Category Archives: Daily Faith

Glory To God in the Highest 12/23/15

Posted on December 23, 2015 | Leave a comment

Luke 2:14 -18
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

 

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Posted in Advent, Birth of Jesus, Christmas Bread, Daily Faith, Luke

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Breath of Heaven 12/22/15

Posted on December 22, 2015 | Leave a comment

Luke 2:1- 7
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

I have traveled many moonless nights
Cold and weary with a babe inside
And I wonder what I’ve done
Holy Father you have come
And chosen me now
To carry your son

I am waiting in a silent prayer
I am frightened by the load I bear
In a world as cold as stone
Must I walk this path alone
Be with me now
Be with me now

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This Manger 12/20/15

Posted on December 20, 2015 | Leave a comment

Luke 2:6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

This Manger cradle was not an accident that happened in an overcrowded village at a busy time.  God provided it.  Was This Cradle the first church?  It could be.   It wasn’t the perfect structure I might have hoped for, but it was there and available.   It wasn’t filled with privileged and perfect people, but those who were curious, who listened and responded with their presence.  The only thing that made it perfect was that God chose to make his Son available there.

Churches are surely different but in this season there are similarities that attract us to This Cradle together: it’s available to anyone who wants to come.  There are still wise men and women who follow their own path to to give the gifts they have.  We still have shepherds who rise and boldly tell the story of what they see.  We can sing the music of praise filled with words we forget to speak at other times.  This Cradle still holds the same surprise and promise – God’s Son is available there..

This year Take a Walk Through Bethlehem and remember “You don’t have to travel anywhere, faith and hope and love will bring you there…

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What Comes After 12/19/15

Posted on December 19, 2015 | Leave a comment

Mark 1:9-13
9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”  12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

It’s interesting that the Gospel of Mark is all about What Comes After.   After the Advent of that birth in Bethlehem had faded into years of reality.  After  that baby has become a grown-up Jesus.  After the baptism.  After the “voice from heaven” confirms him. After he endures the power of the wilderness.   After “the time has come” to proclaim the “good news of God.”   What Comes After is a new beginning.  After Christmas.

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As Well As Heirs 12/18/15

Posted on December 18, 2015 | Leave a comment

Galatians 4:1 & 2
1 What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father.

The only connection I can see between Galatians and Advent is that it’s about an heir. That word certainly describes Jesus, God’s son, who’s lineage is well documented in the Bible.  For that baby, that heir, God provided a trustee mother and a guardian father.  They did their job well “until the time set by his father.”  That all fits.

There’s more to the story though.  Romans 8:17 tells us “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.”  This walk to the cradle has led me to consider God may have chosen us to be modern-day guardians and trustees of his legacy…As Well As Heirs.

• guard·i·an; a defender, protector, or keeper.
• trust·ee: an individual person or member of a board given control or powers of   administration of property in trust with a legal obligation to administer it solely      for the purposes specified.

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Part of the Cast 12/17/15

Posted on December 17, 2015 | Leave a comment

Luke 2:13 & 14
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

CastWe’re in the last days of the choir preparation for the church’s Christmas Concert this Saturday night.  It’s a BIG deal in the community and a REALLY big deal in our lives.  Singing the beautiful music of Christmas with the Florida Philharmonic Symphony, Seven Rivers Chorale, soprano Amy Owens, and even an Irish Band is thrilling…and work.

It’s become an up-close-and-personal object lesson for me.  Those angels may well have had the same long hours of practice learning words and music so their song could be the perfect proclamation.  It’s easy to lose the idea of the very real effort involved in all the Holiness of that night.

That night wasn’t just a last minute thing that God pulled off.  There was a great deal of preparation moving all “cast” members to the right place at the right time in order to accomplish the reality of “praising God and saying,  “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”   We are privileged to be Part of the Cast of this contemporary Gloria…and a little overwhelmed.

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Intervention 12/16/15

Posted on December 16, 2015 | Leave a comment

Matthew 2:13-15
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”  14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

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My mind always goes to the sweet Baby, the wonder of angels singing and shepherds and wise men kneeling in worship but there’s a horrible component to the original story, that Matthew relates, about the depravity of man. There was least one angel that didn’t sing Gloria but came with a warning to Joseph…“take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”   That long ago story is a terrible reality of a jealous and spiteful king’s solution.

God had a different solution – an Intervention – the Word made Flesh so we would see with our own eyes.  That was a new idea for me from a sermon by Pastor Carl Franzon.  The premise was that God may have come to the end of His patience waiting for His creation to respond and recognize Him and took action.  That certainly is the reality of a powerful and sovereign truth.

I think it’s “how” God chose to insert himself into our world that tells the rest of the story of this Intervention.  A baby: the least intimidating human form.  A baby to bridge the gap between a terrible reality and the sovereign truth.  A baby that centuries later still causes us to feel something personal about this Intervention that happened so long ago.   That’s Advent.

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I Wonder… 12/15/15

Posted on December 15, 2015 | Leave a comment

I wonder…Hanging On
– if  Advent has something to do with God missing interacting with his own creation on a personal level…again?

I wonder…
– if Advent is how we see the reality of “Born Again” as the Son of God is born out of Heaven and into that cradle?

I wonder…
– if the Advent cradle still holds God’s power so when we look again at the birth of Jesus from another year’s vantage point, our faith gets a boost?

I wonder…
– if Advent is God’s promise of annual renewal?

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The Clothes of Reality 12/13/15

Posted on December 13, 2015 | Leave a comment

Luke 2:8-12
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.  12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

As I read this from Luke I couldn’t help but think of what I expect to find at that cradle. There’s a lot of beautiful images that fill my head that are probably more romance than reality.  I can understand the bright light of the Glory of the Lord and Heavenly Hosts would certainly be signs and maybe a baby with a halo but the angel specifically said “And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”  Wasn’t that what every baby was wrapped in?

There’s an old story of a European ruler who would sneak away and walk among his people incognito.  It drove his security people nuts but his response was “I cannot rule my people unless I know how they live.”   This birth was just like that: God revealed to our world as an ordinary baby, wrapped in ordinary swaddling clothes…from ordinary parents in an ordinary stable…incognito.

This is a mystery I’m wondering about this Advent.   How many times have I missed God because the circumstances seemed too ordinary?  Isn’t that the whole reason we walk again to the cradle year after year?  It’s our chance to see a miracle wrapped in The Clothes of Reality.

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His Promise…His Power 12/11/15

Posted on December 11, 2015 | Leave a comment

Romans 8:2-5 NASB
3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

What a surprise to find myself in my favorite chapter from the whole Bible for my Advent reading today.  If you remove the “religiousity” factor of laws you have to admit we can’t live without them.  We need laws to create order and some level of security in our society.  I’ll bet I’m not the only one that’s broken some of them: ever rolled through a stop sign?

That’s an easier-to-swallow version of “weak as it was through the flesh” to own up to. Now that our minds are in the right place maybe we can face the issue of “sinful flesh”…and “in us.”  That’s ugly, isn’t it?  That Holy baby, Jesus…Immanuel…was born “in the likeness of” us???

This is how far God went “so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us.”   He filled that cradle with His Promise…His Power to buy back that “likeness of sinful flesh” in us, and redeem the meaning of this season, for “the things of the Spirit.”  That’s what Advent is all about..

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