Childermas | Wondering As We Wander w/ Holy Family

The Magnificat for Every Tribe, Tongue, and Nation (Luke 1:45-55) During Childermas (Matthew 2:12-23)

Wondering as We Wander with the Global Holy Family During Childermas

The story below was pulled together after meditating on preparation for Childermas and Matthew 2:12-23 in consideration of what poets, artists, theologians, and historians help us bring to life when we consider what the holy family endured and would have had to endure today.

Jesús was born to a teenage girl, María, before she was married to anyone, though she was engaged to a blue-collar stonemason, carpenter, and construction worker, José, at the time.  

María’s pregnancy out-of-wedlock likely made her, José, Jesús, and future children | siblings social outcasts in their families and in their town.   

Before María and José were married and while she was still pregnant, they were forced to travel to a town south of the capital city due to an unjust tax implemented by the rulers of the state.   

When they arrived in the town José's family was originally from, they were not visited by family members when Jesús was born. To make their reputation even worse, they were visited by local animal caretakers and bottom feeders (seen as untrustworthy and dirty) and then foreign mystics and psychics (seen as untrustworthy and evil).   

Jesús then spent the first few years of his life on the run with María and José as political refugees who were unwanted by the people in power in the capital city. In fact, this holy family embodied civil disobedience by not allowing Jesús to be a part of the capital’s mandated infanticide.   

Somehow, it was in the midst of a time that included a proud, bombastic ruler, a fearful people, and a violent war-justifying state that propagated their way of peace for the world, that God sent an ethnic minority baby born to a poor, teenage mother in the middle of nowhere to bring His Good News of great joy from heaven to earth for people from every ethnicity, class, and culture.   

And because of Jesús – or as he was also called Emanuel, God with us – new life continues to be born in individuals and families today in a global Kingdom that surpasses country lines and walls, and stretches across time, bringing together rich and poor, native and foreigner, minority and majority, oppressed and oppressor.   

Jesús was born right in the middle of the mess of human bigotry, power, injustice, fear, violence, and hate, and that's exactly where He longs to meet us and bring new life today as He saves and brings people together from every tribe, tongue, and nation.

What would "bringing back Christmas" really mean for us if this is what Jesus' coming would look and sound like to our eyes and ears?

"Jose y Maria" by Everett Patterson

"Away from the Manger: The Refugee King" Reprise

Liz Vice, Wen Reagan, Bruce Benedict, Greg Scheer, Lester Ruth, 2018 A.D.

Away from the manger they ran for their lives,
The tiny boy, Jesus, a son they must hide.
A dream came to Joseph, they fled in the night
And they ran and they ran and they ran. (Ooh x 2)

No stars in the sky but the Spirit of God
Led down into Egypt from Herod to hide.
No place for His parents, no country or tribe,
And they ran and they ran and they ran. (Ooh x 2)

Stay near me Lord Jesus when danger is nigh
And keep us from Herods and all of their lies.
I love Thee, Lord Jesus, the Refugee King,
And we sing and we sing and we sing ...  (x2)

Alleluja! x 5

To listen to a sermon and see liturgy notes focused on this part of the holy family's story, here is a link:

Matthew 2:12-23 | Remembering the Holy Innocents | Martyrs and Refugees 

Also, here is a link to some additional reading:

Emmaus City: Prep for Childermas Coming Monday, December 28, 2020 + Bishop N.T. Wright, Pope Francis, and Dr. Christena Cleveland

And here are some songs and creeds that relate to this part of Jesus' story:

Songs of the Refugees with Proskuneo and the Immigrants Apostles' Creed

To close this post, here is a prayer that Christ would overcome the most the destructive darkness, not outside of us, but in us.

Childermas Prayer | Overcome the Darkness in Us

Immanuel, reveal You are with us now. Don't hold back. Magnify Your presence and Your great salvation for us! Disrupt our way of life without You. If in the darkness of Mary's womb, the holy child grew, You can grow in us. If in the darkness of the world's pain, Your blessed light came and overcame, You can overcome the darkness in us and ignite Your light and love in us.

In our own doubting of You, and of ourselves, cause us to be born again to a living hope that begins to grow like a lump in the throat: the holy hope that You came and still come to us truly, that You will be born again in our midst. We need You, Jesus, our Messiah, the Prince of Peace in a world at war. You are our hope. We need You to ransom us and our beloved neighbors, friends, and enemies in the city of Worcester from the darkness of everything that we are selling ourselves short for.

Lord Jesus, our Savior, open our mouths and our hearts to sing like Your mother, Mary, did, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has looked on me, His humble servant! ... " When people in the 1980s in Guatemala began to sing Mary's song, the government outlawed this first Advent hymn about God's preferential love for the humble, poor, and needy. It was deemed too dangerous and revolutionary because men, women, and children began to believe that freedom and change were indeed possible, and that following the way of Jesus would interrupt the flow of civilization as they knew it.

Holy Spirit of God, make us dangerous to believe the way of Jesus transforms our lives like that today. Make us believe the Magnificat's words (i.e. Luke 1:46-55) are true, that You look on us and intend to bring dynamic change in us and through us, Your poor and humble servants in Worcester, to bring Your resurrection power and life to people in our city. We pray all these things in confidence because we are praying in Jesus' mighty name. Amen.

+ Adapted from "Come and See" by Frederich Buechner & "A Divine Disruption" by Christiana Rice

Christ is all,

Rev. Mike “Sully” Sullivan

Email Pastor Mike | Website | Visit Us | Support Us | Facebook Us

Prep for Childermas | Light Shines Brightly in Brutal Darkness

Jesus entered a world plagued not only by the darkness of individual pain and sin, but also by the darkness of systemic oppression. Jesus’ people, the Hebrews, were a subjugated people living as exiles in their own land; among other things, they were silenced, targets of brutality, and exploitatively taxed. For many, the darkness of long-standing oppression had extinguished any hope for liberation. It was into this "worst world" that the Light-in-which-We-See-Light was born, liberating the people from the terror of darkness. So it is in the midst of our worst world that we, too, can most clearly see the Light, for light shines more brightly against a backdrop of true darkness. + Dr. Christena Cleveland

The gospel of Jesus the Messiah was born in a land and at a time of trouble, tension, violence and fear. Banish all thoughts of peaceful Christmas scenes. Before the Prince of Peace had learned to walk and talk, he was a homeless refugee with a price on his head. + N.T. Wright

Salvete, Flores Martyrum (Ye Flowers of Martyrdom, All Hail)

By Aurelius Clemens Prudentius from Cathemerinon ("The Hymns of Prudentius")

348-405 A.D.

All hail! ye infant Martyr flowers,
Cut off in life’s first dawning hours:
As rosebuds snapt in tempest strife,
When Herod sought your Savior’s life.

You, tender flock of lambs, we sing,
First victims slain for Christ your King:
Beneath the Altar’s Heav’nly ray
With Martyr-palms and crowns ye play!

For their redemption glory be,
O Jesu, Virgin-born, to thee!
With Father, and with Holy Ghost,
For ever, from the Martyr-host!

Amen.

Holy Innocents Icon - Lament of Rachel

"Remembering the Holy Innocents and Refugees," including excerpts from Bishop N.T. Wright, Pope Francis, and Dr. Christena Cleveland for the Feast of the Massacre of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs during Christmastide, especially Childermas
Scriptures: Matthew 2:12-23

At times, some people can make waves about saying “Merry Christmas” again and “doing it right.” But are we ready to see that Herod is a necessary part of Christmas, too, and that he often is in us, the ones playing the power games?

Matthew’s story of the birth of Jesus has a ruler of a nation making big pronouncements. And he’s a scheming, frightened, insecure tyrant who lashes out at others. Matthew’s Gospel reveals again that God has entered our world as it actually exists. He isn’t wrapping it in bows or playing pretty music. God’s love is too powerful and too true to enter a world that doesn’t exist. But have we turned life and faith and spirituality around Christmas time into something that ignores reality? Are we trying to cover up the Herod in us and in the world around us?

What causes you to become a little Herod? What fuels your planning and protection without God? What makes you insecure? Who do you lash out at and why? How does Jesus disrupt your life?

At the heart of the Christmas story in Matthew's gospel is a baby who poses such a threat to the most powerful man around that he kills a whole village of other babies in order to try to get rid of him. At the heart of the Christmas story in Luke, too, is a baby who, if only the Roman emperor knew it, will be Lord of the whole world. Within a generation His followers will be persecuted by the empire as a danger to good order. Whatever else you say about Jesus, from His birth onwards, people certainly found him a threat. He upset their power-games, and suffered the usual fate of people who do that.

In fact, the shadow of the cross falls over the story from this moment on. Jesus is born with a price on His head. Plots are hatched; angels have to warn Joseph; they only just escape from Bethlehem in time. Herod the Great, who thought nothing of killing members of his own family, including three of his own sons and his wife, when he suspected them of scheming against him, and who gave orders when dying that the leading citizens of Jericho should be slaughtered so that people would be weeping at his funeral – this Herod would not bat an eyelid at the thought of killing lots of little babies in case one of them should be regarded as a royal pretender. As his power had increased, so had his paranoia – a not unfamiliar progression, as dictators around the world have shown from that day to this.

The gospel of Jesus the Messiah was born, then, in a land and at a time of trouble, tension, violence and fear. Banish all thoughts of peaceful Christmas scenes. Before the Prince of Peace had learned to walk and talk, He was a homeless refugee with a price on his head. At the same time, in this passage and several others Matthew insists that we see in Jesus, even when things are at their darkest, the fulfillment of scripture. This is how Israel's redeemer was to appear; this is how God would set about liberating His people, and bringing justice to the whole world. No point in arriving in comfort, when the world is in misery; no point having an easy life, when the world suffers violence and injustice! If He is to be Emmanuel, God-with-us, He must be with us where the pain is.

And we can be with Him in the pain. If this is Jesus' story, and we are saved by being redeemed and adopted into His family, where does He lead us to step into the pain of the world? How will we join Him in fulfilling the Scriptures in His entry into the world by how we welcome others' entry into our world?

According to Jesus Himself in Matthew 18:5 ("Whoever welcomes one child like this in My name welcomes Me"), we can and should see the defenseless baby Jesus in the children who suffer the most from war, migration, and natural calamities caused by mankind today. 

Christmastide invites us to focus on the sign of the child and to recognize Him in the faces of little children, especially those for whom, like Jesus, 'there is no place in the inn.' 

So we can see Jesus in the children in Myanmar and Bangladesh within whom are relatives of our Worcester Refugee Assistance Project community and families. We can see Jesus in the innocent children suffering from wars who are too often largely forgotten, with serious humanitarian implications for its people who suffer from hunger and the spread of diseases. We can see Him in the conflicts affecting children in South Sudan, Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Ukraine, Venezuela, and more.

Will we welcome them like we say we welcome Him through our words and actions, through our policies and practices? Jesus knows well the pain of not being welcomed and how hard it is not to have a place to lay one’s head. May our hearts not be closed as they were in the homes of Bethlehem. This season of Christmastide is an invitation to plunge into the deep, dark waters of our worst world, knowing that when we re-surface for air we will encounter the hopeful, hovering Spirit of God. Indeed, Jesus' Light of true hope is found in the midst of darkness.

"Away from the Manger: The Refugee King" Reprise

Liz Vice, Wen Reagan, Bruce Benedict, Greg Scheer, Lester Ruth, 2018 A.D.

Away from the manger, they ran for their lives;

The crying boy Jesus, a son they must hide.

A dream came to Joseph, they fled in the night

And they ran and they ran and they ran. (Ooh x 2)

No stars in the sky but the Spirit of God

Led down into Egypt from Herod to hide.

No place for His parents, no country or tribe,

And they ran and they ran and they ran. (Ooh x 2)

Stay near me Lord Jesus when danger is nigh

And keep us from Herods and all of their lies.

I love Thee, Lord Jesus, the Refugee King,

And we sing and we sing and we sing ...  (x2)

Alleluja! x 5

Next post: Childermas 2020 | Wondering As We Wander

Christ is all,

Rev. Mike “Sully” Sullivan

Email Pastor Mike | Website | Visit Us | Support Us | Facebook Us

Final Advent Mass @ Home | Matthew 14:22-33: Jesus Comes to Bring Wild Courage + Sharp Clarity to Our Confusion

 

Had too much deja vu in 2020? … “I heard the bells on Christmas Day, their old familiar carols play" There may be a lot of confusion and chaos that seems old and familiar this year. And yet, Christmas invites us to remember again that "wild and sweet" we need their (Christmas hymns and songs) words to repeat that "peace on earth, goodwill to men" continues to come.

Final Advent Homily Video | Jesus Comes to Bring Wild Courage + Sharp Clarity to Our Confusion

Homily Scriptures | Matthew 14:22-33

Homily Quote |

I never gave thought to whether these Christmas carols were about something that really happened. It wasn't that I believed they were false; the question never occurred to me one way or the other. I knew nothing about Jesus, and didn't go to church. I had neither the content of faith nor the practice of it, but the music formed a little space in my soul, like a cup waiting to be filled, that by its very shape suggested something was meant to go there.

+ Holly Ordway, Not God's Type

 

"I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," 1863 A.D. | Story + Song Video

Eucharist | The Beauty and Power of Communion for All Who Come Hungry and Thirsty to Jesus

Call to Worship | Isaiah 42:1-2, 5

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and the rivers will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, and the flame will not burn you. ... Do not fear, for I am with you."

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1863 A.D.
New Melody by Audrey Assad, 2019 A.D.

I heard the bells on Christmas Day,
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, peace on earth, goodwill to men!

I thought how as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song

Of peace on earth, peace on earth, goodwill to men!

And in despair I bowed my head
"There is no peace on earth," I said.
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, peace on earth, goodwill to men!

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep!
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, peace on earth, goodwill to men!

Cantique de Noël (Song of Assurance)
Placide Cappeau, 1847 A.D.
Revised paraphrase by James Brumm, 1994 A.D.

O holy night! the Christian’s solemn hour
when God, incarnate, came down from above
to cleanse our sin, for only Christ had power
to rescue us from justice through His love.
The whole world trembles with hope of countless ages;
On this great night a Savior comes to us.
Kneel down in prayer! Await your liberation!
Noel! Noel! Your Redeemer is here! 

Noel! Noel! Your Redeemer is here! 

It is by faith our Creator's Light guides us
To the crib where the infant-God lay,
Just as a star led Eastern mystics riding
In ancient days, out of lands far away.
The King of kings was born among the cattle.
O earthly leaders, filled with your own deeds,
God calls to us, confronts our self-importance,
Bow down your heads before our Savior true. 

Bow down your heads before our Savior true. 

See the Messiah who has opened our prisons;
In earth and heaven alike freedom reigns.
He has declared the slave a whole person
And love unites us who were in chains!
How can we thank Him who gives a gift so glorious
(His life and suffering death all for our sakes)?
Stand up in praise! Rejoice in your deliverance!
Noel! Noel! Sing of God Immanuel!
Noel! Noel! Sing of God Immanuel!

Tremble
Mosaic MSC, 2017 A.D.

Peace, bring it all to peace,
The storm surrounding me,
Let it break at Your name.
Still, call the sea to still,
The rage in me to still,
Every wave at Your name.

Jesus, Jesus, You make the darkness tremble.
Jesus, Jesus, You silence fear.
Jesus, Jesus, You make the darkness tremble. Jesus, Jesus.

Breathe, call these bones to live,
Call these lungs to sing
Once again, I will praise ... (Chorus 2x)

Your name is a light that the shadows can't deny!
Your name cannot be overcome!
Your name is alive forever lifted high!
Your name cannot be overcome! (Chorus)

Your Peace Will Make Us One
Audrey Assad & Urban Doxology, 2019 A.D.
Based on “My Eyes Have Seen the Glory” by Lee Greenwood, 1862 A.D.

Mine eyes have seen the glory
Of the coming of the Lord.
You are speaking Truth to power,
You are laying down our swords,
Replanting every vineyard
'Til a brand new wine is poured.
Your peace will make us one.

I've seen You in our home fires
Burning with a quiet light.
You are mothering and feeding
In the wee hours of the night.
Your gentle love is patient,
You will never fade or tire.
Your peace will make us one.

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! 

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! 

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Your peace will make us one!

In the beauty of the lilies,
You were born across the sea
With a glory in Your bosom
That is still transfiguring,
Dismantling our empires
'Til each one of us is free.
Your peace will make us one!
(Chorus)

Benediction based on 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

Next post: First New Year Mass @ Home | Matthew 14:34-15:9: Jesus' No Cancel Culture in 2021

To connect with us, please contact info@emmauscitychurch.com

More helpful links for Advent

+ Advent: Immanuel, God with Us, Has Always Been His Plan for Us  

+ Advent 2020 Is Near & Needed | The Coming Day of the Lord Before, Now, and Again

+ The Magnificat: The Bold & Courageous First Advent Hymn  

+ Advent 2020 Is Near & Needed | Sunday Compline (i.e. Bring to Completion) Services to Remember the Light in the Darkness

Christ is all,

Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan

Email Pastor Mike | Website | Visit Us | Support Us | Facebook Us

3rd Advent Mass @ Home | Matthew 14:14-21: Jesus Comes w/ More Compassion & an Overflow of Bread for the Resistance

 

Take, bless, break, give ... "The most reassuring message of Advent is existence of hope does not depend on us. It is a delivery … like the sun rising in defiance of the night" … (like a feast served in the desert) … Will we receive what Jesus gives? + Michael Gerson, Washington Post

3rd Advent Homily Video | Jesus Comes w/ More Compassion & an Overflow of Bread for the Resistance

Homily Scriptures | Matthew 14:14-21

Homily Quote |

Most of us are a jumble of resentments and fears. Most of us can be proud, cruel, foolish and self-deluding. The best response is found in Advent. The most reassuring message of the season is that the existence of hope does not depend on us. It does not rely on our virtue or wisdom. It is a delivery from elsewhere. The German Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer — who knew something of the subject — compared Advent to a prison cell “in which one waits and hopes and does various unessential things ... but is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside.” The Advent narratives are filled with waiting people: Mary, Zechariah, Elizabeth, Simeon, Anna. They lived in patient expectation and were receptive to the Good News when it arrived. Their hope did not come as the result of a battle. It came like a seed planted in the ground. Like the sun rising in defiance of night. Like a child growing within his mother. We are not the heroes of the story. Our contribution is to be watchful and open. But hope arrives in awesome humility. God is with us. Jesus is with us. This is everything. 

+ Michael Gerson

 

Homily Advent Film Series Reflection | "Joyeux Noel"

Eucharist | The Beauty and Power of Communion for All Who Come Hungry and Thirsty to Jesus

Call to Worship | Jeremiah 14:19

You, O Lord, are in the midst of us and we are called by Your name; leave us not, O Lord our God.

O Come, O Come Emmanuel (Song of Confession)
By anonymous monks, 800s
Translated by John Mason Neale, 1800s

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

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel.

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.
(Chorus)

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.
(Chorus)

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.
(Chorus)

The Cradle and the Cross (Song of Assurance)
Austin Stone Worship, 2013 A.D.

Oh the beauty and the loss of the cradle and the cross,
The Son of God so humbly sent for us.
Into darkness came the light, faith of fathers became sight
When the Christ arrived to save the fold of God.

Humanity embraced, He left a perfect place,
The prize of God in lowly manger lay.
Angels shout with joyous song, saints and sinners sing along
In the highest place, "Glory, Gloria!"

Immanuel, God with us! 

The Lamb of God slain for us!
Finally, our hope’s secured by 

The beauty of the cradle and the cross.

The Creator of the stars, then in flesh received the scars 

On the cross He paid the debt of sinners earned.
And even death could not Him hold,
Peace on earth we see unfold
As the risen Christ ascends in victory! (Chorus)

Stars and angels sing around You, "Gloria!"
Hearts unfold like flowers before You, "Gloria!"
Joyful, joyful, we adore You, "Gloria!" (Chorus)

Offering

Ike Ndolo, 2013 A.D.

My hands shake with guilt and shame, still You love me, love me.
Your eyes are bright and shine so full of mercy, mercy.

Jesus, Bread of Life, Bread for all.
This is my offering, this my everything,
The Son of God who bled and died and rose again for me.

Your flesh You gave for all so we could see You, see You.
Your blood poured for all so we could know You, know You. (Chorus)

Joy to the World
Isaac Watts, 1719 A.D.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come! 

Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room, 

And heaven and nature sing ... (x2)
And heaven and heaven and nature sing!

Joy to the world, the Savior reigns! 

Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy ... (x2)
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy!

No more let sins and sorrows grow, 

Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow 

Far as the curse is found ... (x2)
Far as, far as the curse is found!

He rules the world with truth and grace, 

And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness, 

And wonders of His love ... (x2)
And wonders, wonders of His love!

Benediction based on 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

Next post: Final Advent Mass @ Home | Matthew 14:22-33: Jesus Comes to Bring Wild Courage + Sharp Clarity to Our Confusion

To connect with us, please contact info@emmauscitychurch.com

More helpful links for Advent

+ Advent: Immanuel, God with Us, Has Always Been His Plan for Us  

+ Advent 2020 Is Near & Needed | The Coming Day of the Lord Before, Now, and Again

+ The Magnificat: The Bold & Courageous First Advent Hymn  

+ Advent 2020 Is Near & Needed | Sunday Compline (i.e. Bring to Completion) Services to Remember the Light in the Darkness

Christ is all,

Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan

Email Pastor Mike | Website | Visit Us | Support Us | Facebook Us

2nd Advent Mass @ Home | Matthew 14:1-13: Jesus Comes in the (Painful) Waiting w/ a Worthy Cost

 

“ .... I have never seen a picture of John the Baptist on any Advent calendar, yet he is the foremost image of Advent. ... " (Fleming Rutledge, Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ). John the Baptizer embodies our location in 2020. In the wilderness of a rising pandemic and at the margins of a politically divided empire, pointing us once again to our true rest and home in Jesus our Emmanuel, God with us, who is the only One who can make death's dark shadows put to flight.

2nd Advent Homily Video | Jesus Comes in the (Painful) Waiting w/ a Worthy Cost

Homily Scriptures | Matthew 14:1-13

Homily Story About Dmitri | The Insanity of God: Praising & Clinging to Christ in the Valley of the Shadow of Death

Eucharist | The Beauty and Power of Communion for All Who Come Hungry and Thirsty to Jesus

Call to Worship | Isaiah 42:16

I will guide them on paths they have not known. I will turn darkness to light in front of them and rough places into level ground. This is what I will do for them, and I will not abandon them.

O Come, O Come Emmanuel
By anonymous monks, 800s
Translated by John Mason Neale, 1800s

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

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel.

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.
(Chorus)

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.
(Chorus)

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.
(Chorus)

Light Has Come

Future of Forestry, 2019 A.D.

I heard a voice cry out, the voice came from the desert,
"Prepare a way for Him, prepare a way."
I heard a voice cry out, saying "Comfort all My people.
Tell them that their sins are washed away”

Light has come, light has come,
Awake my heart, light has come.

I heard the holy sound, the voices of the angels,
The glory of the Lord was all around.
I heard the angels sing the highest praise in heaven
“Glory be to God and peace on earth.” (Chorus)

Let the whole world see You,
Let the whole world know You,
Let the whole world rejoice
For in this Child the Light has come. (Chorus)

I hear the tender sound, an infant and His mother
Underneath the stars that shine above
I hear the tender voice
Come from our Heavenly Father
“My Word has become flesh through My own Son.” (Chorus)

"Away from the Manger: The Refugee King" Reprise
Liz Vice, Wen Reagan, Bruce Benedict, Greg Scheer, Lester Ruth

2018 A.D.

Away from the manger, they ran for their lives;
The crying boy Jesus, a son they must hide.
A dream came to Joseph, they fled in the night
And they ran and they ran and they ran. (Ooh x 2)

No stars in the sky but the Spirit of God
Led down into Egypt from Herod to hide.
No place for His parents, no country or tribe,
And they ran and they ran and they ran. (Ooh x 2)

Stay near me Lord Jesus when danger is nigh
And keep us from Herods and all of their lies.
I love Thee, Lord Jesus, the Refugee King,
And we sing and we sing and we sing ... (x2)

Alleluja! x 5

The Kingdom Is Yours
Common Hymnal, 2017 A.D.

Blessed are the ones who do not bury
All the broken pieces of their heart.
Blessed are the tears of all the weary
Pouring like a sky of falling stars.

Blessed are the wounded ones in mourning,
Brave enough to show the Lord their scars.
Blessed are the hurts that are not hidden,
Open to the healing touch of God.

The Kingdom is yours, the Kingdom is yours,
Hold on a little more, this is not the end.
Hope is in the Lord, keep your eyes on Him.

Blessed are the ones who walk in kindness
Even in the face of great abuse.
Blessed are the deeds that go unnoticed,
Serving with unguarded gratitude.

Blessed are the ones who fight for justice,
Longing for the coming day of peace.
Blessed is the soul that thirsts for righteousness,
Welcoming the last, the lost, the least. (Chorus)

Blessed are the ones who suffer violence
And still have strength to love their enemies.
Blessed is the faith of those who persevere.
Though they fall, they'll never know defeat.

Benediction based on 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

Next post: 3rd Advent Mass @ Home | Matthew 14:14-21: Jesus Comes w/ More Compassion & an Overflow of Bread for the Resistance

To connect with us, please contact info@emmauscitychurch.com

More helpful links for Advent

+ Advent: Immanuel, God with Us, Has Always Been His Plan for Us  

+ Advent 2020 Is Near & Needed | The Coming Day of the Lord Before, Now, and Again

+ The Magnificat: The Bold & Courageous First Advent Hymn  

+ Advent 2020 Is Near & Needed | Sunday Compline (i.e. Bring to Completion) Services to Remember the Light in the Darkness

Christ is all,

Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan

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