Scripture and Prayer for Christmas and Epiphany2008

Seasons of the New Year

As we look forward to the New Year, we will begin by observing two seasons in the Church year:  Christmas andEpiphany.  The season of Christmas begins on Christmas Day and continues for twelve days, ending on January 5.  January 6 is Epiphany, the celebration of Jesus as he was revealed to the Gentiles and to the whole world as the Messiah, the Savior.

This booklet of Scripture readings contains special readings, devotionals, and prayers for each of the twelve days of the Christmas season and for Epiphany.  Then beginning on January 7 we have returned to our usual practice of listing two suggested lectionary readings and a Psalm or two for each day of the month. Often the readings will be continuous selections working through a book of the Bible.  On Sundays we have listed the Scripture reading that most likely will be the subject of the sermon on that day.In addition, there are prayers you may use during each week before your reading.  May you continue to be graced by God in this spiritual discipline of reading and reflecting on his Word.

In Christ,
Rev. Nancy Watson, Assoc. Pastor
and the staff of Trinity United Methodist Church

Seasons of God’s Appearing

Most people do not realize that Christmas is not really a day, but is in fact a season in the church year.The first day of the church year is celebrated on the first Sunday of  Advent, which was on November 30 of this year.Advent is a period of four weeks leading up to the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord, which we commonly call Christmas.  Christmas celebrates the appearance of God to his people and is the first day of the Season of Christmas, sometimes called Christmastide, which lasts for twelve days.  Hence the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”

The twelfth or last day of the Season of Christmas is on January 6.Tradition holds that it was on this day that the wise men reached Bethlehem and presented the Christ child with their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  In many cultures the custom of exchanging gifts occurs not at Christmas but on this day, “Three Kings Day,” in honor of the gifts given to the baby in a manger.  Because the wise men were not Jews but  nonetheless sought, found, and worshipped this new King of the Jews, they have come to represent the way in which God’s promise was revealed and given to all people, Jew and Gentile alike.And so we celebrate January 6 as Epiphany, a Greek word meaning “appearance,” or “manifestation.”The glory of God in Jesus appeared, or was made manifest, to all people.  As the Greek dictionary has it, Epiphany means “in full and clear view; hence splendid, glorious, wonderful .”

 The seasons of Christmas and Epiphany are therefore times to celebrate, rejoice, and reflect upon the splendid, glorious, and wonderful way in which God appeared to all people, coming to live among us in human form.

"Joy to the world! The Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King!
Let ev’ry heart prepare Him room,
and heaven and nature sing!”

Thursday,  December 25
Christmas Day

And what a difference between our sin and God's generous gift of forgiveness.  ...Jesus Christ brought forgiveness to many through God's bountiful gift.  …All who receive God's wonderful,  gracious gift of righteousness will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man,  Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:15-17NLT

 Christmas morning is so often a time of excitement,presents, special meals, and family.  It can also be a time of disappointment and regret if we are distracted by presents we didn’t get or relationships that didn’t mend;a time of let-down and exhaustion when the frenzy is past.  But this is the perfect time to reflect upon the most magnificent gift of all: the gift of God’s love in the person of Jesus Christ, the gift of himself, come to live among us in human form.This is the gift that comes with no strings attached, grace freely given, life that is eternal and love that is everlasting.  This gift never goes out of style, never loses its warmth, and one size truly fits us all!As Paul wrote, all who receive this gift will triumph over sin and death. This indeed is the miracle of Christmas: love divine, all loves excelling, joy from heaven to earth come down….

"This is Christmas: not the tinsel, not the giving and receiving, not even the carols, but the humble heart that receives anew the wondrous gift, the Christ."
 Frank McKibben

Friday,  December 26
The Second Day of Christmas

He called a child, had him stand among them,  and said,  “I tell you the truth, unless you turn around and become like little children,  you will never enter the kingdom of heaven!”
Matthew 18:2-3NET

 God came to us as a child,  as one with no rights or standing or privilege in the world, but also as one with a sense of wonder and delight in all manner of things, one who would grow and become strong in the ways of God.

 It is at Christmas time that we are especially aware of children: we take extra pains to be sure that as many children as possible have gifts and food aplenty.  And if we are honest, Christmas morning is truly special when there are children with whom to share it.  There are not many things more exciting than to be a child on Christmas morning.

Yet this is exactly what God asks of all of us: to come to him as children, full of wonder and trust in the presence of our Father.  Like children we rely on his goodness and care, knowing that all will be taken care of, that we are precious to him, and that he is in control.Unless we become like little children we cannot fully participate in his kingdom!

"There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child."
- Erma Bombeck

Saturday,  December 27
The Third Day of Christmas

This all happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled:  “Look! The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call him Emmanuel,” which means “God with us.”
Matthew 1:22-23NET

Surely you have granted him eternal blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence. 
Psalm 21:6 NIV

 We are surely aware of God’s presence with us when we face difficulties in life.  But God is Emmanuel—”God-with-us”—all the time.  Even as he is our rock and our  refuge when times are hard, he is also the giver of all joy and laughter.  He has promised to wipe away our tears and bring us great comfort, but his deepest desire is to call us into his presence, a place of great happiness and immense peace.  He wants to share our smiles, our giggles, our laughter; he wants to dance silly dances and sing happy songs with us.

While it is good to call on our God when our hearts fail, our challenge is to remember God and include him in our times of contentment and joy as well.“He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with gladness. “ (Job 8:21)

"The implications of the name 'Emmanuel' are both comforting and unsettling. Comforting, because He has come to share the danger as well as the drudgery of our everyday lives.  He desires to weep with us and to wipe away our tears.And what seems most bizarre, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, longs to share in and to be the source of the laughter and the joy we all too rarely know."
- Michael Card

Sunday,  December 28
The First Sunday of Christmas

Glory be to him whose power,  working in us,  can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine;  glory be to him from generation to generation in the Church and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever.  Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21 NJB

How is it that we can so easily skate through the season of Christmas, singing the praises of a child in a manger who is serenaded by angels, worshipped by shepherds, and adored by wise men from far away, and yet miss the  obvious?  We endlessly discuss whether the birth could have been in December or in April, we debate how many wise men there were, or from where they could have come.  We want to know whether the birth took place in a stable, or in a cave, or in a public feed trough in the town square. That it happened at all we take as a given.  And yet we seem oblivious to the utter impossibility of the whole event! 

What happened in Bethlehem was so preposterous that it could only have been an act of God:  a virgin gave birth to a son!  And the child was not only human, but fully divine as well—the Son of the living God!  This God who brought about the impossible for our salvation and his glory is the same God that calls us to trust him with the events of our day-to-day life.He can accomplish through you those things that are impossible in our own strength, more than we could ever ask or imagine.  We can do all things through the one whose power works in us.  Glory be to him for evermore!

"When God intends to make something wonderful he begins with a difficulty.  When he intends to make something very wonderful, he begins with an impossibility."
- Former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Coggan

Monday,  December 29
The Fifth Day of Christmas

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight.    
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your  paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NRS

Is not wisdom found among the aged?
Does not long life bring understanding?
Job 12:12NET

There is a colorful saying that says something like, “When you are up to your tail in alligators, it is hard toremember that your job is to drain the swamp.”There are many times during our Christian walk when we are up to our necks in something or other and we forget what it is that we are called to do.  We come to certain places in our lives, having lived through a particularly difficult episode, and we wonder what in the world that was all about.  It is only after some time has past that we can reflect and begin to piece it all together, coming to an understanding of what was truly happening to us, to our relationships with each other, and to our relationship with God. 

Hindsight allows us to behold God’s hand at work in ways that we could never have perceived at the moment.  When we understand that his hand is always on ourshoulder, we grow wise and learn to trust him, relying on his promise to make our paths straight.

"Life has to be lived forwards but it can only be understood backwards."
- Søren Kierkegaard

Tuesday,  December 30
The Sixth Day of Christmas

I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection.  But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.  No, dear brothers and  sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,  I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through  Christ Jesus, is calling us.
Philippians 3:12-14 NLT

This is one year we will be happy to have behind us!  While there have been plenty of difficulties encountered in our culture and our community, we also recognize those times when we ourselves failed to live up to our calling in Christ.  There have been missed opportunities, fumbling efforts, and outright failure to step up.  Some of this has been inadvertent; we didn’t mean to make mistakes.  But some of the time we have chosen to do what we knew was wrong; we have intentionally evaded doing what we knew to be right.

But what a wonderful God who calls us to confess, to be forgiven, and in that way to be freed to move forward into a new day!  God says that as far as the east is from the west, so he will remove our sins from us, and he will remember them no more.  As forgiven people we can focus not on the failures of the past but on the promise of the future.

Look not back on yesterday
So full of failure and regret;
Look ahead and seek God's way--
All sin confessed you must forget.
- Dennis DeHaan

Wednesday,  December 31
The Seventh Day of Christmas

Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity,  or are persecuted,  or hungry,  or
destitute,  or in danger,  or threatened with death?  No! ... I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love.Neither death nor life,  neither angels nor demons,  neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-- not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love.  No power in the sky above or in the earth below-- indeed,  nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35, 37-39NLT
 
On this last day of 2008 we are drawn to review the events of the past year, to take stock.  There have not been many causes for cheer in our society recently:  financial challenges, questionable cultural values, global political  uncertainty.We might be tempted to let our unease about today become worry about tomorrow, to feel like God has abandoned us to our own devices.Not so, says Paul to the Romans.  Nothing, nothing can separate us from God’s love.  Indeed, it may be when things seem bleakest that he is most present and eager to draw you even closer to himself.  “Do not be afraid,” Jesus said, “only believe.”
 
"I am not alone at all, I thought. I was never alone at all. And that, of course, is the message of Christmas. We are never alone. Not when the night is darkest, the wind coldest, the word seemingly most indifferent. For this is still the time God chooses." 
- Taylor Caldwell
 
 
Thursday,  January 1
The Eighth Day of Christmas
 
May the words of my mouth always find favor,  and the whispering of my heart,  in your presence, O GOD,  my rock,  my redeemer.
Psalm 19:14 NJB
 
This is the day of new beginnings, of resolve to do things differently, better, more conscientiously than last year.Our resolutions run the gamut from determination to lose weight, to saving more, to learning new skills. 
One aspect we often forget is to make resolutions about the attitude and outlook of our hearts.  This is so important because our words and actions flow directly from the core of who we are: from our hearts.Our attitude and outlook become pleasing in the presence of God when they move beyond being thoughts and wishes to becoming lived-out reality.  Is the Christian foundation of your life apparent to all you meet?  Will your attitude and outlook, your words and the whisperings of your heart move you to grow more like Christ?  Will you resolve to keep the Spirit of Christmas alive in your heart throughout the year?  That would be most pleasing to God!
 
So remember while December
Brings the only Christmas day,
In the year let there be Christmas
In the things you do and say.
- Anonymous
 
 
Friday,  January 2
The Ninth Day of Christmas
 
 “If you give, you will receive.  Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down,  shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving -- large or small -- it will be used to measure what is given back to you.”                           
Luke 6:38 NLT
“I will open the windows of heaven for you.I will
pour out a blessing so great you  won't have enough
room to take it in!  Try it!Put me to the test!” 
Malachi 3:10 b NLT
 
At the beginning of a New Year we are bombarded with news that would have us take on a mindset of scarcity:  can we make it on what we have?  Of course we can, because it is God who provides for us out of his unlimited resources!  We pray, “Give us this day our daily bread…”God will give us what we need for today, each day.  Because he does, we have the freedom to be generous with what we have.We have all heard the maxim: “You can’t outgive God.”Did you know that you can’t outgiveyourself, either?  You do not need to be wealthy to have a generous heart:  give a smile, lend an ear, extend your hand in friendship.  Whatever you give, God will bless and return to you in abundance.  Try it! 
 
Somehow, not only for Christmas,
But all the long year through,
The joy that you give to others,
Is the joy that comes back to you.
And the more you spend in blessing,
The poor and lonely and sad,
The more of your heart's possessing,
Returns to you glad.
- John Greenleaf Whittier
 
 
Saturday,  January 3
The Tenth Day of Christmas
 
“He must become more important
while I become less important.”
John 3:30 NET
 
  In our striving to provide a secure life for ourselves and for our families, we can become distracted, ending up thinking that it’s all about us.  But John the Baptist reminds us that it’s really all about God.He says, “No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven,” and then goes on to tell us that in order for God to shine forth, we have to be willing to step back a bit.For God to get the credit, we must be able to give way.
This does not mean that we are unimportant to God, or that we are only on the fringes of his plans.  No, quite the contrary, Jesus became like us in order to bring God’s salvation to our world.  He sent his Spirit to dwell in us in order to bring about our transformation.  God has chosen to work through us to set things to rights in this world.  And even though it may seem like a paradox, the only way God’s extraordinary plan can succeed through us is if we are willing to let God appear in us.His presence must  outshine our own.
In order for God to shine forth in this world, we must be like Christmas candles, giving ourselves to him in order that his flame might be brighter and brighter.
 
A Christmas candle is a lovely thing;
It makes no noise at all,
But softly gives itself away;
While quite unselfish, it grows small.
- Eva K. Logue
 
 
Sunday,  January 4
The Second Sunday of Christmas
 
All of this is for your benefit.  And as God's grace reaches more and more people,  there will be great thanksgiving,  and God will receive more and more glory.  That is why we never give up.  Though our bodies are dying,  our spirits are being renewed every day.For our present troubles are small and won't last very long.  Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!So we don't look at the troubles we can see now;  rather,  we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.For the things we see now will soon be gone,  but the things we cannot see will last forever.
2 Corinthians 4:15-18NLT
 
How hard it is to look at change in a positive way!  It always seems to involve chaos and instability and upset.  How easily we fall back to the comfort of the current state of things, no matter how unhealthy that may be, saying, “Better the devil you know…”How much better would it be, though, to rely on the God we know? 
Even in the midst of present difficulty we know that there is something just beyond the horizon of our sight, something already in the works but not yet finished.We may not be able to see God’s hand at work, but we do know his heart.  Choose to focus on what is more real:  not the temporary reality of the present, but on the eternal reality of God and his love. 
 
"There is no improving the future without disturbing the present."
- Catherine Booth
 
 
Monday,  January 5
The Twelfth Day of Christmas
(Twelfth Night)
 
“I guide you in the way of wisdom
And lead you along straight paths.
When you walk,  your steps will not be hampered;
When you run,  you will not stumble.
Hold on to instruction,  do not let it go;
Guard it well,  for it is your life.
The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
Shining ever brighter till the full light of day.”
Proverbs 4:11-13;18NIV
 
Sometimes the challenges of life bring opportunities to re-focus on God.We learn not to rely so much on our own efforts, abilities, or smarts, and instead to rely on God.We learn anew to trust him to show us the way, to lead us on the right paths.
Occasionally when we ask God to show us the way, what we have in mind is him revealing to us some cosmic 10-year plan, complete with details and directives.  Instead what God offers us is enough light to illuminate the next step, enough instruction to grasp, enough guidance to keep us on the path.  Here on the eve of Epiphany, the glorious appearance of God to all people in Jesus, he brings us the first gleams of his light which will shine ever brighter on our journey toward his kingdom.
 
 
"If this is to be a Happy New Year, a year of usefulness, a year in which we shall live to make this earth better, it is because God will direct our pathway.How important then, to feel our dependence upon Him!" 
- Matthew Simpson
 
 
Tuesday,  January 6
Epiphany
 
Arise!  Shine!  For your  light arrives!
The splendor of the LORD shines on you!
For,  look,  darkness covers the earth and deep darkness covers the nations, 
but the LORD shines on you;  his splendor appears over you.
Isaiah 60:1-2 NET

When the people of Israel were led from exile in Babylon, they returned to the devastation of Jerusalem.  God spoke to them through Isaiah, proclaiming the good news that he was still with them. 
Epiphany celebrates the announcement that the good news of salvation is for all peoples throughout the whole world.  Isaiah’s proclamation to an Israel in ruins is heard today as a call to the Christian Church.  Even as we deal with the challenges and incursions of our culture,  Godreminds us that his splendor has appeared in our midst.  What is that splendor?  It is nothing less than the birth, life, death and resurrection of his own Son, Jesus.  God in his glory has come to us in the person of the Messiah, promising to remain with us until the end of the age.  He is Immanuel, God-with-us, and calls his church to be nothing less than his own presence in the world, shining his light into a world imprisoned in darkness.
 
“The role, the mission, of the church then is to reflect in its life the light of the glory of Christ. ...  They do so, however, not by their own efforts, not by their own planning, not by their self-conceived programs, but by surrendering themselves wholly to the working of Christ in their midst.God's salvation of the world comes not from us,  but from Jesus Christ working in us.  It is not our light that is to shine forth,  but the reflected light of God's glory in our Lord.”
- Elizabeth Achtemeier
 
 
January 7
Isaiah 52:3-6Psalms 112, 113
John 2:1-11
 
January 8 
Isaiah59:15-21 Psalms 114, 115
John 4:46-54
 
January 9
Isaiah 63:1-5Psalms 117, 118
John 5:1-15
 
January 10
Isaiah 65:1-9Psalms 121, 122, 123
John 9:1-12, 35-38
 
January 11 (First Sunday of Epiphany)
Isaiah 40:1-11 Psalms 146, 147
John 1:1-7, 19-20, 29-34
 
January 12 
Isaiah40:12-23 Psalms 1, 2, 3
Mark 1:1-13
 
January 13 
Isaiah 40:25-31  Psalms 4, 7
Mark 1:14-28
 
 
January 14
Isaiah 41:1-6Psalms 5, 6
Mark 1:29-45
 
 
January 15 
Isaiah 41:17-29  Psalms 10, 11
Mark 2:1-12
 
January 16 
Isaiah 42:1-17 Psalms 1, 2, 3
Mark 2:13-22
 
January 17
Isaiah 43:1-13 Psalms 5, 6
Mark 2:23—3:6
 
January 18  (Second Sunday of Epiphany)
Isaiah 43:14—44:5Psalm 119:1-24
John 4:27-42
 
January 19
Isaiah 44:6-8, 21-23 Psalms 16, 17
Mark 3:7-19a
 
January 20
Isaiah 44:9-20 Psalms 20, 21
Mark 3:19b-35
 
January 21
Isaiah 44:24—45:7Psalms 148, 149, 150
Mark 4:1-20
 
January 22 
Isaiah 45:5-17 Psalm 25
Mark 4:21-34
 
January 23
Isaiah 45:18-25  Psalms 26, 28
Mark 4:35-41
 
January 24
Isaiah 46:1-13 Psalm 38
Mark 5:1-20
 
January 25  (Third Sunday of Epiphany)
Isaiah 47:1-15 Psalm 37:1-18
John 5:2-18
 
January 26 
Isaiah 48:1-11 Psalm 37:19-42
Mark 5:21-43
 
January 27 
Isaiah 48:12-21  Psalm 31
Mark 36:1-13
 
January 28
Isaiah 49:1-12 Psalms 30, 32
Mark 6:13-29
 
January 29 
Isaiah 49:13-23  Psalms 63, 98
Mark 6:30-46
 
January 30 
Isaiah 50:1-11 Psalms 41, 52
Mark 6:44-56
 
January 31 
Isaiah 51:1-8Psalm 44
Mark 7:1-23
 
_____________________________
 
O God,
who wonderfully created,
and yet more wonderfully restored,
the dignity of human nature:
Grant that we may share the divine life of him
who humbled himself to share our humanity,
your Son Jesus Christ;
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.
 
Father in heaven,
who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan
proclaimed him your beloved Son
and anointed him with the Holy Spirit:
Grant that all who are baptized into his Name
may keep the covenant they have made,
and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior;
who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns,
one God, in glory everlasting.Amen.
 
Almighty God,
whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ
is the light of the world:
Grant that your people,
illumined by your Word and Sacraments,
may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory,
that he may be known, worshipped,
and obeyed to the ends of the earth;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns,
one God, now and for ever.Amen.
 
 
Give us grace, O Lord,
to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ
and proclaim to all people
the Good News of his salvation,
that we and the whole world
   may perceive the glory of his marvelous works;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
 
 
 
Guide to Scripture references used in this booklet:
 
NET The NET Bible, Version 1.0 -  New English Translation
 © 2004,2005 Biblical Studies Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
 For more information of this and other Biblical Studies Foundation projects see their web site at www.netbible.org.
 
NIV  The New International Version.  Scripture quoted by
 permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY
 BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
 
NJB  New Jerusalem Bible Edited by Henry Wabrough 
 © 1985, by Darton, Longman & Todd Limited and Doubleday. 
 
NLT Holy Bible, New Living Translation, second edition. 
 Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation.© 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers © 2004 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
 All rights reserved. 
 
NRS New Revised Standard Version Bible.
Copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the
 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.  Used by permission. All rights reserved.
 
All were taken from BibleWorks 7.0.019c.7
BibleWorks™  © 1992-2005 BibleWorks, LLC.
All rights reserved.