praising God

Hi friends,
Sorry for the long lack of readings. Today's reading is a Psalm of praise, which seems appropriate in this season of celebration of God's amazing love in Christ. I especially value the reminder that human plans and power are very limited. Only God is eternal; whatever good or bad we see is only temporary. In the end God's love will prevail. Along the same lines, please keep the families and communities of Webster and the West Webster Fire Department in your prayers.

God bless,
Sam

Psalm 146:1-10

¹Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!

²I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

³Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help.

⁴When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.

⁵Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God,

⁶who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever;

⁷who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free;

⁸the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.

⁹The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

¹⁰The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord!

light in darkness

Good afternoon brothers and sisters,
First, please keep the community of Webster and the families of the firefighters killed and injured today in your prayers. Senseless violence seems even more shocking on Christmas Eve, but the truth is that Jesus came to be right in the middle of our craziness. As John's Gospel reminds us, the light shines in the darkness and the dark could not overcome it. Tonight we'll gather to worship our amazing God and to hear together songs and stories of Christmas. Worship begins at 7 and I look forward to seeing many of you there.
God bless,
Sam


John 1:1-14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.


⁶There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. ⁹The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.


¹⁰He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. ¹¹He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. ¹²But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. ¹⁴And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.