New beginnings?

(12.17.21– Christmas Coming – Isaiah 11:1-2 )

My friend, may I ask you a question? It is never too late for rebirth. God proved that by resurrecting life from the dead ashes of what had once been His holy people. Is there something or someone in your life that shows little life and even less hope of recovery?

My friend, Life’s a story, welcome to This Passing Day.

I'm M. Clifford Brunner.

I live in the middle of a forest that was once teeming with beautiful American Elms. Now a few are scattered here and there, ravaged by Dutch elm disease. I had the opportunity to fell one of these gentle giants recently. It stood in a long line with several others that I had felled over the past ten years or so. The disease traveled from limb to limb and root to root, right down the line. As I was clearing away the debris around the stump I noticed something peculiar. Although the tree had been dead for years, a small shoot had shot up from one of the buried roots. As I walked among the stumps of the other stumps, I noticed similar growth. A small young forest of elms was beginning to take root again. There was hope yet for this remarkable tree; a new beginning was underway.

Martin Luther once compared the advent coming of Jesus Christ as a new beginning, the beginning of a spiritual kingdom that is "derived from the stump of Jesse." Luther described the stump of a faith that was all but lost and that looking at it could not even inspire hope that a shoot would spring forth. Yet, through "divine watering, a little twig will emerge and grow up and make it holy, and it will not be prevented by heat or by rain or by all the power of the air." (Lectures on Isaiah [ca. 1528] LW 16, 117-118) When all seemed lost, God intervened in the form of his Son, Jesus Christ. He took the dead roots of the family of David and brought forth new growth that could not be denied.

It is never too late for rebirth. God proved that by resurrecting life from the dead ashes of what had once been His holy people. Is there something or someone in your life that shows little life and even less hope of recovery? Perhaps it is a friend, a spouse, a child that has strayed. Perhaps your life has gotten off track and you just don't know how to start over. God teaches us in Advent that there is never a life that can't begin anew again when it is firmly rooted in Christ. No matter what the sorrow; no matter what the temptation or grief, life can always begin anew when there is Jesus Christ. Advent is a time for repentance and rebirth. Take your burdens to Christ today. Ask Him to bring forth new, fresh growth in your life. It may be nothing more than the smallest of shoots; but from a new beginning, God makes big things grow.

We pray. Heavenly Father, You have taught us that It is never too late for rebirth by proving resurrecting life from the dead ashes when you took Your holy people Israel and made them alive again in Christ. Is there something or someone in our life that shows little life and even less hope of recovery? Perhaps it is a friend, a spouse, a child that has strayed? Perhaps our life has gotten off track and we just don't know how to start over. Lord teach us in Advent that there is never a life that can't begin anew again when it is firmly rooted in Christ. No matter what the sorrow; no matter what the temptation or grief, life can always begin anew when there is Jesus Christ. Advent is a time for repentance and rebirth. Help us to take our burdens to Christ today and let us ask Him to bring forth new, fresh growth in our life. It may be nothing more than the smallest of shoots; but from a new beginning, You makes big things grow. In Jesus name we pray. Amen!

Therefore my friend, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry for itself; each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matt 6:34) This Passing Day. May this passing day honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and be a blessing to you and everyone you meet. Find a stranger and say hello. Don't let another day pass without your day blessing someone else.

If you have a special prayer request, please send your request to ”This Passing Day!”

<thispassingday@gmail.com> From Beech Springs, God bless you for Jesus sake.

New beginnings?

(12.17.21– Christmas Coming – Isaiah 11:1-2 )

My friend, may I ask you a question? It is never too late for rebirth. God proved that by resurrecting life from the dead ashes of what had once been His holy people. Is there something or someone in your life that shows little life and even less hope of recovery?

My friend, Life’s a story, welcome to This Passing Day.

I'm M. Clifford Brunner.

I live in the middle of a forest that was once teeming with beautiful American Elms. Now a few are scattered here and there, ravaged by Dutch elm disease. I had the opportunity to fell one of these gentle giants recently. It stood in a long line with several others that I had felled over the past ten years or so. The disease traveled from limb to limb and root to root, right down the line. As I was clearing away the debris around the stump I noticed something peculiar. Although the tree had been dead for years, a small shoot had shot up from one of the buried roots. As I walked among the stumps of the other stumps, I noticed similar growth. A small young forest of elms was beginning to take root again. There was hope yet for this remarkable tree; a new beginning was underway.

Martin Luther once compared the advent coming of Jesus Christ as a new beginning, the beginning of a spiritual kingdom that is "derived from the stump of Jesse." Luther described the stump of a faith that was all but lost and that looking at it could not even inspire hope that a shoot would spring forth. Yet, through "divine watering, a little twig will emerge and grow up and make it holy, and it will not be prevented by heat or by rain or by all the power of the air." (Lectures on Isaiah [ca. 1528] LW 16, 117-118) When all seemed lost, God intervened in the form of his Son, Jesus Christ. He took the dead roots of the family of David and brought forth new growth that could not be denied.

It is never too late for rebirth. God proved that by resurrecting life from the dead ashes of what had once been His holy people. Is there something or someone in your life that shows little life and even less hope of recovery? Perhaps it is a friend, a spouse, a child that has strayed. Perhaps your life has gotten off track and you just don't know how to start over. God teaches us in Advent that there is never a life that can't begin anew again when it is firmly rooted in Christ. No matter what the sorrow; no matter what the temptation or grief, life can always begin anew when there is Jesus Christ. Advent is a time for repentance and rebirth. Take your burdens to Christ today. Ask Him to bring forth new, fresh growth in your life. It may be nothing more than the smallest of shoots; but from a new beginning, God makes big things grow.

We pray. Heavenly Father, You have taught us that It is never too late for rebirth by proving resurrecting life from the dead ashes when you took Your holy people Israel and made them alive again in Christ. Is there something or someone in our life that shows little life and even less hope of recovery? Perhaps it is a friend, a spouse, a child that has strayed? Perhaps our life has gotten off track and we just don't know how to start over. Lord teach us in Advent that there is never a life that can't begin anew again when it is firmly rooted in Christ. No matter what the sorrow; no matter what the temptation or grief, life can always begin anew when there is Jesus Christ. Advent is a time for repentance and rebirth. Help us to take our burdens to Christ today and let us ask Him to bring forth new, fresh growth in our life. It may be nothing more than the smallest of shoots; but from a new beginning, You makes big things grow. In Jesus name we pray. Amen!

Therefore my friend, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry for itself; each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matt 6:34) This Passing Day. May this passing day honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and be a blessing to you and everyone you meet. Find a stranger and say hello. Don't let another day pass without your day blessing someone else.

If you have a special prayer request, please send your request to ”This Passing Day!”

<thispassingday@gmail.com> From Beech Springs, God bless you for Jesus sake.