Grace and Peace to you!
Even as busy as the days can be, the holidays at the end of the year can offer us a time for reflection. A time to think of all the blessings for which we are thankful. A time to remember what was truly the best gift ever given. A season in which we recall the past and look forward to the future.
As you reflect on your past Christmas seasons, what images appear in your mind? Do you imagine presents under decorated Christmas trees, good food whose smell invites all to taste and enjoy? Do you think of angels and shepherds, children and Sunday School programs, a newborn laying in a manger?
As much as we enjoy such trips down memory lane, not all have such pleasant remembrances. Some might recall days filled with the cruelty of a life of poverty or addiction. To some the images that fill their minds are ones of being brokenhearted, mourning over losses that are still at the center of their lives. Such are those who are captive to events in life.
The prophet Isaiah spoke to a people who were brokenhearted, a people who were exiles in a foreign land. He spoke God’s word to them which was a word of hope. He spoke of good news, of release from captivity, words of comfort to the exiles. The prophet announced to the people that their time of judgment had come to an end. God was coming to deliver them and what God promises will come to pass.
Isaiah’s words speak to us today as well. His words are a call for us to change our way of focusing upon our problems and work on preparing the way of the Lord. This would include serving others, helping meet their needs, and sharing God’s love and grace with them. For the Lord will come and deliver God’s people.
When we find ourselves in times of being captive to so much, we can think of the words of Isaiah of hope and deliverance. One is coming who promises to turn our mourning into gladness, one who lifts our faint spirit. The one whose birth we celebrate brings with him a new way to look at and live life.
Our Advent hope rests in one who continues to come to live with us. He is the one who walks with us; to see us through our failures and our victories alike. He is the one who helps us to see that God is at work even in difficult times.
To this world, so often filled with human strife, God speaks words of hope. One is coming among us to bring us hope and healing. In this is the Advent hope, in such a one is our salvation. Thanks be to God.
In Christ!
Pastor Bakker
3A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 40:3-5 (NRSV)
Even as busy as the days can be, the holidays at the end of the year can offer us a time for reflection. A time to think of all the blessings for which we are thankful. A time to remember what was truly the best gift ever given. A season in which we recall the past and look forward to the future.
As you reflect on your past Christmas seasons, what images appear in your mind? Do you imagine presents under decorated Christmas trees, good food whose smell invites all to taste and enjoy? Do you think of angels and shepherds, children and Sunday School programs, a newborn laying in a manger?
As much as we enjoy such trips down memory lane, not all have such pleasant remembrances. Some might recall days filled with the cruelty of a life of poverty or addiction. To some the images that fill their minds are ones of being brokenhearted, mourning over losses that are still at the center of their lives. Such are those who are captive to events in life.
The prophet Isaiah spoke to a people who were brokenhearted, a people who were exiles in a foreign land. He spoke God’s word to them which was a word of hope. He spoke of good news, of release from captivity, words of comfort to the exiles. The prophet announced to the people that their time of judgment had come to an end. God was coming to deliver them and what God promises will come to pass.
Isaiah’s words speak to us today as well. His words are a call for us to change our way of focusing upon our problems and work on preparing the way of the Lord. This would include serving others, helping meet their needs, and sharing God’s love and grace with them. For the Lord will come and deliver God’s people.
When we find ourselves in times of being captive to so much, we can think of the words of Isaiah of hope and deliverance. One is coming who promises to turn our mourning into gladness, one who lifts our faint spirit. The one whose birth we celebrate brings with him a new way to look at and live life.
Our Advent hope rests in one who continues to come to live with us. He is the one who walks with us; to see us through our failures and our victories alike. He is the one who helps us to see that God is at work even in difficult times.
To this world, so often filled with human strife, God speaks words of hope. One is coming among us to bring us hope and healing. In this is the Advent hope, in such a one is our salvation. Thanks be to God.
In Christ!
Pastor Bakker
3A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 40:3-5 (NRSV)