{"id":980,"date":"2018-10-18T21:23:49","date_gmt":"2018-10-18T21:23:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/wptest\/?p=980"},"modified":"2018-12-14T08:45:55","modified_gmt":"2018-12-14T08:45:55","slug":"day-twelve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/?p=980","title":{"rendered":"Advent 2018 – Day Fourteen – Can you hear me?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today’s song is Noise by the Kinks it speaks of how hard it is to be heard amidst the noise of the world.<\/p>\n

Can you hear me above the noise?<\/p>\n

Can you, can you, can you, can you, can you, can you hear me?<\/p>\n

After the prophecies and celebration of the coming of the one who will call in the wilderness, today’s passage brings us the message of John the Baptist. The message which applies just as much today as it did in the original Advent.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>It declares that God\u2019s love for His people is never-ending, and Jesus has come to show it. He calls us to prepare ourselves for His coming. In doing this we set ourselves apart from the things which pull us down and separate us from God.,The noise of our lives or our sins, if we want to call them that. We can search for that way at any and all times, but Advent calls us to a special season of preparation, and of joy.<\/p>\n

Joy because something wonderful is co\"\"<\/a>ming, we already know that it is Jesus and the Salvation he brings.<\/p>\n

To prepare themselves the Israelites journeyed for miles for baptism by John, and then spread the good news to their friends and family.<\/p>\n

This Advent, we prepare ourselves with equal enthusiasm and joy for Jesus and the salvation which He brings and we invite all\u00a0 we know to hear the Good News of Jesus.<\/p>\n

Mark 1:1-8<\/span> New International Version – UK (NIVUK)<\/span><\/h4>\n

John the Baptist prepares the way<\/span><\/h4>\n

The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, <\/span>as\"\"<\/a> it is written in Isaiah the prophet:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u2018I will send my messenger ahead of you, <\/span>who will prepare your way\u2019 \u2013 <\/span><\/span>\u2018a voice of one calling in the wilderness, <\/span>“Prepare the way for the Lord, <\/span>make straight paths for him.\u201d\u2019<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. <\/span>The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptised by him in the River Jordan. <\/span> John wore clothing made of camel\u2019s hair, with a leather belt round his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. <\/span> And this was his message: \u2018After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. <\/span> I baptise you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Prayers and Reflection<\/h2>\n

Helpful Hymn:<\/h3>\n

Hymn: Singing the Faith 407 \u2013 Hear the call of the Kingdom.<\/p>\n

Contemplation saying.<\/h3>\n

\u201c\u2026 he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.<\/span><\/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

Loving God, quiet my heart that I might hear your voice whispering quietly in my life, calling me to respond to your word. Amen.<\/p>\n

Facebook Prayer<\/h3>\n

Lord, help me remember that you love me, that you are well pleased with me. You are the one who guides my life in the choices I make and the direction I travel. Thank you that you give me a purpose and a destiny within your Salvation story. Amen<\/p>\n

Full Prayer<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>God of faithfulness and truth, you inspired John to preach in the widerness and call your people to look into their lives and see where they had fallen away from you. Calling them to repentance and restoration in their relationships with you.<\/p>\n

This Advent time, help us to hear your voice calling to us in the wilderness of our world and our lives.<\/p>\n

May we also prepare a way for Jesus in our own lives and in those we know and love that all may hear your Good News this Christmas. Amen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

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

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

Today’s song is Noise by the Kinks it speaks of how hard it is to be heard amidst the noise of the world. Can you hear me above the noise? Can you, can you,...<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

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

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2031,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-980","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\/10\/hear.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/980","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=980"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2033,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/980\/revisions\/2033"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hatfieldroadmethodist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}