Psalm 27:14 ~ Wait for the Lord

 

Psalm 27:14

Wait for the Lord; be strong, 
and 

let 

your heart take courage; 

wait 

for 

The Lord!

Praise

This Advent is a season of Joy.

We live with so many aspersions, we tend to find even a compliment a burden!

This Advent is Joyfully Wonderful.

Aren't you so pleased to hear the Sermons and Homilies of Advent addressing not sin and regret and humility and remorse. Why?  We have had too, too, too many labels.  Too much griping and complaining is dragging us all down. We do not expect an expectant father, waiting for his baby to be born and explaining to his children how they have failed the father.  To be joyously given new life, we expect Joy, Hope and Love. 

A marriage saying our flaws continuously is not Love, it is selfish.  We have Lent, and Lent is rightly and correctly saying carefully consider our Salvation. 

Brave, Bravo, Bravo. 

The anticipation of our Father freely giving His Only Son, Jesus to the world. His Choice, His Plan, His Joy to let the world. 

God Loves Us!

And Advent is a season of waiting.  

We do not always address what Christmas is. So many are so busy. Parents of children in School. Recitals, Programs, Elementary Christmas Parties.  Retail. Restaurants.  Gift Givers and Gift Shoppers. Year end accounting. Grocery Stores are busy.

People at home prepare all the joy of the season and then wait upon Christmas.

Christmas is a season of waiting. 

For accountants, year end materials cause waiting. Accountants who prepare taxes aren't busy. Financials slow down as clients have other ideas on their minds. Real Estate is on vacation.  Parents of grown children wait on their schedules. Waiting rooms in doctors offices wait as people schedule around the Holidays.  Families scattered across the country wait upon travel schedules.  Churches prepare and prepare for the Services and are less called upon as joy preparations for the Parish cause them to be in their own preparation areas. Farmers are resting. Business to business sales slow down.

Christmas is a season of anticipation. 

Like expecting a child. And dealing with not feeling so energetic, tired, different.  Joy and Love. With the restrictions of health and safety preparations. 

We prepare for Joy and anticipate how this Christmas will not be entirely perfect.

I am in complete approval of the Churches seeing their people cope with the changes of this decade.

So many Sermons inform us the emails the clergy gets site disapproval. This Christmas we see real help in the areas of bringing anticipation of the Real Christmas of 2025.

The Real Help of Real Love for Real Believers. 

Oh, Come All Ye Faithful!

Abba, Father,

God's Good Creation.

Exodus 33

Moses asked: 

If You are pleased with me, teach me Your Ways 

so I may know You

 and 

continue to find favor with You. 

Remember that this Nation is your people.” 

14 The Lord replied, 

“My Presence will go with you, 

and 

I will give you rest.”

Jesus 

our Living Water

Let Jesus be our 

cleansing waters,

and righteousness

like an ever-flowing stream.

Let Justice

roll down

like waters

and righteousness

like an ever-flowing stream.

WE PRAY 

BLESSINGS 

for those

helping the earth 

to heal.

The Lord Bless you 

and keep you;

The Lord make His Face to shine upon you 

and 

be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His Countenance upon you 

and 

give you peace.

“So shall they put 

My Name 

upon the people of Israel, 

and 

I will bless them.”

Light of the world

Jesus Christ

Shine on us

ALL

Let evil and practicing evil

depart 

far 

from us

and our children.

With Your Help

We will act justly

 and to love mercy

 and 

to walk humbly with You, our God.

Dwell in me,

Dwell in us,

Dwell in those we Love,

Help us to seek You first.

And we will finish well, 

in Jesus Christ. 

Help us seek and find 

and bring,

to become,

 more Heaven

to this earth.

With a this year 

addition:

Thy Kingdom come

Thy will be done

on earth

as it is

in Heaven. 

And the 2026 birth

of our

first Grandchild.

Jesus Christ, please,

Your blessings of

Health, Peace,

Wisdom

and Prosperity

for His Glory!

And we will be blessed indeed. 

Jesus the Lord. Alleluia

and Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Yes, The Lord Fulfills His Purpose

Thank You, Jesus

Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11 ~ Wondrous

 

Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11

In those days,

like a fire 

there appeared the prophet Elijah

whose Words 

were as a flaming furnace.

Their staff of bread he shattered,

in his zeal 

he reduced them to straits;

By the 

Lord's Word 

he shut up the heavens

and 

three times brought down fire.

How awesome are you, 

Elijah, 

in your 

Wondrous Deeds!

Whose Glory 

is equal to yours?

Cloud by Day

Fire by Night

You were taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire,

in a chariot 

with fiery horses.

You were destined, 

it is written, 

in time to come

to 

put an end to wrath 

before 

The Day of the LORD

To turn back the hearts of fathers 

toward their sons,

and 

to re-establish the Tribes of Jacob.

Blessed is he who shall have seen you

and 

who falls asleep 

in 

Your Friendship.

Sirach is part of the Holy Scriptures.  

Jerome, in the 4th Century, decided Sirach was a Proverb or Ecclesiastical book rather than divine.  

We could debate Greek and Hebrew and the Apocrypha, but this wouldn't be the situation. (Hebrew check, check. Same, same.) Sirach was around during the time of Jesus and read in the Temple. Yes, the Second Temple was reading Sirach as divine. 

And considering Who understands God, 

would give us reason to read Sirach with interest. Jesus would have understood man learns, grows and regresses to progress. Sirach does give us a window on the world of the culture during the time of Jesus. It has flaws and, yet, was read as divine.

Sirach was much discussed.

St. Augustine of Hippo (c. 397), 

Pope Innocent I (405),

the Council of Rome (382 AD),

the Synod of Hippo (in 393),

followed by the Council of Carthage (397), 

the Council of Carthage (419)

Quinisext Council (692), 

and the Council of Florence (1442)

All regarded it as a canonical book. 

Sirach

Found in:

Cairo, 2/3rds of Sirach, copied in the 11th and 12th centuries, were found in the Cairo Geniza (a synagogue storage room for damaged manuscripts). These findings support the assertion that the book was originally written in Hebrew.

 

Masada

The largest scroll, Mas1H (MasSir), was discovered in casemate room 1109 at Masada, the Jewish fortress destroyed by the Romans in 73 AD.

The other two scroll fragments were found at Qumran. 

Three fragments of parchment scrolls of the Book of Sirach written in Hebrew were discovered near the Dead Sea.

One of these, the Great Psalms Scroll (11Q5 or 11QPsa), contains Sirach chapter 51 (verses 13-20, and 30). The other fragment, 2Q18 (2QSir), contains Sirach 6:14–15, 20–31. These early Hebrew texts are in substantial agreement with the Hebrew texts discovered in Cairo, although there are numerous minor textual variants. With these findings, scholars are now more confident that the Cairo texts 

are reliable witnesses to the Hebrew original.

What does Sirach have to do with today's 2025 

Christmas season?

Many Christmases have been accomplished with joy, love, honor, warm memories for a lifetime. 

And these

Christmases

Have 

The Love

seen in the last

Tomb

of 

Lazarus

The note

found in the altar in Spain

was found 

and said,

Abba, Father,

Jesus spoke Your Word telling us always to Pray and Have Hope.

We lift up to You, Father God, 

our most pressing prayer request, 

knowing You have heard and answer.

Thank You, Father God, 

and 

Blessed be the Name of Jesus the Lord. 

Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Yes, The Lord Fulfills His Purpose

Thank You, Jesus