Advent | Friday – 23 Dec 2022: Luke 1:46b-55; 2 Samuel 7:18, 23-29; Galatians 3:6-14 ~ You are blessed through faith in Christ Jesus.

Advent | Friday – 23 Dec 2022

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening:

Stir up your power, O Lord,
and with great might come among us;
and as we are sorely hindered by our sins
from running the race that is set before us,
let your bountiful grace and mercy
speedily help and deliver us;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom,
with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory,
now and for ever. Amen.

Through Christ Jesus,
God has blessed the Gentiles
with the same blessing he promised to Abraham,
so that we who are believers
might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.
(Galatians 3:14)

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Mary’s Song of Praise – Magnificat | The ZOE Group

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OT Reading: 2 Samuel 7:18, 23-29 (NLT)

David’s Prayer of Thanks

7:18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and prayed,

“Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?

7:23 What other nation on earth is like your people Israel? What other nation, O God, have you redeemed from slavery to be your own people? You made a great name for yourself when you redeemed your people from Egypt. You performed awesome miracles and drove out the nations and gods that stood in their way. You made Israel your very own people forever, and you, O Lord, became their God.

“And now, O Lord God, I am your servant; do as you have promised concerning me and my family. Confirm it as a promise that will last forever. And may your name be honored forever so that everyone will say, ‘The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is God over Israel!’ And may the house of your servant David continue before you forever.

“O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, God of Israel, I have been bold enough to pray this prayer to you because you have revealed all this to your servant, saying, ‘I will build a house for you—a dynasty of kings!’ For you are God, O Sovereign Lord. Your words are truth, and you have promised these good things to your servant. And now, may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you have spoken, and when you grant a blessing to your servant, O Sovereign Lord, it is an eternal blessing!”

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Once In Royal David’s City – Traditional Choir

Megan Smith

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NT Reading: Galatians 3:6-14 (NLT)

3:6 In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.

What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life.”

But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.

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The Blessing (Symphonic Version) – Passion City Church

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Prayer: ACNA | BCP2019

+ Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

+ Almighty God, you have not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities; grant that we, who for our evil deeds deserve to be punished, by the might of your grace may mercifully be relieved; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

+ Almighty God, in your great mercy, you have promised forgiveness of sins to all those who sincerely repent and with true faith turn to you, have mercy upon us, pardon and deliver us from all our sins, confirm and strengthen us in all goodness, and bring us to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch

Open eyes and hearts,
that this might be
an Advent of hope to the world.

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Advent | Thursday – 22 Dec 2022: Luke 1:46b-55; Isaiah 33:17-22; Revelation 22:6-7, 18-20 ~ Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

Advent | Thursday – 22 Dec 2022

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening:

He who is the faithful witness to all these things says,
“Yes, I am coming soon!”
Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
(Revelation 22:20)

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Mary’s Song of Praise – Magnificat | Reawaken Hymns

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OT Reading: Isaiah 33:17-22 (NLT)

33:17 Your eyes will see the king in all his splendor,
and you will see a land that stretches into the distance.
You will think back to this time of terror, asking,
“Where are the Assyrian officers
who counted our towers?
Where are the bookkeepers
who recorded the plunder taken from our fallen city?”
You will no longer see these fierce, violent people
with their strange, unknown language.

Instead, you will see Zion as a place of holy festivals.
You will see Jerusalem, a city quiet and secure.
It will be like a tent whose ropes are taut
and whose stakes are firmly fixed.
The Lord will be our Mighty One.
He will be like a wide river of protection
that no enemy can cross,
that no enemy ship can sail upon.
For the Lord is our judge,
our lawgiver, and our king.
He will care for us and save us.

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Come Thou Long Expected Jesus | First City Church

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NT Reading: Revelation 22:6-7, 18-20 (NLT)

22:6 Then the angel said to me, “Everything you have heard and seen is trustworthy and true. The Lord God, who inspires his prophets, has sent his angel to tell his servants what will happen soon.”

Jesus Is Coming

22:7 “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed are those who obey the words of prophecy written in this book.”

22:18 And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book.

He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!”

Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

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Come, Lord Jesus | Prayers of the Saints Live

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Prayer: ACNA | BCP2019

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Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch

Open eyes and hearts,
that this might be
an Advent of hope to the world.

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Advent | Wednesday – 21 Dec 2022: 1 Samuel 2:1-10; Genesis 37:2-11; Matthew 1:1-17 ~ Jesus the Messiah.

Advent | Wednesday – 21 Dec 2022

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening:

Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah.
(Matthew 1:16)

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Hannah’s Prayer – Faith, Praise & Worship

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OT Reading: Genesis 37:2-11 (NLT)

37:2 This is the account of Jacob and his family. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father’s flocks. He worked for his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing.

Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph—a beautiful robe. But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.

One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. “Listen to this dream,” he said. “We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine!”

His brothers responded, “So you think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you will reign over us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them.

Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. “Listen, I have had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!”

This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers, but his father scolded him. “What kind of dream is that?” he asked. “Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow to the ground before you?” But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant.

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O Come, O Come Emmanuel – Sovereign Grace

Scott Bacher

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NT Reading: Matthew 1:1-17 (NLT)

The Ancestors of Jesus the Messiah

1:1 This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham:

Abraham was the father of Isaac.
Isaac was the father of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar).
Perez was the father of Hezron.
Hezron was the father of Ram.
Ram was the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.
Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
Salmon was the father of Boaz (whose mother was Rahab).
Boaz was the father of Obed (whose mother was Ruth).
Obed was the father of Jesse.
Jesse was the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon (whose mother was Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah).
Solomon was the father of Rehoboam.
Rehoboam was the father of Abijah.
Abijah was the father of Asa.
Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat.
Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram.
Jehoram was the father of Uzziah.
Uzziah was the father of Jotham.
Jotham was the father of Ahaz.
Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.
Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh.
Manasseh was the father of Amon.
Amon was the father of Josiah.
Josiah was the father of Jehoiachin and his brothers (born at the time of the exile to Babylon).

After the Babylonian exile:
Jehoiachin was the father of Shealtiel.
Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel.
Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud.
Abiud was the father of Eliakim.
Eliakim was the father of Azor.
Azor was the father of Zadok.
Zadok was the father of Akim.
Akim was the father of Eliud.
Eliud was the father of Eleazar.
Eleazar was the father of Matthan.
Matthan was the father of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah.

All those listed above include fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah.

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Messiah– Hayli Lindgren

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Prayer: ACNA | BCP2019

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Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch

Rejoice in the Lord always
Shout out his name
He knows our thoughts
Understands our hearts
And enables us to become
The people we were meant to be.

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Advent | Tuesday – 20 Dec 2022: 1 Samuel 2:1-10; Genesis 21:1-21; Galatians 4:21-5:1 ~ Christ has truly set us free.

Advent | Tuesday – 20 Dec 2022

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening:

So Christ has truly set us free.
Now make sure that you stay free,
and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
(Galatians 5:1)

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Hannah’s Prayer of Praise – Suzie Muhindi

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OT Reading: Genesis 21:1-21 (NLT)

The Birth of Isaac

21:1 The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would. And Abraham named their son Isaac. Eight days after Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised him as God had commanded. Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born.

And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter. All who hear about this will laugh with me. Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse a baby? Yet I have given Abraham a son in his old age!”

Hagar and Ishmael Are Sent Away

21:8 When Isaac grew up and was about to be weaned, Abraham prepared a huge feast to celebrate the occasion. But Sarah saw Ishmael—the son of Abraham and her Egyptian servant Hagar—making fun of her son, Isaac. So she turned to Abraham and demanded, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son. He is not going to share the inheritance with my son, Isaac. I won’t have it!”

This upset Abraham very much because Ishmael was his son. But God told Abraham, “Do not be upset over the boy and your servant. Do whatever Sarah tells you, for Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted. But I will also make a nation of the descendants of Hagar’s son because he is your son, too.”

So Abraham got up early the next morning, prepared food and a container of water, and strapped them on Hagar’s shoulders. Then he sent her away with their son, and she wandered aimlessly in the wilderness of Beersheba.

When the water was gone, she put the boy in the shade of a bush. Then she went and sat down by herself about a hundred yards away. “I don’t want to watch the boy die,” she said, as she burst into tears.

But God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “Hagar, what’s wrong? Do not be afraid! God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Go to him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants.”

Then God opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well full of water. She quickly filled her water container and gave the boy a drink.

And God was with the boy as he grew up in the wilderness. He became a skillful archer, and he settled in the wilderness of Paran. His mother arranged for him to marry a woman from the land of Egypt.

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Francesca Battistelli – Messiah

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NT Reading: Galatians 4:21-5:1 (NLT)

Abraham’s Two Children

4:21 Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says? The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife. The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise.

These two women serve as an illustration of God’s two covenants. The first woman, Hagar, represents Mount Sinai where people received the law that enslaved them. And now Jerusalem is just like Mount Sinai in Arabia, because she and her children live in slavery to the law. But the other woman, Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman, and she is our mother. Isaiah said,

“Rejoice, O childless woman,
you who have never given birth!
Break into a joyful shout,
you who have never been in labor!
For the desolate woman now has more children
than the woman who lives with her husband!”

And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac. But you are now being persecuted by those who want you to keep the law, just as Ishmael, the child born by human effort, persecuted Isaac, the child born by the power of the Spirit.

But what do the Scriptures say about that? “Get rid of the slave and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman; we are children of the free woman.

Freedom in Christ

5:1 So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

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I Am Free – New Life Worship

Ross Parsley

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Prayer: ACNA | BCP2019

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Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch

Rejoice in the Lord always
Shout out his name
He knows our thoughts
Understands our hearts
And enables us to become
The people we were meant to be.

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Advent | Monday – 19 Dec 2022: 1 Samuel 2:1-10; Genesis 17:15-22; Galatians 4:8-20 ~ Live in freedom from trying to earn God’s favor.

Advent | Monday – 19 Dec 2022

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening:

Dear brothers and sisters,
I plead with you to live as I do in freedom from…
[trying to earn favor with God].
(Galatians 4:12a)

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Hannah’s Prayer of Praise – A Mother’s Prayer – Rachel Aldous – Worship & Praise Songs

Time To Worship And Praise Him Channel

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OT Reading: Genesis 17:15-22 (NLT)

Sarai Is Named Sarah

17:15 Then God said to Abraham, “Regarding Sarai, your wife—her name will no longer be Sarai. From now on her name will be Sarah. And I will bless her and give you a son from her! Yes, I will bless her richly, and she will become the mother of many nations. Kings of nations will be among her descendants.”

Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief. “How could I become a father at the age of 100?” he thought. “And how can Sarah have a baby when she is ninety years old?” So Abraham said to God, “May Ishmael live under your special blessing!”

But God replied, “No—Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant. As for Ishmael, I will bless him also, just as you have asked. I will make him extremely fruitful and multiply his descendants. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will be confirmed with Isaac, who will be born to you and Sarah about this time next year.” When God had finished speaking, he left Abraham.

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Keren Silver – Ata Ta’ase (You Shall Bring It to Pass)

nikkyttmessianic PraiseandWorship

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NT Reading: Galatians 4:8-20 (NLT)

Paul’s Concern for the Galatians

4:8 Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist. So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world? You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years. I fear for you. Perhaps all my hard work with you was for nothing. Dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to live as I do in freedom from these things, for I have become like you Gentiles—free from those laws.

You did not mistreat me when I first preached to you. Surely you remember that I was sick when I first brought you the Good News. But even though my condition tempted you to reject me, you did not despise me or turn me away. No, you took me in and cared for me as though I were an angel from God or even Christ Jesus himself. Where is that joyful and grateful spirit you felt then? I am sure you would have taken out your own eyes and given them to me if it had been possible. Have I now become your enemy because I am telling you the truth?

Those false teachers are so eager to win your favor, but their intentions are not good. They are trying to shut you off from me so that you will pay attention only to them. If someone is eager to do good things for you, that’s all right; but let them do it all the time, not just when I’m with you.

Oh, my dear children! I feel as if I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives. I wish I were with you right now so I could change my tone. But at this distance I don’t know how else to help you.

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In Christ Alone – MERCY ME

Patrick Phiaphakdy

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Prayer: ACNA | BCP2019

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Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch

Rejoice in the Lord always
Shout out his name
He knows our thoughts
Understands our hearts
And enables us to become
The people we were meant to be.

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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