Prayer for Today, Tuesday, December 7

Dear Lord,

We are surrounded by so many events and people that exude negativity. There are conflicts in families, in churches, in the workplace, and at school. There is illness in our lives and the world is in bad shape. At times we feel overwhelmed and are tempted to surrender to all the negativity that surrounds us. Empower us, Dear God, by the power of Your Holy Spirit to focus on the good and positive things of life, because they are there. Help us to break the cycles of complaint and dissatisfaction by sharing Good News stories of your love and the goodness that exist in our lives. The Christ Child was born into a time of despair and bleakness, yet He brought light and hope to the world. This Advent season may we be His agents of hope, joy, peace and love. May we dwell on the positive as we let His light shine through us. In Jesus name, AMEN.
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I received the following email from Fig Newton:
John.
It's 6:30 on Tuesday morning and I am on my way to Yukon. My granddaughter Delaney has been put in the hospital with a pretty bad case of pneumonia. I will keep you informed. She is in Canadian Valley Hospital in Yukon room 213. Thanks for all the prayers. Fig

Please pray for Delaney.

Tonight the Christian Caregivers will have their Christmas Party at the Heritage Manor Bed and Breakfast Inn near Cleo Springs. We celebrate the Caregivers and the wonderful ministry they perform.

Tomorrow evening the Chancel Choir and the children will rehearse for two big events this Sunday. The choir will lead us in worship with their Christmas Cantata “Winter Grace”. All morning services will be combined at 10:15 in the sanctuary. The children are preparing for their Christmas program “My Best-est Friend”. That will occur at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday in the Fellowship Hall.

Today is December 7. May we remember and reflect on the events of 69 years ago. Please pray for all our living veterans of WWII. May God bless them and may we all actively work for peace.

Grace and peace,

John McLemore

Advent Devotion for Today. Please read Isaiah 40:3-5:
What does it mean that every valley shall be lifted and every mountain be made low? That the uneven shall become level and the rough places a plain? Is it possible, even probable, that these are metaphors for the inequality and disparity of human life? Do these foreshadow the coming of Jesus, the Christ who will bring to us a time where there is no class, no upper and lower, no better-than-you? The Christ will bring to us who will follow him, in all our sin and glory, an evenness of opportunity, a parity that will preclude any being more deserving and thus any having more.? Is this not what Jesus' life offers us? Salvation for souls made ill by lives of emptiness and rushing hither and yon looking for we know not what? What scary and hugely important a thought this is. Sin. Sin alone creates those valleys of life where most of us look up at the few at the height of the mountain, those few who may have only been elevated to the heights by their own sin. Leaving behind the ruins of the lives of those stepped on and over, not wanting the Christ to enter their hearts and bring them peace and action. To bring the desire to move toward another, sharing what only Christ can give us..........tranquility of spirit and force of truth. Where else can we find what it requires to move from valleys to mountaintops and back again, all in love, not in superiority? Christ is born. Thanks be to God.
Carolyn McLemore