Pam's Perambulation

Action #Advent

•December 7, 2015 • Leave a Comment

2015-12-07 08.36.41

Where have I run to?
Where have I strayed
far from where I should be?

Now is the time to return,
God longs
for me to come back,
return to him,
live safely where he is.

A place
with room for everyone,
where life
and love
and hope
cannot be measured,
because God is the limit.

All are welcome
who seek to return to him
and dwell in his place
now
and always.

Come,
return
to him.

The theme of the second week in Advent is The Day of Salvation. We prepare for that day.

Third Vision: A Measuring Line

2 This time I saw someone holding a measuring line, ²and I asked, “Where are you going?”

“To measure Jerusalem,” was the answer. “To find out how wide and long it is.”

³The angel who had spoken to me was leaving, when another angel came up to him ⁴and said, “Hurry! Tell that man with the measuring line that Jerusalem won’t have any boundaries. It will be too full of people and animals even to have a wall. ⁵The Lord himself has promised to be a protective wall of fire surrounding Jerusalem, and he will be its shining glory in the heart of the city.”

A Call to Action

⁶The Lord says to his people, “Run! Escape from the land in the north, where I scattered you to the four winds. ⁷Leave Babylonia and hurry back to Zion.”

⁸Then the glorious Lord All-Powerful ordered me to say to the nations that had raided and robbed Zion:

Zion is as precious to the Lord as are his eyes. Whatever you do to Zion, you do to him. ⁹And so, he will put you in the power of your slaves, and they will raid and rob you. Then you will know that I am a prophet of the Lord All-Powerful.

¹⁰City of Zion, sing and celebrate! The Lord has promised to come and live with you. ¹¹When he does, many nations will turn to him and become his people. At that time you will know that I am a prophet of the Lord All-Powerful.

City of God

Posted in Advent, bible, faith, God, hope, Religion, theology
Tags: home, The Day of Salvation, Zechariah 2:1-11

Prepare #Advent

•December 6, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Shouting,
preparing,
get ready!

We need to prepare,
to make it possible
to work on the bumpy roads,
flatten them,
smooth them,
straighten them,
remove obstacles

work on anything
that will slow God’s arrival
in my community,
in my heart.

What is stopping that here?
What do I need to do?
How shall I prepare?

The theme of the second week in Advent is The Day of Salvation. We prepare that day.

Luke 3:1-6 (CEV)

The Preaching of John the Baptist

3 For fifteen years Emperor Tiberius had ruled that part of the world. Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was the ruler of Galilee. Herod’s brother, Philip, was the ruler in the countries of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was the ruler of Abilene. ²Annas and Caiaphas were the Jewish high priests.

At that time God spoke to Zechariah’s son John, who was living in the desert. ³So John went along the Jordan Valley, telling the people, “Turn back to God and be baptized! Then your sins will be forgiven.” ⁴Isaiah the prophet wrote about John when he said,

“In the desert
    someone is shouting,
‘Get the road ready
    for the Lord!
Make a straight path
    for him.
⁵Fill up every valley
and level every mountain
    and hill.
Straighten the crooked paths
and smooth out
    the rough roads.
⁶Then everyone will see
    the saving power of God.’”

Posted in Advent, bible, faith, God, Lectionary, Religion, theology
Tags: John the Baptist, Luke 3:1-6, Prepare, The Day of Salvation

Working #advent

•December 5, 2015 • Leave a Comment

This is how I will build,
how I will work,
with God at my side,
working together
in his task.
He promised to be with us
and he is,
no work we do
in building for him
is done alone.

What he is building
is so much better
than anything that has gone before –
that is what he is inviting us to join.

Lord,
I want to work,
to build,
to grow
with you

The theme of the first week in Advent is The Day of the Lord. We look forward to the coming of that day.

Haggai 1:15-2:9 (CEV)

¹⁵And the work began on the twenty-fourth day of that same month.

The Glorious New Temple

2 ^1-2On the twenty-first day of the next month, the Lord told Haggai the prophet to speak this message to Governor Zerubbabel, High Priest Joshua, and everyone else:

³Does anyone remember how glorious this temple used to be? Now it looks like nothing. ⁴But cheer up! Because I, the Lord All-Powerful, will be here to help you with the work, ⁵just as I promised your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt. Don’t worry. My Spirit is right here with you.

⁶Soon I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. ⁷I will shake the nations, and their treasures will be brought here. Then the brightness of my glory will fill this temple. ⁸All silver and gold belong to me, ⁹and I promise that this new temple will be more glorious than the first one. I will also bless this city with peace.

God is Working His Purpose Out

Posted in Advent, bible, community, faith, God, hope, Religion, theology
Tags: Advent, Haggai 1:5-2:9, The Day of the Lord

Pam's Perambulation

Action #Advent