And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;

    for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

to give knowledge of salvation to his people

    in the forgiveness of their sins ~Luke 1:76-77

John the Baptist was born for the special task of making straight the desert highway, to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, that is to say, that Jesus Christ was coming into the world to bring light into the darkness. He was given the Holy Spirit that he that he might glorify God with his life and actions and make known that great light and hope. 

We are also endued with the Holy Spirit, that the light of Christ in us and our actions might be ever shining witnesses to the glory of God. Of course, this is no easy thing, and the darkness often rebels strongly against the light, but we are to walk in the light as we know the light, that is Jesus Christ our Lord. 

We are called to give witness to the Lord, to give knowledge in His ways. It may be through the ministry of raising Godly children, or as a preacher, or as simply being a good neighbor, but whatever we do, may it always be to the glory of the Lord. 

My soul magnifies the Lord,

  and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. ~ Luke 1:46b-47

Mary and Elizabeth are reminded of who the child that Mary is carrying is. John who is in Elizabeth's womb rejoices as the Holy Spirit indwells his mother and their hearts rejoice, and Mary sings with joy to the Lord.

Does our soul magnify the Lord for his coming to the earth? Are we as exceedingly glad that God was made man and dwelt among us, and not only that but died for us and rose again? 

So often we get caught up in our daily living that we forget to give thanks for this good thing. I once listened to a friend's sermon, and he noted that the first point in our prayer life should be to give thanks for the new life that we have in Christ. We see hints of this in our prayer book as well. 

Life in Christ is the greatest gift that we have. Let us remember to magnify the Lord for this incredible kindness. 

I will give thanks unto the LORD, according to his righteousness; and I will praise the Name of the LORD Most High. ~ Psalm 7:18

The Psalmist this morning is struggling with the unrighteousness that he sees in the world around him. The unrighteous seem to prevail all the time, while hardship appears to be his only friend.

Have you felt this way? Blessings seeming to be withheld or struggles appear to be more numerous than you can handle? The world seems to be a cruel and unjust place? 

When these times occur, we call out to the Lord and trust in His righteousness and strength alone. I think we go through them to learn to depend on him only. When our hearts want to be given to jealousy or anger or frustration give them over to the Lord instead, and so that you will learn to allow him to be your sustainer and joy. 

I'm so sorry! I was traveling this weekend and forgot I needed to post this, so I'm recycling.

Garage Band updated recently, please let me know if there are issues with the recording. 

I have never been great at checking the calendar, and I realized after I hit upload that today is the observance of St. Barnabus Day. We remember St. Barnabus was the Apostle appointed to replace Judas Iscariot. The Saint then went on to work with St. Paul in performing missionary journies and defending the Gentiles against Judaizers who missed the point of the Gospel and wanted to burden new converts with tasks that would not glorify God. 

His witness compels us to trust in the freedom found in Christ and not our works. Our righteousness does not stem from any works that we do, as good as we may feel that we are. Instead, we are called to put on the cloak of Christ, and take up the circumcision of the heart, not of the flesh. 

The early saints' witness to this new grace gives us a great confidence and frees us from our need to establish elaborate works to make us feel good about ourselves. 

THEY that put their trust in the LORD shall be even as the mount Sion, which may not be removed, but standeth fast for ever. ~ Psalm 125:1

 As Christians, we are called to place all of our trust in the Lord. Trusting can be a hard challenge, and it is easy to become puffed up with pride that distracts us from trust.  Pride makes us forget our place and stumble and fall into one trap or another. 

It is when we learn to trust the Lord entirely that we will find that we are not moved or shaken in our faith, and the Holy Spirit is given to train us. The Holy Spirit guides and directs our hearts and minds to the place where we can learn this trust so that we can grow. 

This is not done to our glory, but so that we can experience the untainted glory of God, and in standing firm in Him we glorify him. 

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. ~ Galatians 5:25

The second lesson for this morning reminds us that we are called to be a people of the Spirit. It is easy to get tempted into worldly desires whether they be sexual, financial, or some other attraction that can draw us away from our walk with God. Living in the Spirit demands that we flee these desires, and it is Him that strengthens us. 

The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, and Temperance. These stand opposed to the anything goes, get ahead however you can mentality that the world so often preaches. These fruits are pillars of the Christian faith, and when we grow in them it is not only a sign of growing in Christ, but it glorifies God and is a shining light for the world to see. 

This week we remember that we are given the comforter, he is our strength, our helper, and the illuminator of truth. Let us take comfort in knowing that he is with us regardless of where we are and will grow in us those good fruits to the glory of God. 

But he that giveth his mind to the law of the most High, and is occupied in the meditation thereof, will seek out the wisdom of all the ancient, and be occupied in prophecies. ~ Ecclesiasticus 39:1

This morning we are reminded that our hearts and minds are to be given to the law of the Lord. What does this mean? Are we to be legalists loving every rule that there is? 

When we understand the law of the Lord, we understand it to be the whole cannon of scripture. We are to love His holy word, read it, mark it, and inwardly digest it. That is to say that we are to read, study, and let it nourish and strengthen us. The Law and by extension all of holy scripture guides us into the good life and shows us our need for Christ. 

As we read, we realize how dreadfully we have failed to live up to this law, and this pushes us to wholly trusting in Christ for our strength and our salvation. In turn, the law shapes our hearts and minds that we would know how to walk in the way of compassion.

This week we remember the giving of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised his disciples that they would not be left alone, and by extension, we are not left alone. We have the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

We see in St. Paul's writing how important the gifts of the spirit are in the church. No one person is the same, but rather we are each created uniquely and given different gifts to the glory of God. These unique gift demand humility and charity, for they are just that gifts. They are not earned. The preacher is good at preaching, not because of some inherent quality, but because God has given him that gift, the prophet is good at speaking truth, not because he is particularly wise, but because God has given him wisdom. 

We were brought together as a body to glorify God through the grace of Christ, and to do good that he may be praised. So, by the grace of God and through the Holy Spirit we are learning humility and learning to allow Him to nurture his gifts in us. 

For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. ~ 1 Corinthians 12:12-13

Jealousy and envy are a dangerous thing, and often we are tempted to be jealous of other's gifts, or at least not realize how valuable the gifts we possess are. 

St. Paul makes it extraordinarily clear in his writing this morning that we are all given gifts, and they are all exceptionally valuable. It may be that you are shut in, and the only thing you can do is pray for your brothers and sisters. So you pray fervently and with a whole heart. It may never be acknowledged verbally, but your prayers are more valuable and precious than words can express. Likewise, your gifts may be mothering, or fathering, or pastoring, or teaching, or simply being there as a friend. Our gifts change over time and are different in each season of our life. Rejoice in these and use them well. 

Christ gave the gift of the Holy Spirit to the church for us to grow to be able to grow in His grace. We are to work together for the glory of God and to rejoice in the gifts we have been given. These gifts work in union to glorify God and to help the whole church in the process of sanctification.