he who made us, and we are his, 
   we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

 ⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving
   and his courts with praise;
   give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵ For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
   his faithfulness continues through all generations.

St Patrick's Breastplate

Christ be with me,Christ within me,
Christ behind me,Christ before me
Christ beside me, Christ to win me 
Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger:
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

Praying in Christ

Eternal Spirit

Life-giver, Pain-bearer, Love-maker,

Source of all that is and shall be,

Father and Mother of us all,

Loving God, in whom is heaven.

The hallowing of your Name

echo through the Universe.

The way of your Justice

be followed by the peoples of the world.

 Your heavenly Will

be done by all created beings.

Your Commonwealth of Peace and Freedom

sustain our hope and come on earth. 

With the bread we need for today

feed us.

In the hurts we absorb from one another,

forgive us.

From trials too sharp to endure,

spare us

From the grip of all that is evil,

free us.

For you reign in the glory

of the power that is love.

Now and forever.

 Amen                                                       by Jim Cotter, By heart for the Millennium

"Let go, let God."
                        Annette Jackson

Do we remember this?

¹ Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us

Faith Prescription

Trust in God's timing

Rely on His promises

Wait for His answers

Believe in His miracles

Rejoice in His goodness

Rest in His presence

Romans 8: 1-2, 37-39

¹ Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
  
 ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Isaiah 53:7-12- I wonder if the Disciples remembered this during that Saturday so long ago?

 ⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted,
   yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
   and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
   so he did not open his mouth.
⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
   Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
   for the transgression of my people he was punished.
⁹ He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
   and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
   nor was any deceit in his mouth.
 ¹⁰ Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
   and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
   and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
¹¹ After he has suffered,
   he will see the light of life and be satisfied
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
   and he will bear their iniquities.
¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
   and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
   and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
   and made intercession for the transgressors.

...and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Luke 23:45

"Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this in mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in the human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,even death upon a cross"
Philippians 2:5-8

Word of God,
who gathers the seas in a wineskin,
pours water into a basin; 
Wisdom of God, 
who wraps the heavens in cloud,
girds himself with a towel; 
Son of God,
who cradles the world, 
graciously bends down to wash our feet.

"The unsearchable riches" of Christ

The stars shine over the earth,

The stars shine over the sea,

The stars look up to the Mighty God,

The stars look down on me;

The stars will live for a million years,

For a million years and a day!

But Christ and I shall live and love

When the stars have passed away.

Anon.

A daily prayer

I place this day my life, my loved ones, my work in the Lord's hands.

There is no harm in the Lord's hands, only good.

Whatever happens, whatever results, if I am in the Lord's hands it is the Lord's will, and it is good.

Bishop Abraham's Prayer

O Lord God -

Grant that each one who has to do with me today, may be the happier for it.

Let it be given me each hour today what I shall say - and grant me the wisdom of a loving heart ... that I may say the right thing rightly.

Help me to enter into the mind of everyone who talks with me, and keep me alive to the feelings of others.

Give me a quick eye for little kindnesses that I may be ready in doing them - and gracious in receiving them.

Amen.

A Beautiful Prayer

St. Theresa's prayer

May today there be peace within.

May you trust god that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.

May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be content knowing you are a child of god.

Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing,

dance, praise and love.

It is there for each and every one of us.

John 1: 1-5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it