Advent Sunday #2

 Today was the 2nd Sunday of Advent...and it was a very special day for our family! I was so pleased that our pastor asked our son Benton and wife Rose to do the reading and candle lighting for the Advent Wreath today.  I had a good vantage point from the choir loft, so of course I snuck a few pictures...

Benton did the readings while Rose lit the two purple candles.

Today's readings came from Luke 2:8-10...the story of the Shepherds keeping watch over their flock by night....and then "an Angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people'"...  

 Verse 11 and 12 says: "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

"Today we remember the shepherds, workers for the common good, steadfast watchmen isolated and alone, far from the warmth of home, doing the job no one wants.  And yet God saw them, God valued them, and God declared the greatest news of all to them alone."

There is just something very special to a parent to see their adult children participating in the worship service. This was a blessing to my heart, and a beautiful way to start this Advent Sunday.

Then after church the "kids" offered to bring over cold cuts, etc. for lunch so they could come over and help with the train set up and also watch some football with hubby. Benton is a big Cleveland Browns fan, going back to when he was a child and we lived in Ohio near Cleveland.  And they won today! That was really special!

Anyway, when we got home Scott had arrived and so after lunch we all got to work on setting up the train and village.  What a fun time we had, even if it was physically demanding for this old gal to get up and down on the floor to set things in place. We still had fun!

Here's Scott, putting the tracks together...

and here's Rose, finding all the boxes of the Village buildings so we can start putting them together. Sugar and Spice are very curious about these activities:

Rose and I were busily putting the "Plasticville" village buildings together. If you've ever had these vintage plastic buildings before, you may understand how frustrating this task can be.  The buildings are meant to just be "snapped together", but because these are all at least fifty years old they have lost their snap-ability, and they end up needing extra help to stay together. Many little pieces have broken over the years and we've had to glue them back together...and then after being stored again in a hot storage shed they seem to develop other issues and need to be reglued.  It was a rather tedious job, and I think I said more than once that I'd be happy to get rid of all of these old buildings for some nice new ceramic buildings that don't need to be assembled...but of course that just wouldn't be the same and wouldn't have the memories attached, etc., etc. , not to mention new buildings are expensive. 

So we persevered and finally got them all put back together, and then came the fun of transporting them to be placed under the tree:

I'm glad there are no pictures of me trying to get back up off the floor. It was NOT a pretty sight! LOL.

Again, Sugar and Spice were very curious about that train going around the track, and they wanted to chase it and bark at it and came very near to wrecking the whole village...

Sugar is standing watch over that train engine, just daring it to take off again.  It was really comical.

But finally all is calm and all is bright...

The people are going about their business in the little town...getting things ready for Christmas...

And once again we put aside the hustle bustle of getting ready for Christmas and drift away into a Silent Night...

Time to "sleep in heavenly peace"....Good Night dear ones.  

The Second Sunday of Advent

Today is the Second Sunday of Advent, and in our worship service this morning at church as we lit the 2nd candle, we talked about the Shepherds:

"In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people.'" Luke 2:8-10

Today we remember the shepherds, workers for the common good, steadfast watchmen isolated and alone, far from the warmth of home, doing the job no one wants. And yet God saw them, God valued them, and God declared the greatest news of all to them alone.

People: Today we give thanks for the shepherds among us, back-breaking laborers on whom our economy stands, those we overlook or rarely see, yet rely on for our very survival, the ones who have much to teach us about watching for God in the darkness.

On this second Sunday of Advent, we light the second candle as a symbol of the shepherds, agents of the gospel and redeemers of the world.

(picture from our home Advent Wreath, 2017)

I hope you will take the time to listen to the message today from Isaiah chapter 9. And if you'd like to participate, there is a communion service at the end.

Let's sing along with the Praise Team as we sing: Sing We Now of Christmas:

Sing we now of Christmas, Noel sing we here!

Listen to our praises to the Babe so dear

Sing we Noel, the King is born, Noel!

Sing we now of Christmas, sing we all Noel! 

Shepherds on the hillside heard the angels sing

Glory, honor, praises to the infant King

Sing we Noel, the King is born, Noel!

Sing we now of Christmas, sing we all Noel!

 

In the town they found Him; Son of Mary mild

Sleeping in a manger was the Holy Child

Sing we Noel, the King is born, Noel!

Sing we now of Christmas, sing we all Noel! 

Wise Men sought and found Him, treasures did they bring

Bowing down they worshiped Christ the King of kings

Sing we Noel, the King is born, Noel!

Sing we now of Christmas, sing we all Noel!

Click Here for another wonderful Advent post about the Shepherds from a few years ago.

Fourth Sunday of Advent: Let's Go! (Updated)

Update: Today is the 4th Sunday of Advent.  I will not be posting any "Sermon Notes" for today as we are having our Christmas Cantata in place of the sermon. I've already shared about that with you HERE.  So for today, let's light the candle, and prepare our hearts for the coming of Emmanuel, God With Us...

(In this picture above from our home Advent service, we have already lit all five candles. But if you have a Christmas Eve service, that is when the tall white candle in the middle should be lit. I have kind of combined all of that in this post today).

Today  is the fourth Sunday of Advent...the Sunday prior to Christmas Day. As we light the fourth candle, the question is asked:  "Why do we light this candle?"

And the response is:

"Today we add the Shepherd's Candle.  It reminds us of our responsibility to share what we have seen and heard.  The Galilean Shepherds, who received the first announcement of the Savior's Birth, left their task and went with haste to see the Christ child, and then returned to tell others about the earthshaking event.  Sharing the Good News required no special talent, simply telling others what they had seen and heard with the conviction of personal experience."

Then we read Luke 2:17-20

"Now when they (the Shepherds) had seen Him (the baby Jesus),

they made widely known the saying which was told them 

concerning this Child.

And all those who heard it marveled at those things which

were told them by the shepherds.

But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Then the shepherds returned,

glorifying and praising God

for all the things that they 

had heard and seen, as it was told them."

Luke 2:17-20

We are reminded that, like the Shepherds, we too should go out from this Holy place and spread the good news.  What IS the good news?  That little Baby that was born in the manger came to save us all from our sins.  He came to change the world....Click Here for "Mary Did You Know?" by Pentatonix

May the Good News of this little Baby fill your heart with joy and peace and the strength to carry on in the New Year, no matter what may come your way.  I am so thankful that I know this little Baby, Who grew up to save us ALL.  I hope that you know Him too.  No better time than now. And if you DO know Him, let us join with the Shepherds and spread the Good News throughout the world. This Little Baby Jesus, Who grew up to die and save us from our sins, didn't stay in the tomb.  After three days He arose from the grave, and conquered death once and for all. As He ascended into heaven, we were promised that He would return for us someday...

"And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up,

behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,

who also said,

'Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?

This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven,

will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.'"

Acts 1:10-11

Jesus told His disciples in John 14:18-19 ~ 

"I will not leave you orphans;

I will come to you.

A little while longer and the world will see Me no more,

but you will Me. 

Because I live,

you will live also."

Just before Christ ascended into heaven, He gave His disciples (and us) this "Great Commission"...

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you,

and lo, 

I AM with you always,

even to the end of the age.

Amen."

Matthew 28:19-20

And that, my friend, is truly GOOD NEWS!   EMMANUEL, "God WITH Us", will be with us until the end of the age...and then He will come again and take us home to heaven to be with Him forever.  What better message could we share with the world than this?

Let us go and do as the Shepherds did.

Let's Go!

4th Sunday of Advent: Spread the Good News! (Updated)

Today  was the fourth Sunday of Advent...the Sunday prior to Christmas Day. As we lit the fourth candle, the question was asked:  "Why do we light this candle?"

And the response was:

"Today we add the Shepherd's Candle.  It reminds us of our responsibility to share what we have seen and heard.  The Galilean Shepherds, who received the first announcement of the Savior's Birth, left their task and went with haste to see the Christ child, and then returned to tell others about the earthshaking event.  Sharing the Good News required no special talent, simply telling others what they had seen and heard with the conviction of personal experience."

Then we read Luke 2:1-20

"Now when they (the Shepherds) had seen Him (the baby Jesus),

they made widely known the saying which was told them 

concerning this Child.

And all those who heard it marveled at those things which

were told them by the shepherds.

But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Then the shepherds returned,

glorifying and praising God

for all the things that they 

had heard and seen, as it was told them."

Luke 2:17-20

We were reminded that, like the Shepherds, we too should go out from this Holy place and spread the good news.  What IS the good news?  That little Baby that was born in the manger came to save us all from our sins.  He came to change the world....Click Here for "Mary Did You Know?" by Pentatonix

May the Good News of this little Baby fill your heart with joy and peace and the strength to carry on in the New Year, no matter what may come your way.  I am so thankful that I know this little Baby, Who grew up to save us ALL.  I hope that you know Him too.  No better time than now. And if you DO know Him, let us join with the Shepherds and spread the Good News throughout the world. This Little Baby Jesus, Who grew up to die and save us from our sins, didn't stay in the tomb.  After three days He arose from the grave, and conquered death once and for all. As He ascended into heaven, we were promised that He would return for us someday...

"And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up,

behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,

who also said,

'Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?

This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven,

will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.'"

Acts 1:10-11

Jesus told His disciples in John 14:18-19 ~ 

"I will not leave you orphans;

I will come to you.

A little while longer and the world will see Me no more,

but you will Me. 

Because I live,

you will live also."

Just before Christ ascended into heaven, He gave His disciples (and us) this "Great Commission"...

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you,

and lo, 

I AM with you always,

even to the end of the age.

Amen."

Matthew 28:19-20

And that, my friend, is truly GOOD NEWS!   EMMANUEL, "God WITH Us", will be with us until the end of the age...and then He will come again and take us home to heaven to be with Him forever.  What better message could we share with the world than this?

Let us go and do as the Shepherds did.

Let's Go!

Pictures from our Advent Candle Lighting service today, 12/18/2016...our friends Marion Hill and Maura Masterson lighting the candles, and our son Benton read the scripture readings.  

Following our service today we had our Home Bible Fellowship Christmas dinner....  Here is the table being prepared the night before....

And here we are today enjoying a wonderful ham dinner together...

And here's "Nanny", my 93 year old mother in law...enjoying the fellowship and good food and her after dinner snack of peanuts and a piece of chocolate...something she seems to be craving these days and we have to limit or she'll just eat that and nothing else!  Yes, never a dull moment...

I pray that you and yours are having a blessed Advent season...preparing for the celebration of the birth of Christ next Sunday!  Now, Go Tell it on the mountain...that Jesus Christ is born!!! 

Hallelujah!!