come

We welcome Your Arrival

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
The Birth of Christ, Albrecht Altdorfer c.1513, wikimedia commons
 
Night has fallen; the clear, bright stars are sparkling in the cold air; 
    noisy, strident voices rise to my ear from the city, 
    voices of the revelers of this world who celebrate with merrymaking 
        the poverty of their Savior. 
Around me in their rooms my companions are asleep, 
    and I am still wakeful, thinking of the mystery of Bethlehem.

Come, come, Jesus, I await you. . . .

I am a poor shepherd; 
I have only a wretched stable, a small manger, some wisps of straw. 
I offer all these to you, be pleased to come into my poor hovel. 
I offer you my heart; 
    my soul is poor and bare of virtues, 
    the straws of so many imperfections will prick you and make you weep
    –but oh, my Lord, what can you expect?
This little is all I have. . . . 
I have nothing better to offer you, Jesus, 
    honor my soul with your presence, adorn it with your graces. 
Burn this straw and change it into a soft couch for your most holy body.

Jesus, I am here waiting for your coming. 
Wicked men have driven you out, and the wind is like ice. 
I am a poor man, but I will warm you as well as I can. 
At least be pleased that I wish to welcome you warmly, 
    to love you and sacrifice myself for you.

Amen.

Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli 1881–1963 also Pope John XXIII
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Luke 2:4-7

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, 
    to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem,
  because he was of the house and lineage of David, 
    to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  
And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 
And she gave birth to her firstborn son 
    and wrapped him in swaddling cloths 
    and laid him in a manger, 
  because there was no place for them in the inn.
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What is one sacrifice you can make to welcome Jesus anew this Christmas?

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God, we greet your coming in Jesus Christ

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Altarpiece of the Seven Joys of Mary, c 1480 France, via Wikimedia Commons
 
We greet your coming, God, with wonder:
You come to be with us;
    yet you remain far greater than we can imagine.
You are near;
    yet your wisdom sets you apart from us.
You appear among us;
    yet we cannot describe your glory.

We greet your coming, God, with repentance:
We are more or less satisfied with ourselves;
    but your presence exposes our sin and failure.
We are self-confident;
    but you challenge our confidence in ourselves.
We are proud of our understanding;
    but you show us that we do not know everything.

We greet your coming, God, with joy:
We had no true idea of what you are like;
    but you have shown us yourself in Jesus Christ.
We felt our human life could be of no importance to you;
    but you have shown its value by appearing among us as a man.
We are aware of the gulf between us and you;
    but you have bridged it with love.

God, we greet your coming in Jesus Christ our Lord!

Caryl Micklem 1925 – 2003 English Reformed minister
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Psalm 77:11-14

I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
    yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
I will ponder all your work,
    and meditate on your mighty deeds.
Your way, O God, is holy.
    What god is great like our God?
You are the God who works wonders
    you have made known your might among the peoples.
 
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How can you greet the coming of Jesus with wonder, repentance, and joy?

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Come Thou long expected Jesus

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s Strength and Consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear Desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

Charles Wesley 1707 – 1788 English hymn writer and Methodist
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Haggai 2:6-7 

This is what the Lord Almighty says:
‘In a little while I will once more shake
    the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.
I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come,
    and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty.

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What are some of the desires of the nations that only God can fulfill?
How can you be praying for your country this season?

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Come Lord Jesus

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Lindisfarne Island, Chris Combe from York, UK, CC BY 2.0  Wikimedia Commons 
 
Come, Lord Jesus,
Come as King.
Rule in our hearts,
Come as love.
Rule in our minds,
Come as peace.
Rule in our actions,
Come as power.
Rule in our days,
Come as joy.
Rule in our darkness,
Come as light.
Rule in our bodies,
Come as health.
Rule in our labors,
Come as hope.
Thy Kingdom come
Among us.

David Adam 1936-2020 British Anglican priest, served at Lindisfarne
 
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The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
    on them has light shone.

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yearning for your Coming

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
​Redentor Over Clouds, Donatas Dabravolskas, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
 
In our secret yearnings
   we wait for your coming,
   and in our grinding despair
   we doubt that you will.

And in this privileged place
   we are surrounded by witnesses
      who yearn more than do we
    and by those
      who despair more deeply than do we.
Look upon your church and its pastors
    in this season of hope
    which runs so quickly to fatigue
    and this season of yearning
    which becomes so easily quarrelsome.
Give us the grace and the impatience
    to wait for you coming to the bottom of our toes,
    to the edges of our finger tips.
We do not want our several worlds to end.

Come in your power
    and come in your weakness
    in any case
    and make all things new.
Amen.

Walter Brueggemann 1933-2025 American Old Testament theologian
 
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I saw in the night visions,
    and behold, with the clouds of heaven
        there came one like a son of man,
    and he came to the Ancient of Days
        and was presented before him.
    And to him was given dominion
        and glory and a kingdom,
    that all peoples, nations, and languages
        should serve him;
    his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
        which shall not pass away,
    and his kingdom one
        that shall not be destroyed.

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We come to pray for ourselves…

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Photo by Chris Zhang on Unsplash

God of our times, our years, our days.
  You are the God of our work,
        of our rest,
        of our weariness.
Our times are in your hands. We come to you now
    in our strength and in our weakness,
    in our hope and in our despair,
    in our buoyancy and in our disease.
We come to pray for ourselves and for all like us
    who seek and yearn for life anew with you and from you
        and for you.

We pray to you this day, for ourselves and others like us in our greed
  We are among those who want more,
        more money, more power, more piety, more sex,
        more influence, more doctrine, more notice,
        more members,
        more students, more morality, more learning, more shoes.
  Be for us enough and more than enough,
    for we know about your self-giving generosity.

We pray to you this day; for ourselves and others like us
        in our disconsolation.
  We are not far removed from those without.
        without love. without home, without hope,
        without job, without health care.
  We are close enough to vision those who must
        check discarded butts to see if there is one more puff,
        who must rummage and scavenge for food.
        for their hungers are close to ours.
  Be among us the God who fills the hungry with good things,
        and sends the rich away empty.

We pray to you this day, for ourselves and others like us
    who are genuinely good people,
    who meditate on your Torah day and night.
    who are propelled by and for your best causes.
    who are on the right side of every issue,
    who wear ourselves out in obedience to you,
        and sometimes wear others out with our good intentions.
Be among us ultimate enough
        to make our passions penultimate,
        valid but less than crucial.
 
We are your people. We wait for you to be more visibly
    and palpably our God.
So we pray with our mothers and fathers, ” Come, Lord Jesus.”
We wait for your coming with all the graciousness we can muster.
Amen.
 
Walter Brueggemann, 1933 – 2025,  American Protestant Old Testament theologian 
 
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Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, 
    that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

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O come, faithful God

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Photo by RDNE Stock project via Pexels
 
O come, faithful God,
   who empowers the weak,
   who encourages the fearful,
   who enlightens the blind,
   who intones the deaf,
   who energizes the lame,
   who emancipates the speechless,
   who enriches the poor,
   who invigorates the dead;

O come, faithful God,
come and enable us, right now,
to worship you and work for your Kingdom,
filled with your strength,
   your hope,
   your vision,
   your melody,  
   your motivation,
   your Word,
   your inheritance,
   your Life!

All this we pray,
   through him who came to be our Savior,
   who lives to be our Lord,
   who will return and fully make all things new;

In Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
 
Peter L. Haynes, 1956-2020, American pastor
 
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And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord
    and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
 for he has been mindful
    of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
    for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
    holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
    from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
    he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
    but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
    but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
    remembering to be merciful
 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
    just as he promised our ancestors.”

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Spirit of the Lord, we need you

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image via pxhere CCO
 
 
Spirit, we know that we have done wrong by You.  
Please forgive us for grieving, resisting, and quenching You.  
We have resisted You through sin, through our rebellion, and through our hardness of heart.  
At times, we have been spiritually blind.  
At other times, we knew what You wanted us to do, 
    but we chose to ignore Your promptings.
Yet this is not how we want to live now
 
We need You to change us.  
Only through You can we truly worship.  
Spirit of the Lord, You are the one who brings us to a place where we can worship.  
You are the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of holiness, the Spirit of life. 
Thank You for the truth, the holiness and the life You give us.
 
We need Your wisdom and understanding as we seek to live this life.  
Keep us from disbelief, from fear.  
We need Your strength to help us do what you are asking us to do
    and to live how You are asking us to live.  
Speak loudly and drown out the other voices calling us 
    to conform to the patterns of this world.
 
You are the Spirit of self-control and love.  
Give us the self-control needed to deny our flesh and follow You.  
Give us a love strong enough to motivate courageous action.  
Manifest Yourself through us that we may serve and love Your bride the church, as You do.
 
Come, Holy Spirit, come.  
We don’t know exactly what that means and looks like for each of us yet, 
    in the particular places You’ve called us to inhabit.  
But, nonetheless, whatever it means, we ask for Your presence.  
Come, Holy Spirit, come.
 
Francis Chan, 1967- , American pastor and author
from Forgotten God, pg 165-166
 
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1 Corinthians 3:16

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
 

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to prepare for your coming

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Image by StockSnap from Pixabay  
 
Christ our Advent hope,
bare brown trees,
etched dark across a winter sky,
leaves fallen, rustling,
ground hard and cold,
remind us to prepare for your coming;
remind us to prepare for the time
when the soles of your feet will touch the ground,
when you will become one of us
to be one with us.
 
Karen McIlhappa, 1938 – 2002, Scottish minister of the Iona Community
 
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And it shall be said,
“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
    remove every obstruction from my people’s way.”
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
    who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
    and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
    and to revive the heart of the contrite.

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