Monday, December 26, 2011

25 December


Almighty God, you have given your only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and to be born of a pure virgin: Grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit; through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with you and the same Spirit be honor and glory, now and forever.  Amen.

Thank you to all who came to St. Simon’s for the Christmas services, making them truly joyous and festive celebrations of the nativity of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Blessings to all in this Christmastide and may you all have a peaceful and happy New Year!

See you in 2012!

M.E.+

Monday, December 19, 2011

11 December

The collect for the Third Sunday of Advent is one of the most powerful of the year.  May the praying of it bring some comfort to our hurting world.

"Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, 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."

May your holiday preparations go smoothly as the day of the birth of our Savior draws ever nearer!

M.E.+

Sunday, December 4, 2011

4 December


One of the things I took away from my trip to Israel is things are not always as you imagine them to be, but God is there – in the surprises and the differences.

Jesus was full of surprises.  At the end of his ministry, he talked about his coming again.  Last week, as we heard: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.  Luke says it slightly differently: Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place… (Luke 21:32)  But that generation has passed away, right?  And many, many, many generations since.  Yet we forget something important that we are reminded of in Peter’s letter:  Do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.

So what’s a generation to God?  Who knows…but Jesus commissioned his disciples to go and spread the Good News.  And we have been charged to do the same.  Peter asks his readers a really good question: what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God?  How are we going to wait for Jesus, both in this Advent and in the seasons beyond?

We are called to share the Good News, not just verbally but by leading by example – living that holy and godly life that Peter writes about; to do that we need to be strong and fit – spiritually, physically and emotionally.  How do you attend to your spiritual life?  What is your equivalent a 30 minute walk three times a week?  I’d encourage you to try daily prayer or maybe reading a passage from the Bible each day, anything to pause and assess where God is in your life at that particular moment, because trust me, God is there!

Waiting with you,
M.E.+