Christian Reflection and Prayer

Scripture:

Read Colossians 1:11-20.
All things were made through Him, and without
Him was not anything made that was made (John 1:3).

Reflection:

Do you want to give a really special, memorable gift this
Christmas? Don't buy something from the store; make
it yourself. Your time, care and attention will show how
important you consider that person. Of course, it helps
if you have some skill or talent in making things.

John's Christmas account carries us back to the very
beginning of Genesis, to a formless and empty earth.
Over the next six days God goes to work carefully
arranging it. He establishes the regular cycle of night
and day; He separates the dry land from the waters;
He sets the sun, moon and stars in place; He produces
trees and vegetation; He creates all kinds of living
creatures to fill the skies, waters and land. And finally
He forms mankind from the dust of the earth.

And where is the Son of God in all of this? John tells us
He is at the Father's side, making all things through His
powerful Word. Read through Genesis 1 again and see
how many times Moses wrote, "And God said ...." This
is the Word, the Second Person of the Trinity. John tells
us, "All things were made through Him." To eliminate any
misconception he adds, "and without Him was not
anything made that was made."

Everything you can see bears His fingerprint, including
your own body, mind and spirit. Each person, each
creature, each blade of grass owes its existence to the
Word. It was He who humbled Himself on that first
Christmas to become part of His creation and be laid in
a manger-a feeding trough for the animals He had created
long before.

THE PRAYER:

Heavenly Father, truly I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Thank You for providing my needs and watching over my life.
Draw me closer to You in the weeks leading up to this
Christmas. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

(Lutheran Hour Ministries)

(Day 2 of Advent)

Scripture:

In the beginning was the Word
(see John 1:1)

Reflection:

Before we jump into the hustle and bustle of preparing for
Christmas of 2013, it is important to journey back in time
to that first Christmas. John does just that in his Gospel.
But he doesn't stop at the manger in Bethlehem. He
goes back beyond the moment Joseph discovers his
betrothed wife Mary is pregnant. He doesn't even stop
when the angel first appears to the Virgin Mary. John
keeps going backward in time, carrying us back all the
way to the start of the Old Testament.

John starts his account of the first Christmas with
"In the beginning"-the precise moment God creates
the heavens and the earth. The earth lies before us
formless and void, covered with seas and wrapped
in darkness. John writes "In the beginning was the Word "
 
Notice John did not write, "In the beginning is the Word.
" At the beginning of the creation of the heaven and
earth, the Word already was. Mary's Son, the Word that
would become flesh that first Christmas morn, existed
long before. He existed before the world was created.

Before we dive into all our Christmas preparations,
before we start wondering if it's worth all the time and
work, let's remember we are not merely celebrating
the birth of one more famous human baby. We are
preparing to celebrate the human birth of the timeless
and eternal Word of God, who was there at His Father's
side before God created the heavens and the earth.

(Lutheran Hour Ministries)

Scripture:

Advent cover 2013The Word became flesh and dwelt
among us (see John 1:14)

Reflection:

As this Thanksgiving weekend draws to a close you
might want to start thinking about Christmas,
especially if you haven't given it a thought before!
This year Thanksgiving is as late as it gets. That
leaves us only three and a half weeks to buy those
presents, put up the decorations, send out the
invitations, mail out the greeting cards, bake all the
cookies, and do all the other Christmas preparations
you have to this year. Where should you start?

I would suggest we take a moment to remember
what all the fuss is about. Before we jump into all the
holiday preparations, let's stop, turn around, and take
a look behind us-way back to the very first Christmas.
Three books of the Bible do that for us: Matthew,
Luke and John. Each describes Jesus' birth from a
slightly different perspective.

Matthew shows us Christmas from the viewpoint of
Joseph the carpenter-Mary's husband and Jesus'
foster father. He discovers his betrothed wife is
pregnant, considers divorcing her, then takes her as
his wife after receiving an angelic message in his
dreams. Luke shows us Christmas from Mary's point
of view. She is visited by the angel Gabriel who
announces God has chosen her to be the mother of
His Son. Then she travels with her husband to
Bethlehem where she gives birth to her firstborn Son.

This Christmas season we will study John's account
of the first Christmas. John will not look at Christmas
through the eyes of Joseph or Mary. Instead, he will
have us look directly into the eyes of the Baby Jesus,
so we can clearly see the reason for this season-and
all the preparations we make.

(Lutheran Hour Ministries)