Advent Prayer: 2nd Wednesday 09 Dec 2020
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
With tender comfort and transforming power you come into our midst, O God of mercy and might. Make ready a way in the wilderness, clear a straight path in our hearts, and form us into a repentant people, that the advent of your Son may find us watchful and eager for the glory he reveals. We ask this through him whose coming is certain, whose day draws near: your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.
“Guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.”
“For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her,
says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence,
says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”
(Malachi 2:15-16)
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Psalm 27 · Warr Acres
On a trouble day / You will keep me safe
Hiding me with sacred arms
Sitting high above / You’re my solid rock
You’re my hope
Should my enemies / Come surrounding me
I will shout in songs of joy
For if ever I fall / You will hear my call
You’re my hope
Through the storms / Through the night
My salvation appears / For the Lord is my light
Tell me whom shall I fear
Lord teach me your ways / Lead me in paths straight
Far from my oppressing foes
Now see your goodness / I am confident
You’re my hope
Through the storms / Through the night
My salvation appears / For the Lord is my light
Tell me whom shall I fear
And I will wait on you / Til my life is through
Taking hard mixed highs and lows
And may my soul stay strong / For it won’t be long
You’re my hope
You’re my hope
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Old Testament Reading: Malachi 2:10-3:1 (ESV)
Judah Profaned the Covenant
10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? 11 Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. 12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who does this, who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!
13 And this second thing you do. You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14 But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15 Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. 16 “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”
The Messenger of the Lord
17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
3 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.
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Kay Warren Explains the Divorce Rate in American (Apr 23, 2012)
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New Testament Reading: Luke1:5-17 (ESV)
Birth of John the Baptist Foretold
5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
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Prepare The Way – Bethel Music
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Prayer:
Eternal God, creator and preserver of all life, author of salvation, and giver of all grace: Look with favor upon every man and woman whom you have made one flesh in Holy Matrimony, and enable us all to fulfill the vows we have made.
+ Grant us wisdom and devotion in the ordering of our common life, that we may be to the other a partner in prayer, a strength in need, a counselor in perplexity, a comfort in sorrow, and a companion in joy.
+ Grant that our wills may be so knit together in your will, and our spirits in your Spirit, that we may grow in love and devotion to you and with one another all the days of our lives.
+ Give us courage, when we hurt each other, to recognize and acknowledge our faults, to seek your forgiveness, and to forgive and be reconciled to one another.
+ Grant that we may so love, honor, and cherish each other in faithfulness and patience, in wisdom and true godliness, that our homes may be a haven of blessing and peace.
By the power of your Holy Spirit, pour out the abundance of your blessing upon our marriages. Bless us in our work and in our companionship; in our sleeping and in our waking; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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Blessing
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you.
May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm.
May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you.
May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.
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+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Peanut Gallery 