Harrisville United Methodist Church

Fear of trouble, present and future, often blinds us to the numerous small blessings we enjoy, silencing our prayers of praise and thanksgiving. AnonymousFear of trouble, present and future, often blinds us to the numerous small blessings we enjoy, silencing our prayers of praise and thanksgiving. Anonymous

A person should never be ashamed to say they have been wrong, which is but saying in other words that they are wiser today than they were yesterday. Alexander PopeA person should never be ashamed to say they have been wrong, which is but saying in other words that they are wiser today than they were yesterday. Alexander Pope

Gifts From God by Ann Weems The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; God’s mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. ... The Lord God gave the peoples of the earth a garden, and the people said, That’s very nice, God, but that’s not enough. We’d like a little knowledge, please. The Lord God gave them knowledge, and the people said, Now that we have knowledge, we’d like things. The Lord God gave the people things, but they always said, That’s not quite enough. So the Lord God gave them gifts unequaled: the sun lightning and thunder rain and flowers animals and birds and fish trees and stars and the moon. God gave them the rainbow. Gods parted the Red Sea and gave them manna. God gave them prophets and children and each other, but still the people said, That’s not quite enough. God loved the people and out of ultimate merciful goodness God gave them the Gift of Gifts, a Christmas present never to be forgotten. God gave them love in the form of God’s Son, even Christ Jesus. There are some who don’t open their eyes or their ears or their hearts and they still say, that’s not quite enough. They wander through the stores looking for Christmas. But others open their whole being to the Lord, bending their knees to praise God, carrying Christmas with them every day. For these the whole world is a gift!

Nevertheless, Thee will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past God humbled the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, but in the future the Lord God will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan- The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death... a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest... For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Isaiah 9:1-5 See more

Anticipating the Vision by Henri Nouwen The marvelous vision of the peaceable kingdom, in which all violence has been overcome and all men, women, and children live in loving unity with nature, calls for its realization in our day-to-day lives. Instead of being an escapist dream, it challenges us to anticipate what it promises. Every time we forgive our neighbor, every time we make a child smile, every time we show compassion to a suffering person, every time we arrange a... bouquet of flowers, offer care to tame or wild animals, prevent pollution, create beauty in our homes and gardens, and work for peace and justice among peoples and nations we are making the vision come true. We must remind one another constantly of the vision. Whenever it comes alive in us we will find new energy to live it out, right where we are. Instead of making us escape real life, this beautiful vision gets us involved. See more

The World Still Knows by Ann Weems The night is still dark and a procession of Herods still terrorize the earth, killing the children to stay in power. ... The world still knows its Herods, but it also knows men and women who pack their dreams safely in their hearts and set off toward Bethlehem, faithful against all odds, undeterred by fatigue or rejection, to kneel to a child. And the world still knows those persons wise enough to follow a star, those who do not consider themselves too intelligent too powerful too wealthy to kneel to a child. And the world still knows those hearts so humble that they’re ready to hear the word of a song and to leave what they have, to go to kneel to a child. The night is still dark, but by the light of the star, even today we can still see to kneel to a child.

John’s father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because the Lord has come and redeemed the people. God has raised up a horn of salvation... for us in the house of the Lord’s servant David (as was spoken through God’s holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us-to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember God’s holy covenant, the oath God swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before God all our days. And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way, to give God’s people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace. And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he lived in the desert until he appeared publically to Israel. Luke 1:67-80

The Christmas Spirit by Ann Weems The Christmas spirit is that hope which tenaciously clings... to the hearts of the faithful and announces in the face of any Herod the world can produce and all the inn doors slammed in our faces and all the dark nights of our souls that with God all things still are possible, that even now unto us a Child is born! See more