WEEK THREE: CONFIRMATION AND WORSHIP
DECEMBER 11-17
SCRIPTURE READING AND REFLECTION:
Luke 1:39-56
Mary Visits Elizabeth
Confirmation and Worship by Kyle Rodriguez
One of the hardest parts about waiting is the unknown of it all. It’s easy to endure a hungry afternoon if you know that a feast is coming at 6 PM. But waiting for your next meal takes on a sharper pang when you are uncertain when and from where that meal is coming.
So, in our waiting, confirmation takes on an important role. As the object of our waiting remains in the distance, we limited human beings need confirmation, reassurance, that the object really will come to pass eventually. That the dawn will arrive, that good will prosper, that dinner will be satisfying. Without confirmation, our hearts are prone to despair, to drowning in our own doubts.
It couldn’t have been a coincidence that Gabriel told Mary that her cousin was also having a child, despite her previously assumed barrenness. It couldn’t have been a coincidence that Gabriel came to Mary in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. It couldn’t have been a coincidence that Mary immediately undertook a 100-mile journey to visit her cousin. Mary longed for confirmation, and God provided it, as Elizabeth and her unborn child, through the direction of the Holy Spirit, joyfully confirmed that God was about to do great things through Mary and her Son, Jesus.
Thanks be to God that he confirms his promises by his Spirit, who testifies with our spirit that we are his children (Rom. 8:16), who speaks to us by his Word to communicate his truth and assure our hearts (1 Tim. 3:16, Hebrews 4:12), and who fills our brothers and sisters in Christ as they encourage us to look forward to his work (Heb. 10:24). As we hear from and encounter his confirming Spirit, let us follow Mary’s faithful example and respond with heartfelt worship to the one who has done great things for us.
Luke 1:39-56
Mary Visits Elizabeth
Confirmation and Worship by Kyle Rodriguez
One of the hardest parts about waiting is the unknown of it all. It’s easy to endure a hungry afternoon if you know that a feast is coming at 6 PM. But waiting for your next meal takes on a sharper pang when you are uncertain when and from where that meal is coming.
So, in our waiting, confirmation takes on an important role. As the object of our waiting remains in the distance, we limited human beings need confirmation, reassurance, that the object really will come to pass eventually. That the dawn will arrive, that good will prosper, that dinner will be satisfying. Without confirmation, our hearts are prone to despair, to drowning in our own doubts.
It couldn’t have been a coincidence that Gabriel told Mary that her cousin was also having a child, despite her previously assumed barrenness. It couldn’t have been a coincidence that Gabriel came to Mary in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. It couldn’t have been a coincidence that Mary immediately undertook a 100-mile journey to visit her cousin. Mary longed for confirmation, and God provided it, as Elizabeth and her unborn child, through the direction of the Holy Spirit, joyfully confirmed that God was about to do great things through Mary and her Son, Jesus.
Thanks be to God that he confirms his promises by his Spirit, who testifies with our spirit that we are his children (Rom. 8:16), who speaks to us by his Word to communicate his truth and assure our hearts (1 Tim. 3:16, Hebrews 4:12), and who fills our brothers and sisters in Christ as they encourage us to look forward to his work (Heb. 10:24). As we hear from and encounter his confirming Spirit, let us follow Mary’s faithful example and respond with heartfelt worship to the one who has done great things for us.
MUSIC:
ARTWORK:
Katy Sidebottom
Two Wombs, 2022
Mixed Media
What captured my attention the most when reading the events that lead up to Jesus’ birth in Luke was the friendship between Mary and Elizabeth, and their ability to rejoice in their shared experience of pregnancy. At a young age, I noticed that friends/sisters/cousins or what have you, would often became pregnant at the same time. What a marvelous thing to rejoice together in! Yet their arrival to pregnancy couldn’t be more different. There’s Mary, who, at a young age was surprised by this angelic visitation revealing her high-call of God and miraculous conception. Then Elizabeth, who, for many years experienced the shame of barrenness, has her long-awaited desire fulfilled!
These events were under the sovereignty of God’s timing, represented by the bow-and-arrow, expressing the tension of waiting for that precise moment to shoot. God delivers these events at His perfect timing, much often without our understanding. Romans 5:6- for when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. In God’s story and timing, these two women were meant to be pregnant at the same time for a greater purpose than themselves, but for a purpose that would bless the whole world!
I can’t help but to rejoice with them now! An incredible moment of time, captured— these two unborn babies: one, the Savior of the world, and his cousin who prepares the way, are but just two babes in two wombs.
Lord, grand us the patience and faith now in these times to wait faithfully for Your Promises…the most significant one being our face-to-face union with the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ.
Two Wombs, 2022
Mixed Media
What captured my attention the most when reading the events that lead up to Jesus’ birth in Luke was the friendship between Mary and Elizabeth, and their ability to rejoice in their shared experience of pregnancy. At a young age, I noticed that friends/sisters/cousins or what have you, would often became pregnant at the same time. What a marvelous thing to rejoice together in! Yet their arrival to pregnancy couldn’t be more different. There’s Mary, who, at a young age was surprised by this angelic visitation revealing her high-call of God and miraculous conception. Then Elizabeth, who, for many years experienced the shame of barrenness, has her long-awaited desire fulfilled!
These events were under the sovereignty of God’s timing, represented by the bow-and-arrow, expressing the tension of waiting for that precise moment to shoot. God delivers these events at His perfect timing, much often without our understanding. Romans 5:6- for when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. In God’s story and timing, these two women were meant to be pregnant at the same time for a greater purpose than themselves, but for a purpose that would bless the whole world!
I can’t help but to rejoice with them now! An incredible moment of time, captured— these two unborn babies: one, the Savior of the world, and his cousin who prepares the way, are but just two babes in two wombs.
Lord, grand us the patience and faith now in these times to wait faithfully for Your Promises…the most significant one being our face-to-face union with the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ.
Hannah Babut
Peace Has Come, 2022
Acrylic Paint
Peace Has Come, 2022
Acrylic Paint
Hannah Babut
A Child is Born, 2022
Acrylic Paint
A Child is Born, 2022
Acrylic Paint