Got oil? The penultimate Advent blog. It is about being in it for the long haul. Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but …
Author: SteveP
I am married with one wife, three grown kids, one cat and no hair.
Preparation: Two warnings
Two warnings Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” As …
Preparation: Lo! He comes
Lo! He comes with clouds descending The Advent carol brings us to the next topic. Jesus Christ will return. That is not something we only remember at Advent. The Anglican liturgy remembers that in the communion liturgy: Christ has died Christ is risen Christ will come again The return of Jesus Christ to judge the …
Preparation: The love of Mary
The fourth candle: Love In this final week of Advent, our attention is on love. The following Scripture verses may sound very familiar: Look for the call to love in these words. Teacher, which command in God’s Law is the most important?” Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer …
Preparation: The joy of John the Baptist
The third candle: Joy The third candle in Advent, is about joy. From Psalm 5:11, we hear these words, “But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, so that those who love your name may exult in you.” I am going to state the …
Preparation : Peace of the Prophets
The second candle: Peace For the second candle in Advent, we focus on peace. [Jesus said] “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” John 14:27 Do not …
Preparation: The hope of the Patriarchs
The first Candle: Hope. The first candle of Advent is all about hope. Think about hope as you hear Lamentations 3: 21-24: “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, God’s mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is …
Preparation: Four candles
Fork 'andles? No not the old Two Ronnies sketch. I was planning on making the next four blogs on each of the four candles of the Advent crown. Then I came upon a snag.there is misunderstanding. Are there just four candles in a circle, or are there five? Is the fifth candle, if there is …
Preparation: You can go your own way
All fall down No, this is not a blog about the Fleetwood Mac song about a relationship breakup, nor is it about the Lindisfarne song, about the way Newcastle City Centre was ruined by building a motorway through it, though I have a connection to that one. In 1972 I was one of a number …
Preparation: Creation
Creation In the last blog I said that God does nothing without preparing tings first. The creation story shows this if we split the account of 6 days into two sets of 3: The 6 days of creation Preparation Population Day 1 Day 4 And God said, “Let there be light”, and there was light. …
