Advent: The coming joy

His name is Immanuel The Lord, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth And formed the human spirit within. Zechariah 12:1   Read Isaiah 7:10—16 Immanuel. God with us. There was just once when the New Testament writers picked up this name, quoted this verse, and said what a good fit it is…

Advent: The coming joy

The song and dance of God Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, For he will speak peace to his people. Psalm 85:8   Read Jeremiah 31:2—6 Maybe I’d be reading this into the text, but I sort of can’t help doing it. For I know that at the beginning of God’s work…

Advent: The coming joy

The song of the blessed He has brought down the powerful from their thrones And lifted up the lowly. Luke 1:52   Read Luke 1:46—50 This night let me sing with Mary. Let me magnify the Lord. Let me rejoice that God is my Saviour. That he looks on lowliness. I need not earn his…

Advent: The coming joy

The thong of his sandal He raises the poor from the dust, And lifts the needy from the ash heap. Psalm 113:7   Read John 1:25—27 I love the words of John, ‘I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.’ I love it because Jesus for his part had words about John:…

Advent: The messenger of God

Under the new name Be lifted up, O ancient doors! That the king of glory may come in. Psalm 24:9   Read Isaiah 62:10—12 If the children of Israel, the people of Judah, had been sitting morose, exiled from their promised land, and had run through what the prophets had said, they could have heard…

Advent: The messenger of God

So much more Happy if with my latest breath I might but gasp his name. Charles Wesley   Read 2 Timothy 4:5—8 Apart from those in intolerable despair or unbearable pain, even when I have sat with people old and frail and bedridden; even when they are full of living, vibrant faith; even when they…

Advent: The messenger of God

The place for the redeemed Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, And righteousness will look down from the sky. Psalm 85:11   Read Hosea 14:5—9 So this is why I have planted a garden! Why I am caught by the sparkle in the dew, the blossoms and the shooting plants. Fragrance! Why I sniff…

Advent: The messenger of God

The testimony of John To declare your steadfast love in the morning, And your faithfulness by night. Psalm 92:2   Read John 5:31—36 It has been good to learn, in fact it’s liberating to learn, that when I give praise to another it does not hurt me a bit. When I really honour someone else…

Advent: The messenger of the Lord

A new name Be strong, and let your heart take courage, All you who wait for the Lord. Psalm 31:24   Read Luke 1:57—63 Choosing a name for a child: who is he? Who is she? This one is John, ‘God’s gracious gift.’ Of course he is God’s gift. He was unexpected. But tell that…

Advent: The messenger of the Lord

Search me, O God Search me, O God, and know my heart; Test me and know my thoughts. Psalm 139:23   Read Luke 1:13—17 How to express the central challenge I find in this reading? Here is a childless couple, Zechariah and Elizabeth, promised a son. Most couples I know will say, at the prospect…