December 11th, 2017

PRAYER OF THE WEEK
As I read your word, God, so you teach me to ask new questions and make new discoveries about you. Amen.

Litomerice Altarpiece The Visitation

NOTES ON THE SCRIPTURES

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11: God’s Spirit is on God’s servant to proclaim freedom, healing and liberation. God’s loves justice, and God’s servant is filled with joy, like a bridegroom dressed in his suit, for God will reward God’s people and make a covenant with them.

Psalm 126: Joy at God’s restoration of God’s people to Jerusalem, and a plea for God to prosper God’s people, with hope for the joy that will come.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24: An exhortation to live with joy, prayer and integrity until Christ returns.

John 1:6-8, 19-28: John, the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy of the voice in the wilderness, promises that he is not the Messiah, but that the Messiah is right there and about to appear.

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