But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. John 17:13
Frederick Buechner says, "Advent is made of moments. This slow, unfurling of grace." Our busy, over-packed commitments can muffle the whispers of the season. Sometimes, almost by accident, we find these "unfurling of grace" moments rendered in sacred song, revealed in children dressed as shepherds and angels and wise men, remembered as ornaments are carefully hung on our Christmas trees. Within these moments there is quiet joy, joy of being, joy of abiding with Christ, joy of God's unending blessings. LIVE!
Joy comes with the coming of Christ that holy night in Bethlehem. As joy enters the world full of chaos, love tenderly welcomes. Soon, Joy sings from the wings of angels with glorious song to shepherds who rest in the night. A new day, a new way is born. From an unexpected entrance and into the darkness, Joy comes and humanity will be forever changed, a joy of Eternal Hope, a joy of Perfect Love, a joy of Everlasting Peace. Although Joy enters the world in Bethlehem on a dark night over 2,000 years ago, the coming of Christ still brings joy for us - for you and for me, for strangers we never meet and some who will become friends; joy comes for the affluent and the afflicted, for the brave and the spiritually bankrupt. Joy calls to the powerful and the powerless, the elderly and the children, the every-day person walking an every-day path. Today - in this moment - the coming of Christ calls each us to become a 'Bethlehem' for Him. LIVE!
Advent's joy, Immanuel, God with us, transforms our hearts and homes, our families and friendships, our communities and cultures. Christ becomes new life in us. Messiah - a name spoken by prophets, a Baby announced by angels, the Son affirmed by God, a Teacher nourished by the Spirit, a Savior crucified by sin, a Redeemer resurrected by Grace, a King returning by Promise - let my life be a Bethlehem for You! Be born again in me. Don't miss Him! LIVE! ~dho
Just as our Lord came into humanity from the outside, so He must come into us from the outside. Have we allowed our personal humanity to become a "Bethlehem" for the Son of God?" Oswald Chambers
Joy comes with the coming of Christ that holy night in Bethlehem. As joy enters the world full of chaos, love tenderly welcomes. Soon, Joy sings from the wings of angels with glorious song to shepherds who rest in the night. A new day, a new way is born. From an unexpected entrance and into the darkness, Joy comes and humanity will be forever changed, a joy of Eternal Hope, a joy of Perfect Love, a joy of Everlasting Peace. Although Joy enters the world in Bethlehem on a dark night over 2,000 years ago, the coming of Christ still brings joy for us - for you and for me, for strangers we never meet and some who will become friends; joy comes for the affluent and the afflicted, for the brave and the spiritually bankrupt. Joy calls to the powerful and the powerless, the elderly and the children, the every-day person walking an every-day path. Today - in this moment - the coming of Christ calls each us to become a 'Bethlehem' for Him. LIVE!
Advent's joy, Immanuel, God with us, transforms our hearts and homes, our families and friendships, our communities and cultures. Christ becomes new life in us. Messiah - a name spoken by prophets, a Baby announced by angels, the Son affirmed by God, a Teacher nourished by the Spirit, a Savior crucified by sin, a Redeemer resurrected by Grace, a King returning by Promise - let my life be a Bethlehem for You! Be born again in me. Don't miss Him! LIVE! ~dho
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