Prayer for the Advent Wreath
Lord, our God, we praise You for Your Son, Jesus Christ, for He is Emmanuel, the Hope of all people.
He is the Wisdom that teaches and guides us.
He is the Savior of us all.
O Lord, let your blessing come upon us as we light the first and second (purple) candles of this wreath.
May the wreath and its light be a sign of Christ’s promise of salvation.
May He come quickly and not delay.
We ask this in His holy name. Amen.
( https://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/advent/6th.html)
We are still in the gospel of Luke, the continuing story of visitations from the Angel Gabriel. This reading sees Gabriel visiting Mary this time, and bringing her some astonishing, life changing news!!
Birth Announcement of Jesus the Messiah
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. The angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled by his words and began to wonder about the meaning of this greeting. So the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God! Listen: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will never end.” Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?” The
angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of
the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will
be holy; he will be called the Son of God.
“And look, your relative Elizabeth has also become pregnant with a son in her old age—although she was called barren, she is now in her sixth month! For nothing will be impossible with God.” So Mary said, “Yes, I am a servant of the Lord; let this happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
Introducing Mary. She was an unlikely girl from an unlikely town who was in the same measure extraordinary in her Godward focus and acceptance of God’s plan for her life. The angel, Gabriel, God’s messenger first to Elizabeth and now to Mary is observed bringing an announcement of another baby to be born, one who would not merely be a very great child (as John was prophesied to be) but one who would come as “Son of the Most High” who would “reign over the house of Jacob forever.” Having received such a message, Mary showed herself to be one who thought through such startling news in both a theological and humble manner. She would, like us, be challenged to experience in a deeper way the reality that nothing is impossible with God. In discovering this God of the impossible, we find the following applications from this text: First, this is not a story about Mary. Next, this story is not about the arrival of a precious baby but the arrival of its king. Finally, we see that our response should not be, “oh, so cute,” but, “I want to be a part of this kingdom!”
Summary by Seth Kempf, Bethany Community Church Staff
“And look, your relative Elizabeth has also become pregnant with a son in her old age—although she was called barren, she is now in her sixth month! For nothing will be impossible with God.” So Mary said, “Yes, I am a servant of the Lord; let this happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
Introducing Mary. She was an unlikely girl from an unlikely town who was in the same measure extraordinary in her Godward focus and acceptance of God’s plan for her life. The angel, Gabriel, God’s messenger first to Elizabeth and now to Mary is observed bringing an announcement of another baby to be born, one who would not merely be a very great child (as John was prophesied to be) but one who would come as “Son of the Most High” who would “reign over the house of Jacob forever.” Having received such a message, Mary showed herself to be one who thought through such startling news in both a theological and humble manner. She would, like us, be challenged to experience in a deeper way the reality that nothing is impossible with God. In discovering this God of the impossible, we find the following applications from this text: First, this is not a story about Mary. Next, this story is not about the arrival of a precious baby but the arrival of its king. Finally, we see that our response should not be, “oh, so cute,” but, “I want to be a part of this kingdom!”
Summary by Seth Kempf, Bethany Community Church Staff
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