Christian – Healthy Holidays supplement

This supplement may be added to emails, blogs or posted in your Facebook group to strengthen and enrich the experience and results as a group and individuals.

WEEK ONEAs we begin Advent, please light one candle in the midst of all the darkness in our lives and in the world. It symbolizes our longing, our desire, and our hope. Three “advents” or “comings” shape our desire. We want to be renewed in a sense that Jesus came to save us from our sin and death. We want to experience his coming to us now, in our everyday lives, to help us live our lives with meaning and purpose. And we want to prepare for his coming to meet us at the end of our lives on this earth.

So, we begin with our longing, our desire and our hope.

When we wake up, each day this week, we could light that candle, just by taking a few moments to focus. We could pause for a minute at the side of our bed, or while putting on our slippers or our robe, and light an inner candle. Who among us doesn't have time to pause for a moment? We could each find our own way to pray something like this:

“Lord, the light I choose to let into my life today is based on my trust in you. It is a weak flame, but I so much desire that it dispel a bit more darkness today. Today, I just want to taste the longing I have for you as I go to the meeting this morning, carry out the responsibilities of my work, face the frustration of some difficult relationships. Let this candle be my reminder today of my hope in your coming.”

Each morning this week, that momentary prayer might get more specific, as it prepares us for the day we will face. And as we head to work, walk to a meeting, rush through lunch, take care of errands, meet with people, pick up the phone to return some calls, answer e-mail, return home to prepare a meal, listen to the ups and downs of our loved ones' day, we can take brief moments to relate our desire for the three comings of the Lord to our life.

If our family has an Advent wreath, or even if it doesn't, we could pray together before our evening meal. As we light the first candle on the wreath, or as we simply pause to pray together our normal grace. Then, as we begin to eat, we can invite each other, including the children, to say something about what it means today to light this first candle.

Perhaps we could ask a different question each night, or ask about examples from the day. How am I getting in touch with the longing within me? How did I prepare today? What does it mean to prepare to celebrate his coming 2,000 years ago? How can we prepare to experience his coming into our lives this year? What does it mean for us now, with our world involved in so much conflict? How are we being invited to trust more deeply? How much more do we long for his coming to us, in the midst of the darkness in our world? In what ways can we renew our lives so we might be prepared to greet him when he comes again? Our evening meal could be transformed this week, if we could shape some kind of conversation together that lights a candle of anticipation in our lives. Don't worry if everyone isn't “good at” this kind of conversation at first. We can model it, based on our momentary pauses throughout each day, in which we are discovering deeper and deeper desires, in the midst of our everyday lives.

And every night this week, we can pause briefly, perhaps as we sit for a minute at the edge of the bed. We can be aware of how that one, small candle's worth of desire brought light into this day. And we can give thanks. Going to bed each night this week with some gratitude is part of the preparation for growing anticipation and desire.

Come, Lord Jesus! Come and visit your people.

We await your coming. Come, O Lord.

Day 1 (Sunday)Let's begin this week with a deeply felt prayer.

Even if we don't know exactly what we need or long for,

today, let's try to express our desire for God's help and assistance.

The readings invite us to be prepared and to be hopeful.

This week I could ask for the grace to grow in anticipation

of what the Lord is offering me and to ready my heart

to receive it gratefully.

What renewal, what end of 'hostilities' is our Lord offering me?

They shall beat their swords into plowshare

and their spears into pruning hooks;

one nation shall not raise the sword against another,

nor shall they train for war again.

Isaiah 2

Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

Psalm 122

MondayChrist the Lord, Son of the living God, light from light, leads us into the light and reveals his holiness.  With confidence, let us make our prayer:Come, Lord Jesus!

Light that never fades, dispel the mists about us,- awaken our faith from sleep.

Guard us from all harm today,- may your glory fill us with joy.

Give us unfailing gentleness at all times,- toward everyone we meet.

Come to create a new earth for us,- where there will be justice and peace.

TuesdayA shoot shall sprout from the stump.

Our God can transform our weakness, our sin, all conflict and all division.

From every life-less stump - where any future hope has been cut off

- a shoot of new life can sprout.

He shall judge the poor with justice,

and decide aright for the land's afflicted.

We need to really hear this “good news” so that our hearts can begin to be softened

to hear how profoundly our God desires to help us

and to make things right with all of creation.

Throughout the day today, we can lighten our spirits

as we turn to God and pray:

Let me rejoice at the coming of your Son, for me!

WednesdayWe reflect today on a promise of a day full of hope

of plenty, of peace. We ask for the grace to be open,

to respond to whatever the Lord is offering us in these precious days

of preparation and anticipation.

No matter how difficult our situation, we can trust in the Lord;

we can eat and be satisfied.

I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

On that day it will be said:

“Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!

This is the LORD for whom we looked;

let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!”

Thursday“On that day ... ”

The reading from Isaiah is another promise of a day of victory,

when the tables will be turned on injustice.

Today, let's turn to our God, with all our needs.

Part of our Advent journey is about learning to hope

- learning to imagine what we can't see.

Let's go through our day today, desiring freedom with a growing confidence in our God who promises to save us.

Come and set us free, Lord, God of power and might.

Let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever. Ps. 72

FridayThe lowly will ever find joy in the Lord,

and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

In the busiest of times, it is often difficult to realize

that our worst enemy is our own sinfulness.

When we do realize that, however, we can really beg God to save us.

Today, let's say the prayer Jesus gave us,

devoutly, and as a real Advent prayer.

Our Father, in heaven,

may your name be holy;

may your kingdom come;

may your will be done,

on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us today, your faithful bread for the journey.

Forgive us our sins,

the way we forgive the sins of others.

Don't let us be overcome by temptation,

but deliver us from all evil.

SaturdayBlessed are all who wait for the Lord.

No more will you weep.

The prophetic promise is so great.

What our God has done is so complete a victory over sin and death.

In the midst of my day today, can I let myself imagining that salvation

touching and transforming me?

And can I patiently wait for God's work to take effect in me

- letting him open my heart, day by day?

Imagining “true liberty” today, let us walk in his ways.

No longer will your Teacher hide himself,

but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,

While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears:

“This is the way; walk in it,”

when you would turn to the right or to the left.

Isaiah 30

Week 2 AdventPreparing our Hearts and asking for the Grace

We prepare this week by stepping up the longing. We move through this week by naming deeper and more specific desires.

Each morning this week, if even for that brief moment at the side of our beds, we want to light a second inner candle. We want to let it represent “a bit more hope.” Perhaps we can pause, breathe deeply and say,

“Lord, I place my trust in you.”

Each day this week, as we encounter times that are rushed, even crazy, we can take that deep breath, and make that profound prayer. Each time we face some darkness, some experience of “parched land” or desert, some place where we feel “defeated” or “trapped,” we hear the words, “Our God will come to save us!”

The grace we desire for this week is to be able to hear the promise and to invite our God to come into those real places of our lives that dearly need God's coming. We want to be able to say:

“Lord, I place my trust in your promise. Please, Lord, rouse your power and come into this place in my life, this relationship, into this deep self-defeating pattern. Please come here and save me.”

Each night this week we can look back over the day and give thanks for the moments of deep breath that opened a space for more trust and confidence in God's fidelity to us. No matter how difficult the challenges we are facing - from the growing realization of our personal sinfulness, to any experience of emptiness or powerlessness, even in the face of death itself - we can give thanks for the two candles that faithfully push back the darkness. And, we can give thanks for the

graces given us to believe that “Our God will come to save us” because we were given the courageous faith to desire and ask boldly.

Come, Lord Jesus. Come and visit your people.

We await your coming. Come, O Lord.

SundayOn that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse ...

There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain;

for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD,

as water covers the sea.

Isaiah 11

We begin this second week of our Advent journey

with this wonderful proclamation of the end of violence

and a promise of justice and peace.

And, we hear John, the preparer, announce the special mission of Jesus.

I can let my heart continue to welcome his coming

with eager anticipation.

Let us experience today what it will be like to be

freed from the power of injustice, conflict and division.

Our longing, our desire: that we might be set free.

Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever. Psalm 72

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Matthew 3

Monday

Our God will come to save us!

What an incredible promise!

Each of these days uses images to help us

to imagine and become excited about the ways

our God has tried to prepare us, through the prophets

to be ready for the healing and restoration and love

that is offered us in Jesus.

For all in me that is feeble or weak or frightened

I can simply listen to these words:

Strengthen the hands that are feeble,

make firm the knees that are weak,

Say to those whose hearts are frightened:

Be strong, fear not!

Here is your God,

he comes with vindication;

With divine recompense

he comes to save you.

Isaiah 35

Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,'

or to say, ‘Rise and walk'?

Luke 5

WednesdayThey that hope in the Lord will renew their strength.

Our Advent preparation is about growing in confidence

that our God can indeed save us.

So often our struggles make us very weary and tired.

When we really “get it” that the One who made us

truly desires to set us free,

we really begin longing at a new level

to know what it is to be restored to a new vitality.

They will soar as with eagles' wings;

They will run and not grow weary,

walk and not grow faint.

Thursday

The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain

The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.

So often we are “afflicted and needy”

and we seem to “seek water in vain.”

Today we listen to a refreshing promise

of how much our Lord desires to refresh us.

Each of us can fill in what we need the most

and ask, with trust, for our Lord to come and save us.

I am the LORD, your God, who grasp your right hand;

It is I who say to you, “Fear not, I will help you.”

Isaiah 41

Whoever has ears ought to hear.

Matthew 11

FridayI, the Lord, your God, teach you what is for your good,

and lead you on the way you should go.

In our self-reliant independence, we can easily forget that

our God really knows what is good for us, and calls us to that goodness.

In our rebellion, we sometimes cling to our freedom

to be self-destructive or to simply keep our life on a shallow level.

Let's let ourselves be drawn into the invitation to live our lives

touched by the grace of God-with-us.

Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.

SaturdayLord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

God seems to like to prepare the way for our salvation.

We can experience prophets, even Elijah's on fire with God's word.

What are the messages, the stirrings, the signs of fire

that are preparing the way for the Lord to enter my life these days?

Can we make friends with these preparations for the Lord?

Blessed is he who shall have seen you

and who falls asleep in your friendship.

Week 3The spirit of joy that begins this week comes from the words of Paul, “The Lord is near.” This joyful spirit is marked by the third candle of our Advent wreath, which is rose colored, and the rose colored vestments often used at the Eucharist.

The second part of Advent begins on December 17th each year - this year, in 2013, it is Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent. For the last eight days before Christmas, the plan of the readings changes. The first readings are still from the prophesies, but now the gospels are from the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke. We read the stories of faithful women and men who prepared the way for our salvation. We enter into the story of how Jesus' life began. These stories are filled with hints of what his life will mean for us. Faith and generosity overcome impossibility. Poverty and persecution reveal glory.

Preparing our Hearts and asking for Grace

We prepare this week by feeling the joy. We move through this week feeling a part of the waiting world that rejoices because our longing has prepared us to believe the reign of God is close at hand. And so we consciously ask:

Prepare our hearts

and remove the sadness

that hinders us from feeling

the joy and hope

which his presence

will bestow.

Each morning this week, in that brief moment we are becoming accustomed to, we want to light a third inner candle. Three candles, going from expectation, to longing, to joy. They represent our inner preparation, or inner perspective. In this

world of “conflict and division,” “greed and lust for power,” we begin each day this week with a sense of liberating joy. Perhaps we can pause, breathe deeply and say,

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”

Each day this week, we will continue to go through our everyday life, but we will experience the difference our faith can bring to it. We are confident that the grace we ask for will be given us. We will encounter sin - in our own hearts and in our experience of the sin of the world. We can pause in those moments, and feel the joy of the words,

“You are to name him Jesus,

because he will save his people

from their sins.” Mt 1:21

We may experience the Light shining into dark places of our lives and showing us patterns of sinfulness, and inviting us to experience God's mercy and healing.

Each night this week we want to pause in gratitude. Whatever the day has brought, no matter how busy it has been, we can stop, before we fall asleep, to give thanks for a little more light, a little more freedom to walk by that light, in joy.

Our celebration of the coming of our Savior in history, is opening us up to experience his coming to us this year, and preparing us to await his coming in Glory.

Come, Lord Jesus. Come and visit your people.

We await your coming. Come, O Lord.

SundayRejoice always. Pray without ceasing.

In all circumstances give thanks.

Philippians 4

We begin this third week of Advent asking to feel the joy

that comes from knowing our Lord's coming to us is near.

In these precious days ahead, we are praying, longing, hoping

in the background of our everyday lives.

His mission is for each of us who ask, “What must we do?”

He tells us to give away our coats, our security.

He asks that we not bully people but be content with our lives.

We can smile today as we imagine the freedom he has won for us

and how liberating it will be to live it, with him, for others.

It is right to give our God thanks and praise.

Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,

by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,

make your requests known to God.

Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding

will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4: 6-7

Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!

Sing joyfully, O Israel!

Be glad and exult with all your heart.

Zephaniah 3: 14

Monday

A star shall advance from Jacob,

and a staff shall rise from Israel.

The longing of God's people lead to a hope

that God would save them.

God would replace their corrupt kings

and send them a savior.

May our longing these days bring us closer

to our God's desire to save us,

to shine the Light of Christ

on the darkness of our sin.

Your ways, O Lord, make known to me;

teach me your paths,

Guide me in your truth and teach me,

for you are God my savior. Psalm 25

TuesdayJustice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.

We now begin the second part of Advent.

We follow the Gospel story, as it bring us to Christmas.

Today, we hear the story of God's plan,

using a long line of less-than-perfect kings

and 5 very special women, to bring us to Jesus.

God saved us, by becoming one of us,

entering into our human, and sometimes messy history.

Jesus will come to each of us this Advent

in and through our human journey.

Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever. Psalm 72

WednesdayAnd they shall name him Emmanuel,

which means “God is with us.”

Oh, how wonderful it is that Joseph listened to God in his dream

and was not afraid to take Mary into his home.

God's ways are not our ways.

Let us pray to be renewed and freed.

And, like Joseph, in being faithfully unafraid

to be open to our salvation.

She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,

because he will save his people from their sins.

Matthew 1

ThursdayJustice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.

We now begin the second part of Advent.

We follow the Gospel story, as it bring us to Christmas.

Today, we hear the story of God's plan,

using a long line of less-than-perfect kings

and 5 very special women, to bring us to Jesus.

God saved us, by becoming one of us,

entering into our human, and sometimes messy history.

Jesus will come to each of us this Advent

in and through our human journey.

Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever. Psalm 72

Friday“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.

May it be done to me according to your word.”

Mary could become the “temple of God's Word”

because she was so ready to do God's will.

As we approach this anniversary of our redemption,

let's spend the day placing our life in God's hands

embracing the ways he will come to us

and let us be his instruments for others.

Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory. Psalm 24

SaturdayBlessed are you who believed

that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.

With just days until Christmas, we listen to readings of joy

and fulfillment.

We let ourselves simply believe

that the Lord's many promises to us these weeks

will be fulfilled.

Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield,

For in him our hearts rejoice; in his holy name we trust. Psalm 33

Week 4Perhaps we can use these days to try to heighten our awareness of whatever is going on in our lives these days, and how that can bring us to Christmas. Some examples might help.

So many of us experience the ironic reality that Christmas can be the most lonely time of our lives. Some of these “mixed feelings” or “sad feelings” are difficult to recognize or name.

For some of us, the Christmas we will celebrate this year pales in comparison to wonderful Christmases of our past - perhaps because we were younger or more “innocent” then, perhaps because some of our loved ones who were central to our Christmas are no longer living or not where I am, perhaps because the burdens and struggles of my life or the changes in our world and the war have robbed this Christmas of something that was there before.

For some of us, Christmas will be just another day. Unable to get out to go to church to be with a faith community, and without family or friends to be with, Christmas will be a day we are tempted to ignore.

For some of us, Christmas inevitably means family conflicts. Facing the days ahead, whether it be the last few remaining parties, or conflicting demands of family and friends, or the friend or relative who drinks too much, or the experience I'm having that I drink too much and this season is an easy excuse.

For some of us, Christmas challenges us with terrible financial burdens. Children today become victims of the gross commercial exploitation of the day. For those of us struggling to make ends meet on a day to day basis, feeling the cultural pressure of buying for our children things which we can't afford, can lead us to put more debt on the credit card in ways that simply push us further and further behind.

Some of us, might be really looking forward to Christmas, and not be aware of these struggles with Christmas, yet feel that, in spite of our best efforts to make Advent different this year, there is still something missing, and we still feel unready for Christmas.

For all of us, the story behind these days can draw us in, and invite us to bring our lives to the mystery of how Jesus came into this world and why. Our best preparation for the Holy Night ahead and the Joyful Morning to follow is for us to reflect upon how he came. He came in the midst of scandal and conflict. He came in poverty. He was rejected before he was born. He was born in a feed trough. He was hunted down. And he grew up in obscurity.

He did not shun our world and its poverty and conflict. He embraced it. And he desires to embrace us today, in this day. Right where we are. Right where we are feeling most distant. Right were we are feeling least “religious” or “ready.” If we let him come into our hearts to be our Savior these challenging days, we will find ourselves entering the sacred night and morning of Christmas “joyful and triumphant” as never before.

Come, Lord Jesus. Come and visit your people.

We await your coming. Come, O Lord.

Sunday"She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,

because he will save his people from their sins." Mt. 1

On this last Sunday of Advent,

just a few days before Christmas, we quietly reflect on the mystery.

We rest in awe, in wonder,

at how our God entered our world and came to be with us.

We pause to receive the gift offered us:

that the Spirit of God will open up our lives and

that Jesus will really come into our hearts.

May we have watchful hope today,

believing what the Lord promises us.

Let us pray today, that we might be God's servants,

that we might be instruments of God's love

for our families and all we serve this week.

Therefore the LORD himself will give you this sign:

the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,

and shall name him Emmanuel. Is. 7

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall name him Emmanuel,

which means "God is with us." Mt. 1

Monday“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.

May it be done to me according to your word.”

Mary could become the “temple of God's Word”

because she was so ready to do God's will.

As we approach this anniversary of our redemption,

let's spend the day placing our life in God's hands

embracing the ways he will come to us

and let us be his instruments for others.

Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.

Tuesday“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.

May it be done to me according to your word.”

Mary could become the “temple of God's Word”

because she was so ready to do God's will.

As we approach this anniversary of our redemption,

let's spend the day placing our life in God's hands

embracing the ways he will come to us

and let us be his instruments for others.

ChristmasLet the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.

Lord,

The Nativity of Our Lord What shall I offer you on your birthday in return for your infinite love?

I have neither gold nor silver, neither myrrh nor frankincense.

My house is without a roof. I have no room for you; not even a manger.

My soul is even darker than the clouds of my passion.

My eyes are too dim to look beyond the horizon of myself.

Help me behold your bright star; "For in thy light we shall see light."

Lord,

You have been knocking on my door for thirty-nine years, but I never dared let you in because my garment is not white as snow.

Forgive me if I do not invite you to my table, for my table is full of everything you despise. I have denied you more than Peter.

I have doubted you more than Thomas.

I have betrayed you more than Judas.

My hands are empty. My lips are not clean to sing your praise.

And my heart is wrinkled with sorrow like a withered leaf under autumn's wind.

Lord,

The only thing I can offer you on your birthday is myself.

Drown me in the ocean of your love.

Feed me with your heavenly bread, for the bread of this world will never satisfy my hunger.

Quench my thirst with your divine fountain, for the water of this earth will never satisfy my thirst.

Give me your eyes to see what you see, your ears to hear what you hear and your heart to love what you love.

Take me with you to Mount Tabor and let me bathe in your eternal light.

Lord,

"Create a clean heart in me. Cast me not away from Thy face. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, and strengthen me with a perfect spirit."

Teach me how to pray in simple words, for only through prayers I may overcome my loneliness.

Help me to care for the needy, the oppressed, the orphans, the sinners and the despised whom you love.

As I kneel before your manger with love and humility I beseech you to listen to my prayers.

http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html “Used with permission.”

http://www.antiochian.org/Midwest/Articles/Christmas_MeditationNB.htm “Used with permission.”

http://www.lutheranforum.org/free-issue

http://www.spiritualjourneys.org.uk/look/look_sermonideas.php