Tag Archives: change

Gone Fishing

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Andreas F. Borchert (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en),

This is my work here, but I can’t do it alone.

I need you to come and help me, to share with me in all I need to do.

Will you come?  Let me teach you, show you, empower you?

This is my invitation, to come with me, work with me, be a part of what I am doing.

“Come with me” he said, and what could I do?

This wasn’t a day trip,
but a life change,
a journey to something new,
to be someone different,
to work with God.

“Come with me”,
the invitation remains.

He will make me what he needs me to be.

I come
willing to follow,
ready to learn learn,
with you.

Mark 1:14-20 (CEV)

Jesus Begins His Work

14 After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee and told the good news that comes from God. 15 He said, “The time has come! God’s kingdom will soon be here. Turn back to God and believe the good news!”

Jesus Chooses Four Fishermen

16 As Jesus was walking along the shore of Lake Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew. They were fishermen and were casting their nets into the lake.17 Jesus said to them, “Come with me! I will teach you how to bring in people instead of fish.” 18 Right then the two brothers dropped their nets and went with him.

19 Jesus walked on and soon saw James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in a boat, mending their nets. 20 At once Jesus asked them to come with him. They left their father in the boat with the hired workers and went with him.

Mary #adventbookclub

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Luke 1:26-38 (CEV)

An Angel Tells about the Birth of Jesus

26 One month later God sent the angel Gabriel to the town of Nazareth in Galilee 27 with a message for a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to Joseph from the family of King David. 28 The angel greeted Mary and said, “You are truly blessed! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was confused by the angel’s words and wondered what they meant. 30 Then the angel told Mary, “Don’t be afraid! God is pleased with you, 31 and you will have a son. His name will be Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of God Most High. The Lord God will make him king, as his ancestor David was. 33 He will rule the people of Israel forever, and his kingdom will never end.”

34 Mary asked the angel, “How can this happen? I am not married!”

35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come down to you, and God’s power will come over you. So your child will be called the holy Son of God. 36 Your relative Elizabeth is also going to have a son, even though she is old. No one thought she could ever have a baby, but in three months she will have a son. 37 Nothing is impossible for God!”

38 Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant! Let it happen as you have said.” And the angel left her.

 

You don’t expect to meet an angel do you?  Not an actual real one?  Maybe someone who does something good and we tell them they’re an angel, but not An Angel.

How did I know he was an angel?  Good question.  I guess there was just something about him.  I just knew.  Knew that this was God and this was serious.  If I’d known what he was about to tell me, I might have run away; but well, you know, when God speaks, what can you do?

Am I expecting to see
and hear you Lord?

Am I expecting you
to come into my everyday life
and bring news
that changes everything?

Am I expecting you to come
and change me
beyond comprehension?

Am I ready,
waiting,
for you to work in my life?

Let me stop,
hear
and allow you to work,
that I
and the world
may be changed.

 

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

Martha ii #adventbookclub

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Luke 2:1-7 (CEV)

The Birth of Jesus

2 About that time Emperor Augustus gave orders for the names of all the people to be listed in record books.2 These first records were made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.

3 Everyone had to go to their own hometown to be listed.4 So Joseph had to leave Nazareth in Galilee and go to Bethlehem in Judea. Long ago Bethlehem had been King David’s hometown, and Joseph went there because he was from David’s family.

5 Mary was engaged to Joseph and travelled with him to Bethlehem. She was soon going to have a baby, 6 and while they were there, 7 she gave birth to her first-born son. She dressed him in baby clothes and laid him on a bed of hay, because there was no room for them in the inn. 

Martha’s story reminds me that the coming of Jesus disturbed lives. People who thought their lives were sorted, going along nicely; those who thought their lives were full already. People whose lives were just going along – and then Jesus burst into them – and nothing  was ever quite the same again.

People open their hearts and lives to God.  And he comes.  Changes priorities, opportunities presented, new life born, hope re-kindled.

And with that welcoming of God, comes a whole rush of other people to welcome too…

Lord,
your coming
changes everything.

I thought life was ok,
but then you burst into it.
And everything is somehow different,
even when it appears the same.

You have brought your life,
your hope,
your presence.

As I welcome you
may I make room,
and allow you to have an impact
on what you find there.

 


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