Lighten our darkness,
Lord, we pray,
and in your great mercy
defend us from all perils and dangers of this night,
for the love of your only Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Collect for night prayer, Common Worship
Lighten our Darkness
•December 7, 2011 • Leave a CommentAn offer
•December 6, 2011 • Leave a CommentLord, I bring to you everything I have. None of it is mine – everything I have is a gift from you. You are a generous God, and have blessed my life with your presence, your love, your peace and your hope. You give me all I need.
Help me to live with your gifts. Help me to hold lightly, to be willing to give to others and to you.
Receiving and Giving
•December 5, 2011 • Leave a CommentThe LORD’s angel called out from heaven a second time:
You were willing to offer the LORD your only son, and so he makes you this solemn promise, “I will bless you and give you such a large family, that someday your descendants will be more numerous than the stars in the sky or the grains of sand along the beach. They will defeat their enemies and take over the cities where their enemies live. You have obeyed me, and so you and your descendants will be a blessing to all nations on earth.”
What would you do to make everything alright again? How can we sort it all out? What can be done?
Christmas is all about giving.
God gives his son to the world. His offering to sort things out, to offer hope, to give the opportunity to begin again.
Our response? Do we receive what he offers? Do we offer back to him?
What would you do if God asked you to sacrifice something very special? Could you do it?
In our willingness to give up, God blesses us. He gives us something way beyond what we can wish or imagine. His gifts to us are so much more than anything we can offer him?
Is there anything you need to offer to God? To allow him to take and enhance and bless? To allow him to touch and to multiply?
God doesn’t take our dreams from us – in his hands they are multiplied and fulfilled.
“My God, I wish to give myself to thee. Give me the courage to do so.” François Fénelon
