{"id":13657,"date":"2024-11-18T02:59:18","date_gmt":"2024-11-18T02:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/?p=13657"},"modified":"2024-12-21T23:11:21","modified_gmt":"2024-12-21T23:11:21","slug":"day-21-luke-2-verses-8-12-gabriels-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/?p=13657","title":{"rendered":"Day 21 – Luke 2 verses 8 – 12 (Gabriel’s light)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/h3>\n

Bible Reading – Luke 2 verses 8 – 12<\/h2>\n

8\u00a0<\/sup>And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.<\/span> 9\u00a0<\/sup>An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.<\/span> 10\u00a0<\/sup>But the angel said to them, \u201cDo not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.<\/span> 11\u00a0<\/sup>Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.<\/span> 12\u00a0<\/sup>This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Opening Prayer<\/h2>\n

Loving God, help us to imagine the wonder of the shepherds as they heard the good news that Jesus has been born. Help us like them to drop everything and hurry to see you in the place of your birth. As our Advent journey nears its end may we become more and more excited, anticipating your coming once again to us. Amen<\/p>\n

Reflection<\/h2>\n

For the next three days we will walk with the shepherds. The images I have used for the feature image are from the chapel of the Shepherds’ field in Bethlehem. We were blessed to visit the chapel on our visit to the Holy Land and I took some time out to sit on a rock on the hillside overlooking the valley. There weren’t many sheep to be seen but the thoughts of the angels appearing in the sky above where I was sitting was awesome.<\/p>\n

We don’t often have angels appear to us, at least not in the sky announcing the birth of our Saviour. However, I do believe that we are touched by angels in our daily lives. Those who support us and care for us in our times of need. Those who appear to tell us the good news that God loves us and sent his Son into the world for us – not just for the people of Israel 2,000 years ago.<\/p>\n

As we rapidly draw near to Christmas Day, spend a little time remembering the angels who have crossed your path and helped you on your journey to meet with God.<\/p>\n

A time for your own reflection<\/h2>\n

Read the passage again and spend a little time thinking of how the passage speaks to you. The wonder of scripture is that there is always something new to discover and each passage speaks to us in our own need and circumstances.<\/p>\n

Only if you feel you want to – share your thoughts with someone. God inspires our thoughts and you never know, the person you share with may be waiting to hear what you have to say.<\/p>\n

Song<\/h2>\n

Here is the next song –<\/p>\n

“Out in the fields”<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I wanted this song to start off with how ordinary a day it was until the angel appeared. No one was wondering how or why the stars twinkle in the sky. I wanted this to be a bouncy energetic song so a rhythmic folk version today.<\/p>\n

Title: Out in the fields
\nWords: Chris Hancock
\nMusic: Generated on Suno.com
\nVoice A.I.<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/wptest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Out-in-the-fields.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

[Verse 1]<\/strong>
\nOut in the fields where the shadows play,
\nShepherds watching, on hillside lay,
\nStars were sparkling in a velvet sky,
\nNo one wondered how or why.
\n[Verse 2]<\/strong>
\nInto the silence an angel spoke out,
\nDo not fear and have no doubt
\nI come to give good news to you
\nThe Saviour come to make all things new
\n[Chorus]<\/strong>
\nOh, Gabriel, sing your song,
\nTo a world which has waited long.
\n“I come to give good news to you.
\nGo and see that it is true”.
\nOh, Gabriel, sing your song,
\nTo a world which has waited long
\nSing of the Saviour who has been born
\nCome to us in human form.
\n[Bridge]<\/strong>
\nIn the darkest night, a light appeared,
\nA promise of joy to the world appears,
\nGo seek the child in a manger found,
\nWith his family gathered round.
\n[Verse 3]<\/strong>
\nThey hurried there to see the place
\nWith smiles and wonder on their faces,
\nFound Him where the angel said
\nGently laid in stable bed.
\n[Chorus]<\/strong>
\nOh, Gabriel, sing your song,
\nTo a world which has waited long.
\n“I come to give good news to you.
\nGo and see that it is true”.
\nOh, Gabriel, sing your song,
\nTo a world which has waited long
\nSing of the Saviour who has been born
\nCome to us in human form.
\n[Outro]<\/strong>
\nSo let us remember on this starry night,
\nThe angel’s good news, the shining light,
\nWith joy in our hearts, let our voices join,
\nFor unto us a child is born.
\nOh, Gabriel, shining bright,
\nBringing good news in the still of the night…<\/p>\n

Prayer<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>Lord as we are just a few days away from celebrating your birth help us not to lose ourselves in the hustle and bustle of the day. Help us to hold onto the things which truly matter, those things which open us to your loving care for the world.<\/p>\n

Make us long for those joyful encounters with you. In those moments we once again encounter your true love which changes our lives.<\/p>\n

May we have the courage to believe and the faith to be used to accomplish your will. Help us to show to the world the joy with which you fill our lives. Singing, leaping and dancing we share your Good News with everyone around us. Amen.<\/p>\n

Copyrights<\/h2>\n

Reflections and Prayers<\/h3>\n

By Chris Hancock<\/p>\n

Songs<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Words of the songs are by Chris Hancock
\nMusic generated on Suno.com
\nIf you are a user of the free tier of the Service then, you covenant and agree that you will only use Outputs generated from Submissions made by you through the Service solely for your lawful, internal, personal and non-commercial purposes, provided that you give attribution credit to Suno in each case.<\/p>\n

Bible Readings<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Bible readings are from the New<\/a> International Version<\/a> (NIV)
\n<\/strong>Holy Bible, New International Version\u00ae, NIV\u00ae Copyright \u00a91973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.\u00ae<\/a> Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.<\/p>\n

Images<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Images where used are from pixabay.com and free for commercial use no attribution required.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bible Reading – Luke 2 verses 8 – 12 8\u00a0And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9\u00a0An angel of the Lord appeared to them,...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13964,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advent-2024"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/wptest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Day-21-feature.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13657"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14129,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13657\/revisions\/14129"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}