A Good Prayer Book

-

 

Advent Wreath with four candles -- one is lighted each Sunday in Advent
1928 Prayer Book Alliance

ADVENT SEASON  

The Fourth
Sunday in Advent
December 19, 2021





Advent -- Joyous Anticipation, Self-Renewal


The Fourth Sunday in Advent.

The Collect.

O LORD, raise up, we pray thee, thy power, and come among us, and with great
might succour us; that whereas, through our sins and wickedness, we are sore let and
hindered in running the race that is set before us, thy bountiful grace and mercy may
speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with
thee and the Holy Ghost, be honour and glory, world without end. Amen -- page 95,
The 1928 Book of Common Prayer

With the Fourth Sunday in Advent, we draw closer to the day of his coming, the day foretold approximately 7 centuries earlier by the prophet Esaias. John the Baptist spoke of this prophecy, made an astonishing length of time before it was to come true. The Baptist's words are recounted by St. John in The Gospel reading for Advent IV:

". . . I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord . . ." The Gospel. St. John I.19, page 95, The 1928 Book of Common Prayer

During Advent, we anticipate the appearance of the Lamb of God, meek and mild. We contemplate the rest of the story as well -- his coming again. During his time in this life, he inspires, teaches, prepares us. With his second coming, he opens the door to eternal life.

The Collect for the First Sunday in Advent (below) links the first and last days; the Christ child came among us as a human "in great humility" and will come again in "glorious majesty." The Collect for today, the Fourth Sunday in Advent, mentions not only "thy power" and "thy great might," but also "thy bountiful grace and mercy," He will take his power, tempered with mercy, and reign -- of one substamce, power, and eternity with God the Father and the Holy Ghost.


Collect for the First Sunday in Advent:
ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, nowy in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.
 This Collect is to be repeated every day, after the other Collects in Advent, until Christmas Day. -- The 1928 Book of Common Prayer, page 90


Help Spread the Good News through the
Classic Anglican 1928 Book of Common Prayer

Please consider a year-end gift to the 1928 Prayer Book Alliance to help us fulfill our commitment to encourage classic, traditional worship through the 1928 BCP, based entirely on Holy Scripture.

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the 1928 Prayer Book Alliance relies on tax-deductible donations. Click the DONATE button below to send your year-end gift to help us advance the cause of worship based on the Word of God. Or send your check today to 

1928 Prayer Book Alliance
P.O. Box 4358
Portsmouth, NH 03802
The 1928 Book of Common Prayer
Ancient Beautiful True

‌
DONATE

Facebook ‌ Twitter ‌ Instagram ‌

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Balancing our Romans 5 Justification with holiness in the life Romans 6

-
  A Balance to Justification Romans 6     Last week we discussed the area of grace in the operation of our salvation.  We saw in Romans 5:1-8 that salvation, we call it justification is by faith through the un-merited grace of the Eternal Trinity. Without peace with God we have no eternal life.  That peace with God and the person of Christ is there as we develop relationships with other Christians in the Church. This is what was so important. "That is to say, in the Christian community we do not relate to one another “immediate[ly],” we relate to one another mediately – through the “mediation of Christ.” For that reason, we love others not directly, but for Christ’s sake."  Article on Life Together by Bonhoeffer.    We said in summary we are not seeking a rules-based Christianity necessarily,  but have grace to access to God through His life-changing Gospel of the good news, that Christ died for the ungodly, and we were all that before Christ came to us.  We did not come to H
Read more

Walk worthily Philippians 1:27

-
  Worthily   Philippians 1:27 Some of my favorite vs are in the Philippians letter.  1:6, "  being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" 1:21 " For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Ch 2 talks about unity through humility and being like Christ, doing things with the mind of Christ.Ch 3 is great too about our citizenship being in heaven and awaiting the Savior from heaven, Jesus Christ who will transform our lowly bodies at the Resurrection Ch 4 may be the best with not being anxious and to cast all our care upon Him and not being anxious.  But in vs 27 of ch 1 we are exhorted to " walk worthily of the gospel of Christ"    As a noun, axiom refers to a statement that is accepted as true and serves as the basis for argument or inference. It can also mean an established rule, principle, or self-evident truth.  Walk worthily of the Gospel of Christ, v. 27 recognized as
Read more

The Vine and the Branches John 15

-
  John 15.  The Vine and the Branches   This is obviously a well-known part of the teaching of Jesus.  Every time I come to it, I gain something new from it.  It makes sense because Israel too was known as a vine.  Unfortunately Israel did not always behave in the way God required of them.  " He looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes." Is 5:2  If we are part of the vine and the branches we too know this all too well. Our intentions may be pure but somehow we act in such a way that we do not experience God's peace.  It usually has something to do with us, not God, for His calling and purposes are always good. 1.  God calls us as He did with the people of Israel.  They did not follow before His call of them individually and as a people.  We too are called to Him .  Vs 16 " Ye have not chosen me, but I have chose you and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit." We cannot be proud or boastful for we know before we
Read more