Day 284 | Monday, 28 December 2020

Day 284 - Audio Version

---

Day 284 | Monday, 28 December 2020
 
A Christmastide Beginning:
“To us, watchful and waiting, a gift has been slipped into our midst.  A tiny child, born in a manger, a gift of peace to troubled souls and dangerous streets, a gift of joy to sad hearts and cautious lives, a gift of hope to wearied brows and oppressed peoples.  A tiny baby.   A gift from God meant for us.  Open your hearts, raise your voices, give thanks to the Giver, welcome the Gift!”
 
A Christmastide Invocation:
“This wonderful season, O Lord, is our opportunity to acknowledge your loving gift to us in Christ our Savior. Therefore, we come humbly and joyfully into your presence to express our unrestrained thankfulness and our words of love for the greatest blessing we have ever received. With eternal gratitude, we pray in your Son's blessed name. Amen.”
 
A wonderful Christmastide Hymn is “Once in Royal David’s City” words: Cecil Frances Alexander, 1848 (Luke 2:7) Quite often this hymn was the beginning of the Christmas Eve service with the first stanza sung by a Soprano soloist in the back of the sanctuary, unaccompanied.  The organist, congregation and choir would join in on the next verse as the choir processed to the chancel.
 
1.   “Once in royal David’s city stood a lowly cattle shed, where a mother laid her baby in a manger for his bed; Mary, loving mother mild, Jesus Christ, her little child.”

2.   “He came down to earth from heaven who is God and Lord of all, and his shelter was a stable, and his cradle was a stall.  With the poor, the scorned, the lowly lived on earth our Savior holy.”

3.   “Jesus is our child-hood’s pattern, day by day, like us he grew; he was little, weak, and helpless, tears and smiles like us he knew; and he feeleth for our sadness, and he shareth in our gladness.”
​
4.   “And our eyes at last shall see him, through his own redeeming love; for that child so dear and gentle is our Lord in heaven above; and he leads his children on to the place where he is gone.”
 
A Christmastide Prayer:
In this season, “Earth does ring. We stand at the center of history and the center of time. We stand with the poor who have long awaited their deliverance. We stand with all those for whom there is no room in any inn - and know that their shelter is now assured. We stand with the brokenhearted, knowing that Jesus Christ is Lord and that no circumstance can separate us from the love of God. All this - and more, in the form of a child! Thanks be to you, almighty God, before whom even the valleys are made strong and the mountains humbled. Amen.”
 
A Christmastide Blessing:
May the light that surrounds our Lord’s birthplace illumine your spirit and warm your heart.  May you be spared, at least for a few moments, the static of the world and enjoy a clear reception of the angelic song.  And may the love of God revealed in the holy Child move you to feel and show love for others, especially for any you may find difficult to love.  Amen”