Advent for 25 Dec 18

Luke 2:6-11 NRSV  While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child.  7  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.  8  In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.  9  Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  10  But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:  11  to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.

Messiah was born. The holy angels knew, the shepherds knew, the wise men knew, Joseph knew, Mary knew, and what about us? Do we know? I pray it is so. Be thankful that our only hope was born.

Advent for 24 Dec 18

Luke 1:26-35 NRSV  In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,  27  to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.  28  And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."  29  But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.  30  The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  31  And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.  32  He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.  33  He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."  34  Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"  35  The angel said to her, "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 Son of God.

Be thankful for Mary who was, according to the creed: yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer.

Advent for 23 Dec 18

Exodus 12:46 GW  "The meal must be eaten inside one house. Never take any of the meat outside the house. "Never break any of the bones. Psalms 34:20 GW  The LORD guards all of his bones. Not one of them is broken.

This also was fulfilled: John 19:36 GW  This happened so that the Scripture would come true: "None of his bones will be broken. It was common to break the bones of those crucified, because they could not push themselves up to take a breath. Messiah suffered for our sins as our Passover Lamb. 1 Peter 3:18 GW  This is true because Christ suffered for our sins once. He was an innocent person, but he suffered for guilty people so that he could bring you to God. His body was put to death, but he was brought to life through his spirit. 1 Corinthians 5:7 GW  Remove the old yeast of sin so that you may be a new batch of dough, since you don't actually have the yeast of sin. Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Be thankful for His suffering, so that we could have salvation.

Advent for 22 Dec 18

"I told them, 'If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.' So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. "And the Lord said to me, 'Throw it to the potter'—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord" (Zechariah 11:12–13).

Another specific prophecy with details. True prophecies contain details; fake prophecies are more general. "The chief priests picked up the coins and said, 'It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.' So they decided to use the money to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners. That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: 'They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me'" (Matthew 27:6–10). Judas Iscariot thought money was more important than doing right. Be thankful that Messiah always did what was right.