Hear the voice of once calling out: Prepare, prepare!
Turn from your ways and repent. I say: be aware!
Make straight the roads and the mountains make low,
Ready the way, believe in your heart, and know:
I baptize you with water to make the body clean
Follow me and I will show you just what I mean.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire
His birth was proclaimed by an angel choir.
Good as I may be,
Compared to Him I am unworthy.
He has come to set the prisoners free,
He came to save the likes of you and me
He has come to seek and save the lost
And He came to pay the highest cost.
He has come to make the blind see and the lame walk,
He came to call sinners and make the mute talk.
I stand before you today to testify to the Holy One,
I stand before you to proclaim the love of God’s only son.
Awake sleeper and rise from your bed
For the King with no place to lay his head.
Fix your eyes to heaven, set your heart on higher things
Be washed in the river of life and experience what it brings.
There is new life in Him; the old is gone away.
He is life, His word is truth, His light will show the way
I am the voice in the wilderness calling out.
Your waiting will soon be rewarded, have no doubt.
I am the one sent ahead to tend the fields
That when he comes, he may have bountiful yields.
Prepare your hearts and homes to receive
The one who was, and is, and ever will be.
He, of whom the angels sing and shepherds find
He, to whom wise-men bow down and with whom sinners dined.
I am the voice to quicken your hearts and point to the light,
I am the voice of hope and joy against the darkness of the night.

To look on love is to gaze at Jesus' face
To start to understand the depth of Amazing Grace
To look on love is to see past the faults to the good within
To still be loved and cherished even when we sin
To look on love we open ourselves to pain and heartache
But to keep pressing on when it's all that you can take
To look on love is to find someone who challenges us to grow
Attuned so well that, when something is amiss, they know
To look on love is to find a true friend; a treasure most precious of all
And when you are in need they come breaking down the wall
To look on love is to be at peace when there are no words
Someone to carry you when the cross you bear really hurts
To look on love is to see with eyes beyond the human mind
That searching the depths of our souls we find
To look on love is to take the joy with the pain
And find sunshine in the middle of the rain
To look on love is to find a place of inner peace
Where light and life are found, fears are stilled, and troubles cease
To look on love is to find that which does inspire
And will find your soul's one true desire
To look on love is a feeling so swell
For love takes all but a lifetime to tell

Traveling along down that long dusty road
Carrying within a heavy load
You journeyed far as Christ in-dwelt
A warmth that would cause ice to melt
You went forth to Bethlehem: house of bread
With no guarantees only Spirit led
From there he came forth to shine the light
That pierces even the blackest of night
Born in a stable not a place to call your own
But that night love itself came home
Shepherds and wisemen and animals send
Honor to the king as on knees they bend
They came from fields both near and far
Following the radiant wandering star
They pay their respects and you hold it in your heart
Could you have known the truth right from the start?
You son would come to redeem and save
But to do so, he would first be in a grave
Was it quiet and still on the first night was all the world at peace
For we received the presence of the one who frees
As a mother you wrapped him in your loving arms
As a mother you tried to keep him safe from harm
As a mother you danced when he laughed and wept when he cried
You held his body in your arms again when he died
As a mother you walked beside him as he went
You trusted his plan even if you didn’t see at the moment
As a mother you were present and you cared
You comforted your son when he was scared
As a mother, show us your son that we too may know
Him and follow him and likewise grow
May our faith be strong and may it never die
May the well run deep and the living waters never be dry
As our mother, we look to you for compassion and healing
As our mother intercede on our behalf as we are kneeling
Be with us always and give us the grace
To look around us and, everywhere, see Jesus’ face
Bless and protect us and forgive us I pray
As we battle to move forward day by day

There is something special about laughter
It makes me warm and fills me with glee
Then the tears that follow after
Are treasured by you and me
It’s more contagious than the common cold
It affects the very young and the quite old
It crosses over every border every barrier
It’s the sound that makes you think I wanna marry her
The pure joy of jumping in a puddle
And coming inside to warm up and cuddle
It wells up and surges forward and bursts out
Especially when it’s not supposed to
You can’t stop it because it came out of the blue
Share your joy with others give them hope and peace
That the good in us will always increase
This joy is radioactive it permeates the very air
You may not see it, but most can feel it there
Laughter makes the heart light
Like somehow, everything will be alright

Watch for the star shining in the east
Watch for the prowling of the beast
Watch for the light that neither falters nor dims
Listen for the sound of the angelic hymns

Watch for the coming of the one true king
Watch for the baby in the manger
May we bless him by the gifts we bring
May we see him in the face of the stranger

Watch for the day that is drawing near
Watch and be wary so you can hear
Him when he comes in all his glory
To write the final chapter in creation’s story

Watch and wait with bright joyful eyes
Watch Christ and ever stay fixed on the prize
Watch and see the greatest gift the world got
Do we remember or acknowledge? I think we have not

I wish I could see what Jesus sees when he looks at you and me
I wish I understood the price he paid to set us all free
I wish I could turn our thinking upside down
And I wish I could make people smile more than frown

I wish a lot of things but what can I do to make an impact
To change or save a life and not be an act
The little things we do can turn the world
There is poetry in all nature and a flower unfurled

So let us watch for the coming of our precious savior’s birth
Reminding the world just how much we’re worth
That Christmas is so much more than just stuff
We have family friends and faith and that is quite enough

Many of us want to trust God to take care of our needs and we try to trust him, but in our humanity we fail and we try to take the burden on ourselves and away from God. We know that God is all powerful and works for our good, but it’s as if we’re afraid that he can’t or that he won’t. God tells us not to worry about getting what we need that the birds of the sky have shelter and are fed and the flowers bloom and grow and they do not plant or sow or make clothes and they are provided and cared for. And we are worth so much more than birds. In Jeremiah 29:11 Jesus says: “I know the plans I have for you” says the Lord. “Plans to prosper and not harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future”. Jesus, you don’t always give us what we want, but in your greatness and your wisdom you give us what we need. Sometimes, you ask us to wait or You say no in order to give us something far greater than what we asked. Sometimes it takes years for us to be able to look back and see that you really did provide for us even if it didn’t seem like it at the time. You also don’t expect us to sit back and do nothing at all. We are called to do the best we can with what we have and give it to you. In prayer, praise, patience, and faith you will provide the rest or bless and multiply what we have given you so we have enough.

Jesus help us trust in you that you will always provide us what we need. Help us also trust in the wisdom of your plan when we don’t understand or can’t see. Let us go forward in faith and love to give all that we have and bless and multiply it for us. You are good and if we are diligent and faithful when times are tough and we act with a right heart you will bless our offering. Jesus help us remember that you are enough, you are all we really need. Help us be truly satisfied with you. Be the shepherd of our lives and we will want for nothing more. Trusting in your Divine Providence we pray this and all things in Your name. Amen.

Tonight I wait with joyful expectation
And join my voice with all creation
Now is the time to prepare and be bold
That we may not be left out in the cold
Prepare our hearts and minds for your coming soon
In our hearts let us make you room
A child was born on a cold dark winter night
To take us out of our darkness and into the light
A little baby so helpless and small
Would one day be the savior of us all
I wait with hope and joy so pure
And pray that this glow would have some allure
I wait for the star that guides me to your birth
And I pray you look with favor on this earth
We have turned from you; your truth, life and ways
We have let sin and death into our days
Help us do what is right and just
Give us the strength to do what we must
By the prayers of your people Lord
Come to our aid and let your mercy be out poured
Give us your great love for our fellow man
Let love take over our streets and land
Grant us peace of heart and mind
And that the good we seek, we may find
Fill us up as we empty ourselves for the King
And with the Heavenly Host now let us acclaim
The one was and is and will forever reign