Week Four: Love: Day Five

We’re finally there!  The day we’ve been waiting for has finally arrived!  It’s Christmas Day!  Our Savior and our king is here!  The One we’ve been waiting for is here!  Rejoice!  We have Hope and Peace with God!  Rejoice, in His love!  Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! (Psalm 100:1)  Rejoice!

Galatians 4:4-5

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

(You can listen to it here.  The original French is here.  And a more literal English translation is here.  Do check it out.)

He is Born

He is born, the holy Child,
Play the oboe and bagpipes merrily!
He is born, the holy Child,
Sing we all of the Savior mild.

Through long ages of the past,
Prophets have foretold His coming;
Through long ages of the past,
Now the time has come at last!

He is born, the holy Child,
Play the oboe and bagpipes merrily!
He is born, the holy Child,
Sing we all of the Savior mild.

O how lovely, O how pure
Is this perfect Child of heaven;
O how lovely, O how pure
Gracious gift of God to man!

He is born, the holy Child,
Play the oboe and bagpipes merrily!
He is born, the holy Child,
Sing we all of the Savior mild.

Jesus, Lord of all the world,
Coming as a Child among us,
Jesus, Lord of all the world,
Grant to us Thy heavenly peace.

He is born, the holy Child,
Play the oboe and bagpipes merrily!
He is born, the holy Child,
Sing we all of the Savior mild.

Merry Christmas!

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Week Four: Love: Day Four

I really like this song.  It’s solemn but beautiful.  I think it’s very appropriate for this Christmas Eve.  And as it’s about night and this is Christmas Eve, I decided to wait until evening to post it.  This song reminds us that while we are waiting for Christmas and it’s almost over, in the midst of our joy and celebrating, we should take the time to be solemn and worship the One whom this holiday was created to honor.

Thank you, Jesus, for your redeeming grace.  Thank you for being that baby in the manger.  Thank you for Christmas.

Luke 2:15-16

So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.”  And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.

Silent Night

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Week Four: Love: Day Three

We’re almost there.  Christmas is almost here.  This has always been a favorite of mine, perhaps because it’s in a minor key, and I love songs in minor keys.

Luke 2:11-12

For there is born to you this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.

(You can hear it here.)

What Child Is This?

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Week Four: Love: Day Two

This is traditionally a children’s carol and a sweet one.  It seems real fitting to include it here during the last few days before Christmas.

Luke 2:7

And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

(You can hear it here.)

Away in a Manger

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Today is the fourth and last Sunday of Advent.  Christmas is almost upon us.  For four weeks we have waited for this day.  We started out with Hope.  We started out remembering our sins and our need for a Savior and the prophecies to the People of God telling them that God would send them a Savior, for they too needed one.  And we remembered how they waited for long centuries until finally the Word became flesh and Jesus was born.

And then the second week we continued with Peace.  We reviewed how Jesus is the one who brought us peace and reconciliation with God, and how He will come again to bring peace on earth as the angels sang.  We have already waited long centuries for that and may have to wait long centuries yet, but we can be assured that just as the prophecies were fulfilled the first time when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, even though some thought it would never happen, that the rest of the prophecies will yet be fulfilled.  Jesus is our Hope, and He is our Peace.

And then the third week we celebrated with Joy!  Christmas is almost here.  The time of waiting is almost at an end.  God’s word fulfilled!  What glory!  Jesus, here, among us.  The Desire of all Nations has come and He deigns to walk the land as one of us, as the poorest of us.  And Jesus came for one reason–as the angel told Joseph:  to save His people from their sins.

And so we come to the fourth week.  The theme of this week is Love.  This week we examine a love that goes two ways.  The first way is from God to us.  As it says in the verses below it was the love of God that prompted Him to think of this solution for our sin and rebellion and outright hatred of Him: to come among us and to suffer the punishment for that sin Himself.  It was love.  It was love that caused Jesus to be born in that manger. It was love that let Him walk among us and heal us and listen to us and care about us and suffer our hurts and griefs (Isaiah 53).  It was love that put Jesus on the cross.  It was love that caused Him to rise from the dead.  It was love.

And as we reflect on His great love, it is only natural that the joy we felt in week three should turn to love.  That is the second direction of love mentioned above: from us to God.  We love Him because He first loved us.  How great is that love!  And how paltry sometimes our love in return.  But this week as we reflect on Jesus’ birth, our Hope and Peace, and as we rejoice that our sins have been forgiven, and we have been reconciled to God, we do love Him.  And as is only natural, our love turns to worship.  We fall on our faces in front of One whose love is of such magnitude.  There is none greater.

Come and worship.  O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

LOVE

The fourth and last purple candle is lit.

I John 4:9-10

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

I John 3:16a

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.

Ephesians 2:4

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).

Colossians 1:13

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.

I John 3:1a

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!

I Peter 1:8-9

Whom having not seen you love.  Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith–the salvation of your souls.

I John 4:19

We love Him because He first loved us.

Psalm 99:8-9

You answered them, O LORD our God;
You were to them God-Who-Forgives,
Though You took vengeance on their deeds.
Exalt the LORD our God,
And worship at His holy hill;
For the LORD our God is holy.

(You can hear the following hymn here.)

O Come, All Ye Faithful

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Week Three: Joy: Day Seven

As we leave this week and enter the last and final week of Advent, our feelings of joy at Jesus’ birth turn to worship of Him, the promised one.

Matthew 2:11a

And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshipped Him.

(You can hear it here.)

Angels From the Realms of Glory

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Week Three: Joy: Day Six

For some reason this sounds like a modern song, but it’s not. It was written in 1890.  I especially like the second verse.  God did give much to us that day.  From the manger to the cross–indeed, what a perfect, holy way.

Jeremiah 23:5

“Behold the days are coming,” says the LORD,
“That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness;
A King shall reign and prosper,
And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.

(You can hear it here.)

The Birthday of a King

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