by Christine Sine
As Advent begins Tom and I have pulled out our Advent music. One of my favourite Advent hymns is Come Thou Long Expected Jesus with music by by Rowland H. Prichard and lyrics are by Charles Wesley. However this year I find myself singing Come thou unexpected Jesus. The Jews were waiting for a Messiah but not one like this. Nothing about the birth of Jesus was what they expected: at the centre is Mary who conceives as an unwed teenager, Joseph who accepts a child not his own and Elizabeth who welcomes and supports her cousin through what must have been a harrowing first few months of her pregnancy. All of them living at the outskirts of the empire unknown by the priests and rulers in Jerusalem, unimportant in the political and religious scene of the day.
Good reason for Mary to be afraid when the angel Gabriel comes to visit. Her world, in fact the whole world was about to be changed and she was centre stage.
Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Grace to you, young woman, for the Lord is with you[w] and so you are anointed with great favor.” Mary was deeply troubled over the words of the angel and bewildered over what this may mean for her. 30 But the angel reassured her, saying, “Do not yield to your fear, Mary, for the Lord has found delight in you and has chosen to surprise you with a wonderful gift. ( Luke 1:28 – 30.TPT )
Advent disrupted everything in the life of Mary, Joseph and Elizabeth. It should disrupt everything in our lives too as we look in hope and anticipation towards the coming of the One through whom God and the entire creation will one more be fully united.
So often we hope for change in our lives and our world, wanting to see that better world of God’s promises come into being, but when God suggests that we could be the instruments of that change we draw back afraid to step out of our comfort zones. We want change to happen without us needing to do anything. After all we are small and insignificant players in God’s plan. How could we possibly be the instruments of change that God is looking for?
As I wait with Mary for the birth of Jesus this Advent season I look around at a world that desperately needs change. We face a climate crisis that will devastate our world if we don’t make radical changes to our lifestyles. We face political upheaval and economic turmoil in ways that I have not seen before in my lifetime. It is easy for fear and anxiety to rear their ugly heads and hold us captive.
God comes to all of us in so many unexpected ways asking us to be the change the world needs to see. I think that Mary , in some ways, represents all of us – unsettled by what God’s messengers have said, yet needing to embrace our call to be instruments of change without yielding to our fears. We do indeed need to make room for Christ to be born afresh in our hearts and in our lives this year in ways that can help change our world.
So what do we do during this season of waiting?
- Listen to the angels. We may not have heavenly visitors come to us but there are other messengers that God is sending to help us find our way to the Messiah – environmentalists like Greta Thunberg, activists like Jim Wallis and contemplatives like Richard Rohr who know that there needs to be change in the world and call us to be the instruments of that change. Who are the angels who are messengers of change and new birth for you?
- Look for the Elizabeths. When God calls who do we run to? All of us need supporters like Joseph and Elizabeth who can help keep God’s dreams alive during the seasons of hard waiting that we face. Who are the ones that support you and encourage you when God’s call comes and you are afraid?
- Don’t be afraid of the unexpected. Like Mary we need to be willing to be instruments of change without yielding to our fears and anxieties. God finds delight in all of us and promises us a special gift – not necessarily a baby born in a manger but a fresh touch of the divine presence born in our hearts and in our minds. Are we willing to let go of our expectations for this season and allow God to reveal something new to us?
What Is Your Response?
Sit quietly and prayerfully read through the prayer above. Now close your eyes and listen to the song below. Instead of long expected Jesus read unexpected Jesus. What comes to your mind? Is there something unexpected that God is wanting to give birth to in you this year? What is one action step you could take as Christmas approaches to make this possible?
NOTE: The prayer above is one of the Advent prayers available in our new set of Advent prayer cards. Today the digital versions are available at a discount price.
In the spirit of Cyber Monday, we are having one of our largest sales on Godspace to date. Today only, you can have discounted prices for ALL of our digital downloads that are available in the shop. That means all prayer cards, books and resources are available today only for a discounted price.
Check it out here for all of our listings — and even some free ones too!
Thank you for helping support our family as we continue the ministry of Godspace through your purchases.
By Carol Dixon —
In the dark days at the beginning of December, I venture out into our garden (usually my husband’s domain) and look out for little green shoots appearing. It may seem an odd time of year in the chilly county of Northumberland in northern England to be looking for new growth in the garden but this small plant with its glossy green foliage for me heralds the start of the Advent/Christmas season. Once I see the dark leaves I know that later in the month a special flower will bloom with pure white petals, described in one of my favourite carols from Germany ‘Es ist ein Ros entsprungen’ (known in English as ‘There is a rose growing’)
I first sang this carol as a teenager at the girls’ grammar school I attended almost 60 years ago and I was fascinated by the idea of a Christmas Rose. We now have one in our garden which blossoms between Christmas and new year – a wonderful memory of our 17 year old niece who was killed on the last day of the year in 1998. Although the hymn and the poem seem more pertinent in the Northern Hemisphere where Christmas falls in midwinter I find it a great consolation to remember in all the wintry seasons of our lives, whatever time of year, that God, who became one of us, is with us at all times, everywhere. One of my favourite versions of the hymn is the version by Nana Mouskouri.
A rose Arose Hymn – From the 15th century Carol ‘Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen’
In the dark recesses
of winter world
a sleeping seed
germinates.
Cocooned within
the womb, a foetus
flexes fragile fingers
tipped with tiny nails;
birth beckons;
a journey begins:
darkness gives way
to light.
Hidden in the humus
of a stable yard,
a simple rose grows
and, on Christmas morning,
blossoms.
Christmas Prayer
You came as a baby, Lord,
as a little helpless child
who relied on a human family
to care for him.
You cried because you were hungry,
because you were homeless,
because you were a stranger
far away from home.
You still cry with hunger, Lord,
in the voices of the many starving;
your tears still flow for the homeless,
the lonely and the forgotten;
you still rely on human families
to care for you.
And so this Christmas, Lord, we pray:
help us to be the kind of people
who look for you in the world,
and joyfully discover you
as we care for one another.
By Lilly Lewin
The season of Advent starts on Sunday and many of us are also preparing for Christmas. We are decorating trees and homes with festive lights and greenery. We get ready with shopping, baking, sending cards and hosting parties. But how do we get our selves ready for the arrival of Jesus? As December begins how are you getting ready for the Baby King?
When you prepare for a baby you have to get a lot of stuff ready…the room, all the diapers, the car seat, all the special gear necessary. Your house changes, you have less space because the baby stuff takes up lots of room. Your focus changes. Whether you are adopting or hatching a baby, you begin to focus your life around this little person soon to arrive. And once that person arrives on the scene, you no longer need a TV because all you want to do is watch what he or she does. When a baby enters the world your time is no longer your own…now you have to think about the needs of someone else. You have to consider how what you do will affect the baby. Even before a baby is born the mom must consider what she eats, drinks and how she cares for herself.
What if we see the coming of Baby Jesus into our lives like this? Preparing for the arrival of a Baby!
Getting ready for a new arrival in our lives. Getting ready for a real baby.
What would this look like?
How do you make space for Baby Jesus?
How do you get ready for his birth into your world?
How do we prepare?
Do you have to get rid of stuff?
Do you need to add special gear?
Do you need to prepare mentally or change your attitude?
What does this look like?
Consider this today.
Talk to God about this.
How can you receive the gift of Jesus as a baby, a baby who needs your time and attention?
Are you and I willing to accept that gift?
What are you willing to do to get ready for Baby Jesus?
How are you willing to change your life in order to give baby Jesus the attention and care he needs?
Consider this today and in the days ahead this December.
Talk to God about how you can receive and prepare for Baby Jesus!
Here are a few ideas to help you Prepare for Him Room!
If you don’t have a baby in your world at the moment as a physical reminder, find something to remind you to make room in your life for Baby Jesus. Maybe it’s a sippy cup or a baby bottle on your desk or bedside table. Maybe it’s a baby blanket or toy. Use this symbol to help you make space in your life for the Baby Jesus this December.
Buy a bottle of baby lotion, the kind that smells, and put some on each day in December to remind you to receive and prepare for the Baby Jesus and his arrival.
Search for and listen to a favorite lullaby or children’s Christmas song to play during December to remind you the infant who is coming soon.
Volunteer to babysit for a friend or family member who has a baby. Give this gift to your friend and allow your time babysitting to remind you of the care and love Mary had for Baby Jesus.
Spend time in a rocking chair, imagining you are rocking the King of Kings as a baby.
All Babies need time and attention. Give Baby Jesus the time, attention and care that he needs this December and prepare Him Room this Advent.
This is one of the prayer stations found in the Christmas Incarnation Sacred Space Prayer Experience. You can download this at freerangeworship.com
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
by Christine Sine
Here in the U.S. it might be Thanksgiving but across the world, Sunday is the first day of Advent and the beginning of a new liturgical year. Many of us will set up our Advent wreaths, light our first Advent candle and begin to read our Advent devotionals. Some of us will buy Christmas trees and decorate them. Here on Godspace we will take a little different approach to the season.
As many of you know I am reading Heidi Haverkamp’s Advent in Narnia this year and have already been deeply impacted by her introductory words Lewis, by placing Christianity into another world, makes it unfamiliar again. He gives us the chance to feel a newfound wonder at the depth of God’s love, the power of Christ’s grace and the totality of his sacrifice and the wonder of a world infused with the Holy Spirit.
I love the idea of making Advent unfamiliar again and invite you to journey with us on Godspace into an unfamiliar story of Jesus birth. So often we look at Advent from the God side of the story – the angel Gabriel’s visit, virgin. birth, the choirs of angels singing at Christ’s birth. Or we think of the cultural images we see on Christmas cards – a beautiful looking stable surrounded by a few animals and very well dressed shepherds, This Advent we want to introduce you to an unfamiliar Jesus – the human story of unwed mothers, supportive cousins, and welcoming surrogate fathers. What does Advent look like through their eyes? What does it look like through Jesus eyes – this vulnerable possibly even despised and rejected child from birth?
We know very little about Jesus childhood and the characteristics he displayed but we do know quite a bit about his birth and those who surrounded and nurtured him. What we know should stir a lot of emotions and raise a lot of questions for us.
Why did God choose such a vulnerable young woman to give birth to the Messiah? How did Joseph feel? What was it like to be a refugee in his day and age? Jesus may have been vulnerable and possibly even rejected and despised from birth, yet he was obviously also loved not just by Mary but also by her husband Joseph who kept both of them safe through an arduous journey as refugees into Egypt. Were they part of a refugee caravan like we have seen moving across Mexico this year? How were they treated in Egypt?
It was writing The Gift of Wonder and and developing resources like Advent gardens that encouraged me to step outside the box into an unfamiliar view of Advent and in fact of the whole gospel story. The story of Jesus conception and birth raises some challenging questions for us. How can we become like THIS child and what his birth tells us about the God that we follow? Fully human yet fully God. Powerful yet vulnerable. Loved yet rejected. What does it mean to you?
Please join us on the journey and if you are still looking for advent devotionals or other resources consider using some of the Godspace resources. Many of them are especially written to help us think outside the box, enter the story as though for the first time and gain a fresh perspective of who Jesus is and who the God that we worship is too.
Last but not least we wanted to let you know that on Monday all our digital downloads will be available at a discount price. Some of these are perfect adjuncts to Advent reflections and I hope you will consider using them.
God bless you in this unsettling season of waiting as we move towards our remembrance of Christ’s birth.
by Christine Sine
Today’s post is written with a little trepidation and struggle. Black Friday and CyberMonday are my least favorite days of the year and I hate watching the rampant consumerism that is at its heart. I also struggle because I know that Consumerism Plays a Huge Role in Climate Change and I hate to see the way that this consumer frenzy takes our focus away from the true meaning of the Thanksgiving and Advent seasons. Yet I realize too that people need jobs to support their families. And I must confess that like most of us it is easy for me too to be drawn in by bargain prices for things that are on my shopping list for Christmas. Though I have noticed that my main purchases at this season are never on sale!
Here at Godspace we need income too so that we can continue to create the resources you appreciate on a daily basis for your ongoing faith walk. And that income comes from your purchases either through the Godspace store or through our being an Amazon Associate through which we receive a small amount for each book you purchase through a link to Amazon.
So as we celebrate Thanksgiving and prepare for the coming days of Advent I wanted to remind us of the resources that we have available through the Godspace store or on Amazon. I think that many of them make great Christmas gifts and resources.
And just a heads up – all our digital resources will be available at a discount price on Monday.
Obviously at the top of my list is:
The Gift of Wonder – both book and cards which several people have already told me they are giving to their friends and relatives this season. I hope you will consider joining them. I continue to be encouraged by feedback I get on the book. This week I heard from a pastor who has been using it in a small group study. One participant shared with her how much it has helped her notice the world around. It has also motivated her to paint rocks and leave them as encouragement for others
I also regularly use our prayer cards especially the Celtic cards (great stocking stuffers!!!)
Gifted Ana Lisa De Jong’s new book of poetry would be a great gift for those like me, who are fans of hers too.
Also we have some old, but still popular resources available:
To Garden With God continues to attract garden enthusiasts.
And Return to Our Senses the book that began my journey into creative spiritual practice still attracts attention from many of you
As does Rest in the Moment for those who are looking for a series of daily or weekly reflections for their devotional life. (This will be available last as a discounted pdf download on Monday too)
John Birch’s Advent Resources are also worth a look. Available through his store not Godspace. After reading about the power of music in our lives I am particularly attracted to his new book Singing the Story.
American Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I thought that it was time to update my list of Thanksgiving prayers.
I love the prayer above and the ones below but there are lots of others out there that are rich and powerful for this season
For more thanksgiving prayers and resources and for some great thanksgiving songs check out our Thanksgiving resource list.
Last year I posted My Favourite Thanksgiving Prayers with my favourite thanksgiving scriptures and prayers from Christian, Jewish and Native American heritages.
Earlier this year, I posted resources for thanksgiving and harvest with a rich array of prayers, litanies and links to other websites with yet more resources for harvest and thanksgiving.
You might also like to check out this Thanksgiving Litany (which I also posted yesterday but with some updated prayers and scriptures)
Not surprising I have found a whole new array this year. I love this prayer by Samuel Pugh:
O God, when I have food,
help me to remember the hungry;
When I have work,
help me to remember the jobless;
When I have a home,
help me to remember those who have no home at all;
When I am without pain,
help me to remember those who suffer,
And remembering,
help me to destroy my complacency;
bestir my compassion,
and be concerned enough to help;
By word and deed,
those who cry out for what we take for granted.
Amen.
-Samuel F. Pugh
Paul Neeley at Global Christian Worship is one of the best collectors of beautiful seasonal music and litanies that I know including:
Thanksgiving playlist from liturgy of life.
Recording of Songs for Thanksgiving
Litany with Responses from the Psalms
I also wanted to focus on songs that I think make a good reflective focus for the season.
Here is a wonderful thanksgiving prayer sung by Johnny Cash on an episode of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman.
And another beautiful one by Karen Chapin Carpenter
A celebration of thankfulness in this lovely thanksgiving song by Brianna Haynes
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