Invitatory: Lo,
your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a
donkey. Zech 9.9
Prayer for the 1st week of Advent: “Almighty God and
Lord, come to us with all your power and help us who are anxious and
troubled. Send us the Savior, that he
may enter our hearts, and with your light illumine our night, through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.” (K.B. Ritter, Gebete fur das Jahr der Kirche, 1st
ed. Kassel: Barenreiter Verlag, 1933,
p.35.)
Bible reading for the day: Matthew 24.36-44
36“But concerning that day and hour no
one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father
only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will
be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those
days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving
in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and
they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be
the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will
be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two
women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay
awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But
know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the
night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have
let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also
must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not
expect.
Prayer (based on T.R.I.P. method**): Gracious and
almighty Father, thank you for sending that timely thief Jesus to break in,
steal my sin from me, and rescue me from Satan’s house. Thank you! Repent me
and your whole church of poking our noses into your timetable or worrying about
it. The new dawn is already breaking and you have given us plenty to do right
now. Today is sufficient. Make me ready to serve and witness to my neighbor
today. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
“I believe in Jesus Christ…”
What does this mean?
I believe that Jesus Christ — true God, begotten of the
Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary — is my Lord.
He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, and has freed me from sin,
death, and the power of the devil, not with silver and gold, but with his holy
and precious blood and his innocent suffering and death. He has done all this
in order that I might be his own, live under him in his kingdom, and serve him
in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as he is risen
from the dead and lives and reigns for all eternity. This is most certainly
true! (from The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther ©Reclaim Resources,
Sola Publishing, 2011)
Hymn: follow this
link to a beloved hymn which gives further voice to today’s conversation with
the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0Byp7aK2DA
Benediction: (1
Pet 5:10) And after you have suffered
for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal
glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you
this day. To him be the power forever
and ever. Amen.
*There are many patterns for devotions. This pattern has been followed by God’s
people for centuries.
**The T.R.I.P. approach to
prayer is based on the way Martin Luther prayed and taught others to pray. It was later developed by Walter and Ingrid
Trobisch and then adapted by Mount Carmel Ministries (Alexandria, MN www.dailytext.com). The method is founded on scripture and easy
to remember:
T:
thanksgiving
R: regret
(repentance)
I:
intercession (asking God to take a specific action)
P:
plan or purpose
Reading a biblical text and
then applying this method gives one a sound, simple way to form one’s
prayers...not to mention that it helps one learn how to faithfully reflect on
God’s Word and talk to God.
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