Today is the 2nd Sunday of Advent, and in most places of worship today they will be lighting the candle of "Peace".
But I have always liked to share the Shepherd's story on this Sunday as well. They certainly played a significant role in spreading the Good News of Jesus' Birth...let's read on and see...
Luke 2:8-20 NKV
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths,
lying in a manger.”
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.
Our part in this story is to be like the shepherds and go and tell everyone the good news about Jesus Christ, our Savior, Who came to bring us His peace and save us from our sins and show us the way to heaven for eternity with Him. This is truly Good News!!!
I hope this day finds you rejoicing in this Good News as we continue our journey to Bethlehem to see the new born King! May our hearts be filled with the awesome wonder that the God of the universe would stoop down to earth to reach out to us with such amazing love. There is no greater love than this.
Amen.
Today I am not at church for our Advent service, as I am still recuperating from the pneumonia that I had. I am much better, but still have a little bit of a cough and today is actually very wet and chilly/damp, and not a good day for a recovering pneumonia patient to be out in the weather...but very thankful that it IS raining finally, and I am enjoying watching it right here from home:
It's a great day to stay inside and enjoy the peace and quiet of a gently rain falling (sorry, the video is loud because I was standing on the back porch where we have a metal roof, and the rain was VERY loud!) and just rest.
I've been enjoying a lot of hot tea with lemon. I actually bought 3 lemons to use for Thanksgiving, and totally forgot about them, and so I've been using them regularly in my hot tea and it is very soothing for a cough and scratchy throat. I guess my mistake turned out to be a blessing in disguise!
I've added a bunch of links to previous years' 2nd Sunday of Advent posts, mainly so I can find them again when I want to refer to them. But you are welcome to read them if you wish. You may find some of them enjoyable as well.
https://pamelasopenwindow.blogspot.com/2015/12/o-little-town-of-bethlehem.html
https://pamelasopenwindow.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-2nd-sunday-of-advent-peace.html
https://pamelasopenwindow.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-second-sunday-of-advent.html
https://pamelasopenwindow.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-second-sunday-of-adventpeace.html
https://pamelasopenwindow.blogspot.com/2023/12/advent-sunday-2.html
https://pamelasopenwindow.blogspot.com/2024/12/advent-week-two.html
I will say good day for now. May your day be filled with peace and much joy in the Good News of Christmas! Amen.
