How far is it to Bethlehem? St Patrick's Cathedral Choir, Dublin

Dr. Ben Carson - Liberty University Convocation

24th December

 Hold us O God of the dark days, secure in the knowledge that from its wintry depths the earth will bring forth a Saviour.

That prayer is in the ancient Celtic tradition which often links faith to nature and natural events. It fits so well as our prayer on Christmas Eve. 

2^nd Samuel 7  v 16 

Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’

Those are the words of [the prophet] Nathan when he disclosed his revelation from God to King David. You could say they were not true in that David’s [natural] line came to an end when the Babylonian exile took place. On the other hand, of course the true King [Jesus] would be born, [and His lineage traces back to King David].

Have a blessed Christmas. 

Margaret Watson Reverend (retired)

Former Salvation Army Officer

UK

23rd December

Luke 1:38

1 v 45 “Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfil his promises to her!"

These words are those of Elizabeth [Mother of John the Baptist, and Mary’s aunt] to Mary [mother of Jesus] of course, but they could apply in so many other situations, and not just to young women. Lately I have been speaking to several people who are called to full time ministry in the church. In each case there are reasons why it seems impossible [for them] to fulfill the call. But blessing and peace will only come when they acknowledge and respond to God’s call. Mary had answered immediately to God’s call to service “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me according to your word.”  Others find it harder [to respond to God’s call for their lives]. But despite what the consequences might be; and not all of the ramifications were known to Mary, the only satisfying answer is hers – recognising the voice of God and responding to it in a positive way. 

Here is part of a prayer by Francis of Assisi:

Hallowed be your name.

May our knowledge of you become ever clearer, that we may know the depth of your blessings, the length of your promises, the height of your majesty, and the depths of your judgments.

Your kingdom come.

Rule in our hearts with your grace, that we may become fit subjects for your subjects for your kingdom. We desire nothing more than to dwell in your kingdom. We desire nothing more than to dwell in your kingdom.

Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 

Margaret Watson Reverend (retired)

Former Salvation Army Officer, UK

Saturday 21st December

In John 5 v 36 Jesus explains why he has come to earth  - he has a job to do:  The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. 

In other words, Jesus came not just so you can over stuff yourself with turkey, or open yet another pair of socks, not even so that people can sing carols about his coming. He came with a purpose, a man of actions which showed us the Father. 

I went to church every Sunday for years. I even liked it, but it was just words. Then I began my nurses’ training and I met Sue – she radiated her faith and showed it in the way she conducted herself. She was a joy to be around. She never said ‘You must believe this or that,’ but there was something [about her]. Then she told us she had got a bus to take us all to hear Billy Graham – she had put her faith into action. 

As we progress through this final week of Advent here is a prayer from the 8^th century Gelasian Sacramentary,* and yet still so applicable today in the 21^st:

O Lord our God, make us watchful and keep us faithful, as we await the coming of your son our Lord; that when he shall appear he may not find us sleeping in sin, but active in his service and joyful in his praise, for the glory of your holy name. 

[*The so-called Gelasian Sacramentary (Latin: Sacramentarium Gelasianum) is a book of Christian liturgy, containing the priest's part in celebrating the Eucharist. It is the second oldest western liturgical book that has survived: only the Verona Sacramentary is older.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelasian_Sacramentary]

Reverend Margaret Watson (retired)

Former Salvation Army Officer

UK

Friday 20th December

Winter can be a bleak time of year, and for some the fact that Christmas is coming is [more] a time of despair rather than hope. They are going to be alone again, on what is such a family based festival.  Those of us who do have our families around us please remember the others. Could you fit one more chair round your table?  The worst that can happen is that someone refuses your offer.

Or perhaps you are one of the desperate, the lonely? This verse from I Peter 1 v 3 offers hope:

Praise be to the God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

O God, we pray for all who suffer in any way, especially for those who will be alone this Christmas. Whatever life holds for them we ask that they have fresh courage to face each new day, and the comfort of knowing you care when it seems few others do.

For ourselves O God, may we be sensitive to the needs of others, givers rather than takers, yet taking every opportunity to act in your love. Amen.

Margaret Watson Reverend (retired)

Former Salvation Army Officer

UK

Thursday 19 December

Matthew 11 v 15 ‘He who has ears to hear let them listen.’

Those words don’t refer to listening to incessant music in the shopping mall. It refers to those who hear Christ [teachings] but don’t listen and don’t let it affect them. How often do we hear ‘Ah, but Christmas is for children?’  But it [Christmas] is more than the school nativity play, advent chocolates, and too many presents. I will always remember a distant relative of mine, aged about four at the time, saying, when faced with a pile of presents and a large family gathered around to watch her open them, ‘Do we have to do this?’

We have to, despite all the distractions, listen to the real message of Christmas, which is of course that God loved us enough to send his only Son, so that all who respond by believing in him as Saviour, can be saved.

A prayer of Julian of Norwich :

God, of your goodness, give me yourself, for you are enough for me, and I may ask nothing less that is worthy of you; and if I ask anything less, I will always be wanting. Only in you do I have all.

Margaret Watson Reverend (retired)

Former Salvation Army Officer

UK

Wednesday the 18th December

Unless you are a member of the Salvation Army you may be unfamiliar with these words by John Gowans*, but you will, as a Christian, know the truth of them:

I believe that God the Father

Can be seen in God the Son,

In the gentleness of Jesus

Love for all the world is shown.

Though men crucify their Saviour,

And his tenderness rebuff,

God is love, the cross is saying,

Calvary is proof enough.

I believe in transformation,

God can change the hearts of men,

And refine the evil nature

Till it glows with grace again.

Others may reject the weakling,

I believe he can be strong,

To the family of Jesus

All God's children may belong.

In a world of shifting values,

There are standards that remain,

I believe that holy living

By God's grace we may attain.

All would hear the Holy Spirit

If they listen to his voice,

Every Christian may be Christlike

And in liberty rejoice.

All the promises of Jesus

Are unchanged in every way,

In my yesterdays I proved them,

I believe them for today.

Still God gives his willing servant

Full equipment for the task;

Power is found by those who seek it,

Grace is given to those who ask.

[John Gowans (13 November 1934 – 8 December 2012) was a Scottish clergyman, who was the 16th General of The Salvation Army from 1999 to 2002. He is also notable for pairing with General John Larsson in the composition of many songs and musicals. ( wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gowans)]

 

Have you ever looked at a young member of your family and thought ‘He is so like his Dad.’? I have included this song ( which uses the tune Bethany) because of those first two lines, which of course remind us that in Jesus Christ we can see our heavenly father.  

Whichever version of the Bible you use it is very clear in Colossians 2 v 9 that ‘For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.’ It is a difficult concept to explain. How could all the power of God, all his wisdom and knowledge be contained in one young man?  Yet we are told it is so [because this one young man is the Son of God]. 

Our best response perhaps is to pray a prayer like this one,  by Timothy Jones, included in his ‘Workaday Prayers’:

O God, whom scripture says is alone immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see, keep us from thinking we can manage you or too neatly define you. Give us an adventuresome awe and a delighted sense of wonder that we do not forget how great and beyond knowing you are. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Margaret Watson Reverend  (retired)

Former Salvation Army Officer, UK

Tuesday 17th December

Hebrews 11 v 11—16

11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 

2 This is what the ancients were commended for.

3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 

14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 

15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 

16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

In the New International version of the Bible this passage in Hebrews has the heading ‘Faith in action’. That is a challenge. If our faith is just that, just a trust in God, but doesn’t lead us to positive actions as result then it remains rather inadequate doesn’t it? 

So often the promises of God in the Bible are conditional. In Proverbs 3 for instance we read ‘In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” In Psalm 37 we are told ‘“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”. Our desires must truly be a reflection of Who He is and God will then delight in giving us those desires.

A prayer from Andrew Jones, a Welsh minister:

God of patriarchs, prophets, saints and sinners – the beginning and end of our pilgrimage.

Be with us on our journey.

Guide us in times of trial, give us gladness in sorrow, your presence in our loneliness and fill us with the light of Christ as we rejoice in fellowship with you and all people. 

Margaret Watson Reverend (retired)

Former Salvation Army Officer, UK