THE FULL MEASURE 2021 ADVENT CELEBRATION DAY 11 12-8-21

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Welcome Friends to The Full Measure’s 2021 Celebration of Advent

ADVENT CELEBRATION DAY 11, December 8, 2021

SCRIPTURE: Luke 1: 67-79

READERS: Dr. Denise Dekard

THEME: PEACE 

CANDLES: Light 2 purple candles for each reading The HOPE Candle from  Week 1 and The PEACE candle from Day 8-Day 15.

Luke 1:67-79 NIV

Zechariah’s Song

His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,

    because he has come to his people and redeemed them.

He has raised up a horn[c] of salvation for us

    in the house of his servant David

(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),

salvation from our enemies

    and from the hand of all who hate us— 

to show mercy to our ancestors

    and to remember his holy covenant,

    the oath he swore to our father Abraham:

to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,

    and to enable us to serve him without fear

    in holiness and righteousness before  all our days. 

And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;

    for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,

to give his people the knowledge of salvation

    through the forgiveness of their sins,

because of the tender mercy of our God,

    by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven 

to shine on those living in darkness

    and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the path of peace.

The Reading

Beloved of God, Christ has arrived, Christ is here in your now,  and Jesus, God’s Christ, will come again.

We do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For this reason he (Christ) had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.  Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Hebrews 2:9-18 NIV

Beloved, Jesus, God’s Christ is the sun rising on us from heaven. Jesus is the sonlight. Jesus is the Word of God made human.  Jesus is the light of God that is a lamp to our feet and light to our path.  

Jesus is God’s promise manifested.  Beloved, God’s plans are good for you, they are not evil.  God’s thoughts toward you are not angry, or evil.  God wants to prosper you. Jesus came that you may have life and life more abundantly. 

Christ wants to make you Free!.  Christ has come that you might be free from the great twin killers of the human spirit: shame and guilt. Christ is the remedy.  Christ has come that you might have peace, no longer fearing death, physical death, and death of dreams and hopes.  Christ is here to say to you, to the anxieties and fears that plaque you in the midst of life and death in these perilous times: Peace, my peace I give to you.  It is not as the world gives. Don’t let youR heart be troubled. Be not afraid.  Christ is here now saying to you PEACE.  Be still, beloved, now and always.   

Prayer

God thank you for your peace in the midst of these unstable and perilous times.  Thank you, Lord, that because of Christ’s life, death and resurrection we don’t fear death.  Christ, you have risen in our lives with healing in your wings.  You are Jehovah Rapha for our Bodies, Minds, Emotions, and Spirit.  

Thank you that in your light we are no longer stumbling around in the dark, groping in fear.  Thank you oh, Prince of Peace for guiding us into paths of peace, restoring our souls, and making us whole.  In Jesus’ name, Amen!