Make Me a Vessel – Musical Quote of the Week

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I have been praying this song this week. Lyrics by Chris Sligh Hear it here while watching a beautiful photos: Safe inside your hands you hold mePain and tribulations mold meI try to run away from youThe pain's too great you put me throughI find myself on my knees to prayThen you hear the words you long for me to sayMake of me a vessel that you can always useNo matter how you break me, what I win or what I loseLet me be a vessel pure and holy, perfect in your eyesLord, hear me when I cry, for you to make me, a vesselDeep inside my heart you've shown meDespite all my sins you've known meI try to run away againI break your heart with all my sinI fall to you with tear-filled eyesI run to you with broken heart and cryMake of me a vessel that you can always useNo matter how you break me, what I win or what I loseLet me be a vessel pure and holy, perfect in your eyesLord, hear me when I cry, for you to make me, a vesselMake me into what you want for me to beOh, Lord, may my prayer beMake of … [Read more...]

Fourth Sunday in Advent Quote – John Brokhoff

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"What has happened to the old-fashioned, spiritual Christmas? The cause is our disregard of Advent. The church set aside this four-week pre-Christmas season as a time of spiritual preparation for Christ’s coming. It is a time of quiet anticipation. If Christ is going to come again into our hearts, there must be repentance. Without repentance, our hearts will be so full of worldly things that there will be ‘no room in the inn’ for Christ to be born again.We have the joy not of celebration, which is the joy of Christmas, but the joy of anticipation.” ~ John R. Brokhoff … [Read more...]

THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT QUOTE OF THE WEEK – Mark Zimmermann

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This Advent we look to the wise men to teach us where to focus our attention. We set our sights on things above, where God is. We draw closer to Jesus... When our Advent journey ends, and we reach the place where Jesus resides in Bethlehem, may we, like the Wise Men, fall on our knees and adore him as our true and only King - Mark Zimmermann … [Read more...]

First Sunday in Advent Quote of the Week – Frederick Buechner

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“The house lights go off and the footlights come on. Even the chattiest stop chattering as they wait in darkness for the curtain to rise. In the orchestra pit, the violin bows are poised. The conductor has raised his baton. In the silence of a midwinter dusk, there is far off in the deeps of it somewhere a sound so faint that for all you can tell it may be only the sound of the silence itself. You hold your breath to listen. You walk up the steps to the front door. The empty windows at either side of it tell you nothing, or almost nothing. For a second you catch a whiff of some fragrance that reminds you of a place you’ve never been and a time you have no words for. You are aware of the beating of your heart…The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens. Advent is the name of that moment.”

— Frederick Buechner, Whistling in the Dark, pp. 2,3 … [Read more...]

Ordinary Love that Keeps our Lamps Burning – Quote of the Week – Mother Teresa

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Don’t think that love, to be true, has to be extraordinary. What is necessary is to continue to love. How does a lamp burn, if it is not by the continuous feeding of little drops of oil? When there is no oil, there is no light and the bridegroom will say: “I do not know you”.Dear friends, what are our drops of oil in our lamps? They are the small things from every day life: the joy, the generosity, the little good things, the humility and the patience. A simple thought for someone else. Our way to be silent, to listen, to forgive, to speak and to act. Those are the real drops of oil that make our lamps burn vividly our whole life. Don’t look for Jesus far away, He is not there. He is in you, take care of your lamp and you will see Him.”–     Mother Teresa … [Read more...]