We often reprint prior devotions that now reflect on the coming lectionary texts. This is a reprint from a devotion originally published on December 18, 2015.
Prayer Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come. With your abundant grace and might, free us from the sin that binds us, that we may receive you in joy and serve you always, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen Reflection Grace and mercy. Those are the words that delight me. One of Lutheran’s traditional confessions contains the words; we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves. But Jesus came and comes. With grace and mercy. Through His life, teaching, death and resurrection Jesus frees us from the sin that binds us. Stir us up, O Lord, to look for you in every moment of our lives. Even the ugliest of ugly moments. Come, Lord Jesus, with your grace and mercy. --Jim Bricker Our devotions are based on this Sunday’s Revised Common Lectionary (RCL). The RCL is a three-year cycle of readings telling the story of our Christian faith and corresponding to the season church calendar. On any given Sunday, we are hearing and praying and examining the same Scripture with millions of Christians around the world. In our current Year C, the Old Testament readings progress through the Prophets and have the theme of the day that it is connected to the Gospel reading. The Psalm, a song the congregation sings in response to the Old Testament reading, most often corresponds to the theme of the Hebrew Lessons and/or that of the Gospel Lesson. The lesson from the Epistles or from Acts typifies the church’s focus on the meaning of Christ for today. The Gospel lesson is connected to the season of the Church Year. This year, our gospel readings are from Luke, who writes that Jesus is the universal Savior and the perfect Son of Man. In the current season of Advent, we long for Christ’s coming: Christ coming as a baby; Christ coming again; Christ in our lives today.
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