The promises of God are a cornerstone of our Christian spirituality. These beautiful statements from the Lord serve as a beacon of hope and guidance for us in every aspect of our lives (for fuller description, click on image above).
Comfort My People, Isaiah 40.1-11
In gentleness and care, God is announcing the coming of his Messiah, declaring comfort for his people, the ending of her warfare, and the hope of deliverance, Isaiah 40.1-11.
Our Focus Today
God is reassuring his people of Jesus’ imminent return, bringing salvation, healing and restoration to those who prepare for his arrival, Isaiah 40.2.
Invocation
As we enter the season of Advent and the week of Annunciation, we take comfort in your promise to console your people and Jerusalem. Your messages during this time come together in a chorus of hope and forgiveness, bringing the assurance of deliverance and the certainty of salvation. We worship you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, knowing that you have pledged to comfort us as we wait for the Messiah. Amen.
Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father,
And to the Son and to the Holy Spirit:
As it was in the beginning,
Is now, and ever shall be,
World without end. Amen, amen.
Monday: Genesis 26-27
God is reassuring his people of Jesus’ imminent return, bringing salvation, healing and restoration to those who prepare for his arrival, Isaiah 40.2.
Reflection
God is comforting his people with the promise of Jesus’ imminent return. He speaks tenderly to his own of his message of hope, salvation, healing, and restoration for his people and the nations. We must prepare for his arrival, which is coming soon.
Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, The Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Begotten Son of God,
Begotten of the Father before all ages,
God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God,
Begotten not created, of the same essence as the Father,
through Whom all things were made.
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary and became human.
Who for us too, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried.
The third day He rose again according to the Scriptures, ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and His kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and life-giver,
Who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
Who together with the Father and Son is worshiped and glorified.
Who spoke by the prophets.
We believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sin,
and we look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the age to come. Amen.
*In the Apostles and Nicene Creeds, the term catholic refers to the Church’s universality, through all ages and times, of all languages and peoples. It refers to no particular tradition or denominational expression (e.g., as in Roman Catholic).
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever. Amen.
Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Benediction
With the advent season and the Annunciation week upon us, we take comfort in your promise to console your people and Jerusalem. There is an assurance of deliverance and the certainty of salvation in your messages during this time, as you speak tenderly to us of your mercy and grace. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we worship you and thank you for promising to comfort us as we await the Messiah. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Scripture Memory
Isaiah 9.6-7 (ESV)
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Book Reading and Reflection
“I know that’s true in my own efforts at fathering. Despite my best intentions to follow through on family commitments, inevitably some other pressing concern arises to wreck the plans we’ve made together and take me away from home. Even though I try very hard not to make explicit promises I might not be able to keep, still my kids are disappointed when the expectations that I encouraged are dashed by unexpected circumstances—some of my own making. I want to help you catch a vision of a very different kind of father, the eternal Father who never fails to fulfill his word. No matter what obstacles arise, he never loses sight of his goal: to form and fashion a human family to share in the infinite love of the Trinity. As we consider what the Scripture tells us about how God has fathered his people over the ages, we should realize more fully just how great is God’s personal love for each and every one of us, as members of his covenant family.”
~ Hahn, Scott, A Father Who Keeps His Promises: God’s Covenant Love in Scripture. Servant Publication, Ann Arbor, MI: 1998,
page 129 (electronic edition).
The Messiah Shall Come, Isaiah 9.6-7
The Lord will provide a chosen child who will be the Messiah, the anointed one of God.
Let God Arise! Focus
The Mighty Deeds of the Lord, Luke 1.46b-55.
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