sorry!!

So I realized that my blog post haven't been posting... and then I have been sick for the last few days... so here is to make up for it :)


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O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Refrain

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.

Refrain

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.

Refrain

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Refrain

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

Refrain

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.

Refrain

O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree,
An ensign of Thy people be;
Before Thee rulers silent fall;
All peoples on Thy mercy call.

Refrain

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.

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Isaiah 7:10-16
A woman shall bear a son named Emmanuel
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Advent 4: The God of Those Ends, That Justice, and Such Reversals Is with Us

Advent 4 is a bridge Sunday. It sums up all that has come before. It also leads into the celebration of the incarnation we begin on Christmas Eve.

For that reason, the point of the readings today is not the story of the birth of Jesus, though Matthew's account of that is the gospel reading for today. Nor is the point even that God became flesh. There were many stories of gods taking on human form in past civilizations, so such a claim from the standpoint of human history was not remarkable. The point is that "God is with us," and more specifically, "this God," the one prophesied by Isaiah, the one proclaimed by Paul and John the Baptist and Mary, this God whose presence changes and often reverses everything, something evident even in the odd circumstances of Jesus' birth -- this God is with us.

This isn't a theologically trivial point. Say the word "God," and all kinds of images and ideas pop up that are quite incompatible with the One we encounter in the Law, the Prophets, the Writings, and in Jesus. Christians insist that it is indeed this God who does the very things we've recounted these past three weeks, and summarized today, who has come among us and abides with us still in the power, presence, and person of the Holy Spirit.

It is this God with us whose birth among us we celebrate during Christmastide and seek to follow all the days of our lives.
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love and other foolishness
love
in a young girl's song;
fearful,
determined,
hopeful,
bursting.
love
in a mother's song;
tender,
embracing,
challenging,
stern.
love
is god's song;
curious yet timid,
playful and wondering,
coming among us again.
we light a candle for love.

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