With all the noise in the world, do you hear the voice of God? Your calendar tells you what to do, but do you remember who you are? Being comes before doing. This is a call to put first things first. Return to the Lord with this daily pattern of prayer and devotion. Set aside this time as a sanctuary. Find a space free of distraction and follow this pattern.
Invocation
Make the sign of the cross, and say,
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Invitation Prayer
If you have an advent wreath, light the first candle and pray:
Jesus Christ is the Light of the world. The light no darkness can overcome.
Jesus, open our eyes to your light and our ears to your words of hope. Come, O long-expected Jesus. Our hope is in you. Amen.
Word: Matthew 2:2
Soon after Jesus was born, some wise men who learned things from stars came to Jerusalem from the East. They asked, “Where is the King of the Jews Who has been born? We have seen His star in the East. We have come to worship.
Meditation
During the Christmas season, we often read and talk about Mary and Jesus in the manger. You can see this scene all over! Everyone can relate to seeing a newborn in their mother’s lap. Young Mary was quickly faced with unsuitable conditions. She wasn’t in a hospital or with doctors, she was with Joseph in a space fit only for animals. Any mother would be terrified, not to mention a teenage girl who is unmarried and in a strange city. Add to that the fact that she knows she is carrying the son of God. Not exactly the ideal situation.
Once Jesus came into the world, the situation quickly changed. First, he was met by shepherds and an angelic chorus. Then sometime later “magi”, religious men from the East came to worship Him. God humbled himself to become a man and was worshiped.
As Jesus became an adult, some of the ‘aw’ that followed him as a baby was gone. He was not treated as the Son of God, but rather as a traitor who held no esteem. No kings came to worship him. Instead, he took up our pain and carried it on his own shoulders so we wouldn’t have to carry it on our own.
Prayer for Family
– For my immediate family (parents, spouse, siblings).
– For extended family (cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents)
– For close friends that are as family to me.
– For those who don’t have families, or whose families are broken.
– For forgiveness and reconciliation where there is division in my family.
– For provision where there is need in my family.
– For God to be the foundation, and the cross the center of my family.
– For a generation yet unborn, future members of our family.
Closing Prayer
Lord God, you enter into our mess. You meet us in the midst of fear, uncertainty, and doubt. You break through with eternal hope, that through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus all our pain will be healed, all of our sin is forgiven, all of our messes will be redeemed. May we live in that hope this day, amen!