St Peters RC Church Hamilton

Lord, as I pray, the words of a hymn come to mind:

“The King of love my Shepherd is,

Whose goodness faileth never,

I nothing lack if I am His,

And He is mine forever,”

which sums up Your power. You are the God of love revealed to us by the Lord Jesus.

I thank and praise You for this most wondrous revelation, first of all to shepherds busy about their everyday work, also to those in high places, in distant lands. Surely this tells us Your love is intended to be made

known to everybody.

“And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved...there shall be deliverance as the LORD has said, among the remnant whom the LORD calls.” (Joel 2 v 32)

Thank You.

Christmas means “The LORD our God in our midst, the Mighty One will save” (Zephaniah 3 v 17) as promised, for the Child born to Mary is our Saviour, the Divine Healer, Your promise fulfilled.”

“(S)he who covers his (her) sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy,” (Proverbs 28 v 13) the mercy of knowing forgiveness through Christ Jesus.

This is You at work, the God of love reaching out to rescue us from our sinfulness, “He will fulfil the desire of those who fear Him” (Psalm 145 v 19) this fear being that of dishonouring You, so deciding to act and

pray remorsefully.

Advent is a season for such useful, helpful, gainful preparation. For as the God of love, the Lord who offers us mercy through the salvation Jesus wins for us, You “Also will hear our cry and save us,” (based on v

19)

Christmas is about love, about Your gift to a hurting, damaged society of often desperate people who think they have no hope. But Jesus says, “ ‘I will not leave you orphans; I will come to You’.” (John 14 v 18)

It is when we believe in this, we understand You as the God of love and mercy. “I know the plans I have for you’,” You tell us “ ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future’.”

(Jeremiah 29 V 11)

Jesus is our living hope because He is our Saviour, true love born to us at Christmas. “For Lord God, Abba, You so loved the world, You gave Your one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (based on John 3 v 16)

This is the truth we, as believers in Christ Jesus, God with us, love come down amongst us by the Holy Spirit, live by. We rejoice at Christmas because holy love is born amongst us.

“The righteous will be in everlasting remembrance. (S)he will not be afraid of evil tidings, his (her) heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. His (her) heart is established...” (Psalm 112 v 6, 7, 8)

“You LORD, are far from the wicked,” (Proverbs 15 v 29) we can see and hear this readily in the disastrous chaos disobedience causes, the upsets, the catastrophes worldwide, a very serious problem.

Currently we are in the midst of a worldwide Pandemic.

We need to pray for rescue, for deliverance. We have to pray so as to stand firm in faith and create an atmosphere of trust, trust in Jesus, trust in His birth at Christmas.

Come, Holy Spirit, help us please to pray to our Father of love and mercy. The God of love is He who “Hears the prayer of the righteous” (Psalm 15 v 29) the right standing gained for us by the holiness of the Lord Jesus.

“ ‘And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to their work’.” (Revelations 22 v 12) Advent is a time for earnest prayer.

May the Holy Spirit enable us to prayerfully prepare to celebrate Christmas, having wiped the slate clean of all our faults and failings through seeking the blessing of reconciliation remorsefully.

May He too, help us to look forward to the Lord Jesus’ return in glory at the end of time as we know it.

There will be an occasion when our Saviour, the King of glory, returns to claim the living and the dead who believe in Him.

May we then, led and safeguarded by the Spirit of love, decide to “Humble ourselves therefore under Your mighty hand, Lord God of love, that You may lift us up in due time.” (based on 1 Peter 5 v 6) For we

know “The Lord disciplines whom He loves,” (Hebrews 12 v 6) and we trust in this process of divine healing.

“If led by the Holy Spirit we put to death the misdeeds of the body” its thoughts, desires, decisions, words and actions, everything, “We will live” a good, upright, holy, blessed life, “Because those who are led by

Your Spirit,” Lord God of love, “Are Your sons and daughters.” (based on Romans 8 v 13, 14)

The birth of the Lord Jesus, His exemplary life and His perfect sacrifice upon the †have accomplished our salvation. We can look forwards to an eternal joy in heaven, Jesus being the living hope of all believers, our

forever Saviour.

“Because Christ Jesus is our life,” our trust and dependency, our secure hope, “Our life is now hidden with Him in You, Lord God of love. Because Jesus is our life, we will appear with Him in glory when He returns.” (based on Colossians 3 v 3, 4)

Love is at the heart of Christmas. Love the power of the Holy Spirit, shared with us through Jesus. The Word made flesh is true love, a love manifest remarkably, a Baby born to a virgin mother.

Lord God of love, Jesus shows us You are the Lord of miracles and to You nothing is impossible. “The gospel”, the good news of Jesus’ life and death, all this accomplishes for us, “This is the power of the God

of love for the salvation of all believers.” (based on Romans 1 v 16)

The Lord Jesus says “ ‘All the Father gives to Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.” (John 6 v 37) Christmas sees us in receipt of true love, that which is eternal.

It is because You delight in this loving action of Your Son, You uphold us even when we stumble, thank You, merciful Father. Jesus saves us from a fall which is disastrous, our sin separating us from Your love and

mercy.

Blessed is the man or woman “Whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered” (Psalm 32 v 1) by the blood of Jesus, shed on the † for us. “Blessed is the (wo)man to whom You, LORD, do not impute iniquity,” (Psalm 32 v 1, 2) for You are the God of love, ever merciful.

Oh the unsurpassed joy of forgiveness as long as we prayerfully maintain a “Spirit (where) there is no deceit.” (Cont) May the Holy Spirit always enable this out of love and respect for You, dearest Father, that

we share with our Saviour Brother.

When we suffer, we often bring this upon ourselves, or worse still, we inflict hurt on another. We turn to You for mercy, Lord God. For You have not condemned us to suffer at the hands of evil, not at all.

We are a redeemed people not at the mercy of Your anger, not any longer because of the salvation we receive through our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Brother is our forever Saviour, Your gift of mercy, Lord God of love.

May the Spirit of Christmas thrive well on into the season following the glorious day of Christ’s birth, celebrated joyously throughout the earth. We have every best reason to live in hope of a brighter, better, kinder world when more people come to believe in the Son of Your love, Lord God of love, opening up heart, mind, will and conscience to the Spirit of love.

Eternal Father, let us “Offer You, our thoughts to be fixed on You, our words to have You for our theme, our actions to reflect our love for You, our sufferings to be endured for Your greater glory.” (based on the Universal Prayer)

Please by Your Spirit, may we always try to live in the way Jesus teaches us, “Help us to conquer anger with gentleness, greed by generosity, apathy by fervour. Help us to forget ourselves and look out to others.” (based on the Universal Prayer)

Let this be because we cherish Your love for us dearest Lord, our Father, that wonderful, life changing, life enhancing love as shared with us by the Saviour Jesus, who gifts us His and Your Spirit of love.

This is the love ever true. All glory be to You as a Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Trinity of Glory, our hope, our peace and our unsurpassed, eternal joy; all the blessings of Christmas! Amen.