ADVENT - DAY 25 - TODAY...

Luke 2:11-19

Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you;  he is Christ the Lord.

This will be a sign to you:  You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth, peace to men on whom his favour rests."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlAyxaL_eQk

ADVENT - DAY 24

Luke 2: 1-7

About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire.  This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria.  Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for.  So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David's town, for the census.  As a descendant of David, he had to go there.  He went with Mary his fiancee, who was pregnant.

While they were there, the time came for her to give birth.  She gave birth to a son, her firstborn.  She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the inn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KDLvClhSQ8

ADVENT - DAY 23 - JOSEPH'S DREAM

Matthew 1:20-23

While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream.  God's angel spoke in the dream:  "Joseph, son of David, don't hesitate to get married.  Mary's pregnancy is Spirit-conceived.  God's Holy Spirit has made her pregnant.  She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus - 'God saves' - because he will save his people from their sins."  This would bring the prophet's embryonic sermon to full term:

Watch for this - a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;

They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for "God is with us").

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmgW-LloLsc

ADVENT - DAY 22

Luke 1:26-35,38

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David.  The virgin's name was Mary.  The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favoured!  The Lord is with you."

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.  But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God.  You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever;  his kingdom will never end.

"How will this be,"  Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.  So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God."  

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered.  "May it be to me as you have said."  Then the angel left her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsXOP7aQeqQ

Be Born in Me
Featuring Francesca Battistelli...Taken from "The Story"

ADVENT - DAY 21 - PREPARE...

Matthew 3:1-3

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."  This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

"A voice of one calling in the desert,

'Prepare the way for the Lord,

make straight paths for him.'"

John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist.  His food was locusts and wild honey.  People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.  Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

Elizabeth and Zechariah's son John has arrived.  The 'one' prophesied by Isaiah over 700 years before, preaching Isaiah's message..."Prepare the way for the Lord!"

Here's a lovely song sung by men from an Amish community (I think)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkj3tgSiQMA

ADVENT - DAY 20 - PROMISE OF A SON

Luke 1:6-8, 11-17

During the rule of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest assigned service in the regiment of Abijah.  His name was Zachariah.  His wife was descended from the daughters of Aaron.  Her name was Elizabeth.  Together they lived honourably before God, careful in keeping to the ways of the commandments and enjoying a clear conscience before God.  But they were childless because Elizabeth could never conceive, and now they were quite old.

It so happened that as Zachariah was carrying out his priestly duties before God...unannounced, an angel of God appeared just to the right of the alter of incense.  Zachariah was paralysed in fear.

But the angel reassured him, "Don't fear, Zachariah.  Your prayer has been heard.  Elizabeth, your wife, will bear a son by you.  You are to name him John.  You're going to leap like a gazelle for joy, and not only you - many will delight in his birth.  He'll achieve great stature with God.

He'll drink neither wine nor beer.  He'll be filled with the Holy Spirit from the moment he leaves his mother's womb.  He will turn many sons and daughters of Israel back to their God.  He will herald God's arrival in the style and strength of Elijah, soften the hearts of parents to children, and kindle devout understanding among hardened skeptics - he'll get the people ready for God."

ADVENT - DAY 19 - YET...

Habakkuk 2:1; 3:17-19

I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts;

 I will look to see what he will say to me, 

and what answer I am to give to this complaint.

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,

though the olive crop fails 

and the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the LORD,

I will be joyful in God my Saviour.

The Sovereign LORD is my strength;

he make my feet like the feet of a deer,

he enables me to go on the heights.

And a lovely song...Even....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh0TC6Er92o