A Prayer for Christmas Eve

O Lord our God, most merciful and mighty: Fill our hearts with joy and our tongues with praise as this day we keep the festival of our Savior’s birth. Let the Holy Spirit come upon us as we approach the mystery of his appearing in the flesh as a little child. Stir up in our hearts the precious gift of faith, that he may be born anew in us, and that his presence may shed abroad in our hearts the light of heavenly joy and peace. Grant this, O God, we beseech thee, for the love of Christ thy Son, our only Savior. Amen.

From The Methodist Book of Worship for Church and Home, 1965

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Hark the Herald Angels Sing

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Prayer for the Second Sunday of Advent

Beloved in Christ, as we await the great festival of Christmas,

     let us prepare ourselves so that we may be shown its true meaning.

Let us hear, in lessons from Holy Scripture,

     how the prophets of Israel foretold

          that God would visit and redeem the waiting people.

Let us rejoice, in our carols and hymns,

     that the good purpose of God is being mightily fulfilled.

Let us celebrate the promise that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,

     will bring all peoples and all things

          into the glory of God’s eternal kingdom.

The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk,

     the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear,

     the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

But first, let us pray for the world that God so loves,

     for those who have not heard the good news of God,

     or who do not believe it;

     for those who walk in darkness and the shadow of death;

     and for the Church in this place and everywhere,

          that it may be freed from all evil and fear,

          and may in pure joy lift up the light of the love of God.

Amen.

(from the United Methodist Book of Worship)

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Prayer for First Sunday in Advent

O God, who didst prepare of old the minds and hearts of men for the coming of thy Son, and whose Spirit ever worketh to illumine our darkened lives with the light of the Gospel: Prepare now our minds and hearts, we beseech thee, that Christ may dwell in us, and ever reign in our thoughts and affections as the King of love, and the very Prince of Peace. Grant this, we pray thee, for his sake. Amen.

from The Methodist Book of Worship for Church and Home, 1965

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In Need of Hope (1st Sunday of Advent)

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Thoughts on Discipleship During Advent

Verse four of “O Come, All Ye Faithful” says,

See how the shepherds, summoned to his cradle,
leaving their flocks, draw nigh to gaze;
we too will thither bend our joyful footsteps;
O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

A disciple is a follower and a learner. A disciple of Jesus Christ learns from the Person, Works, and Words of Jesus. But they do more than learn from him; they follow him. This can be costly. Perhaps that is why Jesus taught such things as:

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (Mark 8:34)

And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:27)

In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:33)

Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. (John 12:26)

The shepherds were the first to see Jesus. At the bidding of the angels the shepherds dropped everything so that they might welcome the Savior of the world.

The words of the hymn beckon us to come and adore Christ the Lord. “Lord” is a very important name, not to be passed over. The title “Lord” was given to Jesus by his heavenly Father to signify that his name was above all names and that all authority in heaven and on earth was given to him. Thus, “Christ the Lord” has the right to our allegiance and an expectation that we will follow him. It makes no sense to call him Lord, or to call yourself his disciple, if you do not follow him.

And yet our commitment to Christ the Lord should not be a dry, lifeless obedience. As countless Christmas hymns remind us, there should be radiant rejoicing, life-transforming heralding, awe-inspiring worship, exuberant gratitude, and humble self-forgetfulness as we take our focus off ourselves and turn our gaze upon the babe in the manger. For it was that tender infant, lying in the straw, who was born to take away the sins of the world. And it was that Savior whom God named Lord of heaven and earth. O come, let us adore him.

Come Lord Jesus,
Dale

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O Come, O Come Emmanuel

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