IV Advent

Let Us Pray For…

Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMiA)
The Rt. Rev. Charles Murphy (Senior Bishop)
Anglican Church of the Province of Rwanda


Prayer Petitions
Let us give thanks to God for blessing the AMiA with growth, and let us give thanks that the AMiA is a part of the Anglican Church in North America. Let us also pray that, as with Blessed John the Baptist, we will all be so careful, especially in These Days, to take the attention off of ourselves, and point everyone to our Lord, whose sandals we are unworthy to untie.

WHS

From the Scriptures
And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

(Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

John 1:19-28 (ESV)

A Guiding Prayer
O LORD, raise up, we pray thee, thy power, and come among us, and with great might succour us; that whereas, through our sins and wickedness, we are sore let and hindered in running the race that is set before us, thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and 'deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be honour and glory, world with out end. Amen.

“The Fourth Sunday in Advent,” The Book of Common Prayer (USA, 1928)

A Heritage Reflection
“For when we Christians speak of tradition, we mean the experience of the Christian community lying authentically within that which God through Christ has handed over for the revelation of himself and the salvation of men and women everywhere.”

Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey (1904-1988)
The Anglican Spirit