We have expectations, but are often met with a reality that looks much different than we hoped. The good news of Jesus Christ is this: Who he really is, the reality beyond our expectations, is very good news for us.
This advent we discover who Jesus is and what he is promised to be through stories of the Old Testament. There a promise was made and expectations began. From the Old Testament to now, we learn Jesus is much better than we expected.
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
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: Genesis 18:11
“Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah.”
Meditation: Potential by Megan Roegner
Do we ever look at women and not see potential?
Not just the physical—
maybe a few pounds lighter,
eyebrows should arch higher,
if she didn’t look so tired…
But the physics,
bodies on the precipice of change—
the coiled spring,
the unlit match,
the water behind the dam.
We are revolutionary in the truest sense,
cyclical, each month a testament to
the possibility of life,
the inevitability of death,
the transformation in between.
Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel weep,
pleading for a son.
Wombs left empty,
they are filled instead with primal longing,
the burden of hope.
Seasons of waiting, then a voice cries in the wilderness.
Mary, troubled and brave, wonders
at the angel’s greeting,
at the gift, unexpected,
at the cycle, broken.
The coil springs, the dam bursts, the match combusts
and sets aflame all we know about potential.
Impossibly, inevitably alive,
the promise takes shape,
and we are transformed.
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!