{"id":2036,"date":"2018-12-14T14:26:30","date_gmt":"2018-12-14T14:26:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/wptest\/?p=2036"},"modified":"2018-12-18T09:46:13","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T09:46:13","slug":"day-fourteen-2-2-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/?p=2036","title":{"rendered":"Advent 2018 – Day Eighteen – Everything I do"},"content":{"rendered":"

Todays song is Everything I do, I do it for you by Bryan Adams<\/p>\n

Take me as I am, take my life.
\nI would give it all, I would sacrifice.<\/p>\n

Psalm146 gives us a vision of God’s Kingdom of peace which Jesus comes to anounce to the world.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As christians we are called to participate in this Kingdom.\u00a0 Our participation is steeped in praise and our faith in God. We demonstrate our place in this work through practical participation with God in bringing about justice and compassion.<\/p>\n

The Psalm is also a warning that as humans we are not able to do this ourselves but need to trust in God and seek his help. As, in our news, we see so much political scheming both at home and abroad these words continue to speak loudly to us.<\/p>\n

“Seek ye first the Kingdom of God” would seem to be a good motto for leaders and governments of the world before they formulate their policies. It is also a\"\"<\/a> good starting point for us as we find strength and power in our God as we seek to bring about his compassion and justice. As we do so the psalmist confirms that we have the deep assurance of God\u2019s calling and faithfulness.<\/p>\n

In this Advent time we take time to pray and seek guidance for where we can be effective in this work. It may be praying, writing letters, signing petitions or joining organisations who meet these needs. We are assured that no matter how small and ineffective we may feel our actions are when they come from God they will be powerful and effective.<\/p>\n

Psalm 146<\/h3>\n
\n

Praise the Lord<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Praise the Lord<\/span>, my soul.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I will praise the Lord<\/span> all my life;\"\"<\/a><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.<\/span><\/span>
\nDo not put your trust in princes,<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>in human beings, who cannot save.<\/span><\/span>
\nWhen their spirit departs, they return to the ground;<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>on that very day their plans come to nothing.<\/span><\/span>
\nBlessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>whose hope is in the Lord<\/span> their God.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

He is the Maker of heaven and earth,<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>the sea, and everything in them\u2014<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>he remains faithful forever.\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/span>
\nHe upholds the cause of the oppressed<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>and gives food to the hungry.<\/span><\/span>
\nThe Lord<\/span> sets prisoners free,<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>the Lord<\/span> gives sight to the blind,<\/span><\/span>
\nthe Lord<\/span> lifts up those who are bowed down,<\/span>
\n\u00a0 <\/span>the Lord<\/span> loves the righteous.<\/span><\/span>
\nThe Lord<\/span> watches over the foreigner<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>and sustains the fatherless and the widow,<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The Lord<\/span> reigns forever,<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>your God, O Zion, for all generations.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Praise the Lord<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prayers and Reflection<\/h2>\n

Helpful Hymn:<\/h3>\n

Hymn: Singing the Faith \u2013 254\u00a0 \u2013 Seek ye first the Kingdom of God.<\/p>\n

Contemplation saying.<\/h3>\n

\u201c\u2026Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, <\/span>whose hope is in the Lord<\/span> their God.<\/span><\/span>.<\/span>\u201d.<\/p>\n

Let us pray together.<\/h3>\n

Contemplative Prayer.<\/h3>\n

Think of the saying in order to understand context and meaning,<\/p>\n

Feel the meaning of the saying with and in your heart,<\/p>\n

Pray, using the saying, for yourself or others. With only a name and without explaining the reasons or pre-defining any answers.<\/p>\n

Listen for God\u2019s voice in the quiet of your prayers.<\/p>\n

Pray using your own prayers or one of those which have been prepared below.<\/p>\n

Twitter Prayer<\/h3>\n

Lord, in a world full of injustice, show me the part you have for me in bringing compassion and justice to all. Amen<\/p>\n

Facebook Prayer<\/h3>\n

Lord, you call me action. May I not be slow or reticent to speak of your call for compassion and justice. In this Advent time prepare me for my place in working for your Kingdom so that the words of our psalm may be fulfilled. Amen<\/p>\n

Full Prayer<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>Loving heavenly Father, we praise you for the your love for all the world and every individual within it. We lift our hearts and my voices to sing of your love and faithfulness to us.<\/p>\n

Lord speak into the quiet of our Advent waiting the things you would have us do for you to being compassion and justice to your creation. Give us a powerful passion to spend and be spent by you to bring your Kingdom near.<\/p>\n

Lord we feel so small and helpless \u2013 what can we do in the face of the powerful? Help us to see that in your strength even our smallest action has consequences and power. Guide our hands, hearts and voices in the name of Jesus, our Lord, Amen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/path><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Todays song is Everything I do, I do it for you by Bryan Adams Take me as I am, take my life. I would give it all, I would sacrifice. Psalm146 gives us a...<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/path><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2097,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advent"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/wptest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/startdoing.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2036","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2036"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2106,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2036\/revisions\/2106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}