December 3, 2021
We serve the God of love and mercy
An excerpt from Luke 1:72-75 (NRSV)
Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and has remembered his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham, to grant us that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
Reflection from Dan Nicholas:
We’re no strangers to the Lord’s love and gift of sacrifice that continues to be passed down from generation to generation. We can even trace our lineage on cool websites such as Ancestry.com and share such stories and pictures, much like the same stories we hear from the Bible on every Sunday. How awesome is it to find traces of the Lord’s love with the ones who have gone before us? A newspaper clipping entitled “Worshippers in 1879 Used Plank Seats at Services Held in Creighton (PA) Home” is about the home of my triple-great-grandfather, William Nicholas. There weren’t enough seats for in-home worship, so they had to bring in sawhorses and planks for seats. It’s warming to know that the hunger for the Lord’s love is just as strong today as it was back then.
Photograph of William Nicholas.
For further study and prayer, the readings assigned for today are:
Luke 1:68-79; Malachi 3:13-18; Philippians 1:18b-26
Music:
“Magnificat” by Leo Nestor
“He has come to the help of his servant Israel,
for he has remember his promise of mercy –
the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham
and his children.”