Prayer for Today, Sunday, December 5

God of Promise,

We offer You our thanks and praise. Bless us, we pray, on our journey through Advent. May Your will be done in us and through our church. We claim to be the living Body of Christ. May the Spirit of the Christ abound at Central Christian Church. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
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Gene Brintnall called yesterday. He is back from the Mayo Clinic. His surgery went well. There was no cancer. He has to go back in three months for a follow-up. Please pray prayers of Thanksgiving for Gene.

Mae Clark, Joan Petersen and Margie Edwards are all hospitalized at St. Mary’s. Please continue to pray for them.

Please join your church family for worship today.

The General Church has produced a brief Advent video. The link is http://www.disciples.org/Video/TheLightsofAdvent/tabid/807/Default.aspx . I encourage you to watch it. Larry Brown, one of the participants and the current Moderator of the General Church is a layman from Chickasha.

Grace and peace,

John McLemore

Advent Devotion for Today. Please read Isaiah 11:1-10
It's a "dog eat dog" world, we say: It's survival of the fittest, and it's not pretty. All true in its way. But is it all that's true? Isaiah gives us a vision that Jesus Christ lived into. While the wicked will perish, his judgment will favor the poor and the meek. Everything will be turned upside down.
The Reign of God stands in contrast to the values of the culture. Instead of a “dog eat dog” mentality, Christ ushers in a different scenario. The wolf will live with the lamb. The cow and the bear will graze together. The leopard will lie down with the kid. All are metaphors for a new age. EVERYTHING is different, unexpected, out of the ordinary.
When we celebrate the birth of Christ we are warmed by the beautiful story. It is a comforting and comfortable picture. As we embrace the Christ, however, we realize that the “normal” view of the world is no longer valid. We are moved out of our comfort zone into a world of new possibilities.

Dear God, open our eyes and our hearts this Advent season, that we might embrace the demands of the Christian faith which are always new and life transforming. May we be your agents in the world, agents with a different perspective. In Jesus name, AMEN

Rev. John McLemore