Elizabeth ii #adventbookclub

•December 14, 2014 • Leave a Comment

Luke 1:5-15, 24-25, 39-45 (CEV)

An Angel Tells about the Birth of John

5 When Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest by the name of Zechariah from the priestly group of Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was from the family of Aaron. 6 Both of them were good people and pleased the Lord God by obeying all that he had commanded. 7 But they did not have children. Elizabeth could not have any, and both Zechariah and Elizabeth were already old.

8 One day Zechariah’s group of priests were on duty, and he was serving God as a priest. 9 According to the custom of the priests, he had been chosen to go into the Lord’s temple that day and to burn incense, 10 while the people stood outside praying.

11 All at once an angel from the Lord appeared to Zechariah at the right side of the altar. 12 Zechariah was confused and afraid when he saw the angel. 13 But the angel told him:

Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayers. Your wife Elizabeth will have a son, and you must name him John. 14 His birth will make you very happy, and many people will be glad. 15 Your son will be a great servant of the Lord. He must never drink wine or beer, and the power of the Holy Spirit will be with him from the time he is born.

24 Soon after that, his wife was expecting a baby, and for five months she did not leave the house. She said to herself,25 “What the Lord has done for me will keep people from looking down on me.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

39 A short time later Mary hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea. 40 She went into Zechariah’s home, where she greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, her baby moved within her.

The Holy Spirit came upon Elizabeth. 42 Then in a loud voice she said to Mary:

God has blessed you more than any other woman! He has also blessed the child you will have. 43 Why should the mother of my Lord come to me? 44 As soon as I heard your greeting, my baby became happy and moved within me.45 The Lord has blessed you because you believed that he will keep his promise.

So, there I am, suddenly find myself pregnant.  Zechariah had heard right all along!

This child growing in me.  God working in and through me.  Who knew!  God is good.  People will be able to see now what God has called me to.  They will see.  He wasn’t punishing me.  He was waiting for the right moment, his exact timing for what he needed to do.  He needed me and it has happened.

Thank you Lord
for your timing,
right timing,
to work in me.

Help me not to push things along
by my agenda,
but to work with yours.

Give me patience,
grant me strength,
may I live in hope,
as I wait
for you
and what you are going to do.


Join us reading Walking Backwards to Christmas by Stephen Cottrell from SPCK Publishing this advent.  Be part of #adventbookclub, share your thoughts here, on your own blog (and let us know we’ll link to it), on Twitter using #adventbookclub or on the Adventbookclub Facebook page

 

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Elizabeth #adventbookclub

•December 13, 2014 • 3 Comments

 Luke 1:5-15, 24-25 (CEV)

An Angel Tells about the Birth of John

5 When Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest by the name of Zechariah from the priestly group of Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was from the family of Aaron. 6 Both of them were good people and pleased the Lord God by obeying all that he had commanded. 7 But they did not have children. Elizabeth could not have any, and both Zechariah and Elizabeth were already old.

8 One day Zechariah’s group of priests were on duty, and he was serving God as a priest. 9 According to the custom of the priests, he had been chosen to go into the Lord’s temple that day and to burn incense, 10 while the people stood outside praying.

11 All at once an angel from the Lord appeared to Zechariah at the right side of the altar. 12 Zechariah was confused and afraid when he saw the angel. 13 But the angel told him:

Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayers. Your wife Elizabeth will have a son, and you must name him John. 14 His birth will make you very happy, and many people will be glad. 15 Your son will be a great servant of the Lord. He must never drink wine or beer, and the power of the Holy Spirit will be with him from the time he is born.

24 Soon after that, his wife was expecting a baby, and for five months she did not leave the house. She said to herself,25 “What the Lord has done for me will keep people from looking down on me.

Well, Zechariah came home with a right tale today.  Well, I say that.  It would have been if he could have got it out, but for some reason he was having trouble speaking.  Oh men that go to the back of their caves when they’ve got something on their mind.  But what a tale it was.  Apparently (ahem), he’d seen an angel.  He was the Priest on duty, the one chosen to go into the Temple, and there it had happened.

Goodness knows Zechariah and I have not had the easiest life.  Our longing for children has never been satisfied.  We’ve tried everything and it’s just not happened, obviously not meant to be – though I don’t know what we’ve done to deserve such a curse.  And now it’s never going to happen.  I’m way past that now.

Except, that was this message Zechariah had got from this angel.  There will be a child, a boy.  For some reason we are to call him John, though there’s no John’s in the family.  Still if God’s going to do something this amazing, I guess we can let him name the baby too.  Because this is going to be no ordinary baby, he’s got something important to do for God.

I suppose all I can do is let God do what he needs to in and through me and the child I will carry.

Still can’t quite believe it.  Can’t get my head around it.  How will I cope with what God is asking of me?  I guess God only knows.

God of surprises
and impossibilities,
may I be open to all you seek to do
in and through me.

May I hear your voice,
your call,
your challenge
and respond
with my life. 

Join us reading Walking Backwards to Christmas by Stephen Cottrell from SPCK Publishing this advent.  Be part of #adventbookclub, share your thoughts here, on your own blog (and let us know we’ll link to it), on Twitter using #adventbookclub or on the Adventbookclub Facebook page

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Joseph ii #adventbookclub

•December 12, 2014 • Leave a Comment

Matthew 1:18-24 (CEV)

The Birth of Jesus

18 This is how Jesus Christ was born. A young woman named Mary was engaged to Joseph from King David’s family. But before they were married, she learned that she was going to have a baby by God’s Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph was a good man and did not want to embarrass Mary in front of everyone. So he decided to quietly call off the wedding.

20 While Joseph was thinking about this, an angel from the Lord came to him in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph, the baby that Mary will have is from the Holy Spirit. Go ahead and marry her. 21 Then after her baby is born, name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 So the Lord’s promise came true, just as the prophet had said, 23 “A virgin will have a baby boy, and he will be called Immanuel,” which means “God is with us.”

24 After Joseph woke up, he and Mary were soon married, just as the Lord’s angel had told him to do.

 

What to do when your dreams go unfulfilled?  When you long for something that never comes.  And then it seems there is possibility and hope, your dreams burst into life again.  You thought you were past hope, but it lives anew in you, lifts you, carries you on.  And then it seems gone, more cruel for a second taking.

Can you hope again, believe, trust and walk on?

Can God truly be with us?

God of hope,
I bring to you
the things I long for,
the possibilities,
those that seem beyond reach,
the ones that feel dashed.

Where promise has wilted
and become despair,
where what might have been,
has become what will never be,
where hopes are smashed
and lie broken,
where nothing seems possible anymore.

I open myself up to you.
To your possibility,
your promise,
your hope.

May I dream again,
of all you can do,
and give you the chance
to dream in and through me.

 

Join us reading Walking Backwards to Christmas by Stephen Cottrell from SPCK Publishing this advent.  Be part of #adventbookclub, share your thoughts here, on your own blog (and let us know we’ll link to it), on Twitter using #adventbookclub or on the Adventbookclub Facebook page

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