Luke 2:41-52 | Son of God, Son of Man

May you see Jesus
as the Son of God
and Son of man.

May both His divinity
and humanity
be a reality to you today.

In seeing your Lord’s sharing
in our circumstances
and His surrendering
of divinity’s advantages
in order to relate to His people,
may this create connections in your heart
to Jesus the Son of God and Son of man.

When you search and search
for your God and are troubled
by His seeming lack of presence,
may you receive comfort in your waiting,
knowing that God’s love for you is constant,
and His Spirit will never leave you.

May you be reminded in those times
of how Mary and Joseph
searched and searched
only to be surprised
at the place that they ran into
the Son of God and Son of man.

May Jesus’ example of submission
be a model for you as you begin this year,
so that as 2020 begins to get going,
you would approach it
with your Father’s footsteps
to guide your way.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance to you and give you peace.

Luke 2:22-40 | Dedication

May your Creator God
give you peace in knowing
that He fulfills all His promises.

In receiving this peace, may your comfort
not lead you to complacency,
but instead, may it lead you,
as Mary, Joseph, and Jesus,
to dedicate yourself to God.

May your eyes be open to the work of God,
so that you may recognize the blessings
of a salvation and a Spirit
that goes with you daily.

In knowing His presence with you,
may you rejoice and praise God as Simeon.

May you share the good news with others as Anna.

May knowing Christ
compel you to live a life
that is marked by His character.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance to you and give you peace.

Luke 2:1-21 | God is with Us

May our Immortal,
Preeminent, Almighty God
fill you with the hope, joy,
peace, and love of Christ.

As light spreads from row to row
and person to person,
may it remind you of the One
who in infinite power, majesty, and strength
chose to come near to His beloved children
in the form of a Child Himself.

May the closeness of the light
and the sharing of its glow
stir in you a gratefulness
for the closeness of our King
and a yearning to share the love He radiates
with all those He places in your path.

This Christmas,
may you know the love of your Savior,
who was the King robed in swaddling clothes
and enthroned in a manger,
the Lord whose triumphal entry
was proclaimed to lowly shepherds
out in the fields at night,
and the Immortal God who chose
to be dependent upon a young couple
finding shelter in a barn in Bethlehem.

May knowing the love of Jesus
be like the carrying of your candle now,
which not only brings comfort, warmth,
and vision in the darkness,
but also connects you to the family of God
that surrounds you now.

May we join together in worship,
giving glory to our greatest gift—
Immanuel, God with us.

Luke 1:46-80 | In Response to Mercy

May you know this week
the mercy of our God,
who not only welcomes us in,
but descends in humility
to reach us at our own level.

May encountering this great mercy and love
move you to echo the praises
of Mary, Elizabeth, and Zechariah,
declaring God’s glory
and speaking into this world
the earth-shaking and upside-down power
found in Christ our King.

May the power of our Lord
who chooses to reveal His wonders
through the voice of God
heard in the cry of an infant
remind you that as surely
as He kept His covenant with Israel,
so, too, will He keep His promise to us
of new life and resurrection
through His Son.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance to you and give you peace.

Luke 1:5-25 | Expectant Hope

May the God who hears all of our prayers
remind you that He is with you
even in your waiting.

May you know each day as an opportunity
to cultivate a constant conversation
with the Lord.

Especially in these days of busyness
and the often-hurried times of the holidays,
may you be reminded of the power
of turning to the Lord in prayer.

As you go about your days
anticipating the Lord’s moving,
may He lead you to repentance
and prepare your heart
for the way that He will act.

May you have expectant hope
in God’s faithfulness,
knowing that He fulfills His promises,
that His steadfast love is for us,
and that our God is with us.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance to you and give you peace.

Luke 1:1-4 | The Weight & Wonder of the Word

May God your Creator enable you to see
the weight and wonder of His Word.

May the gift of Scripture be a guiding light for you.

As the whole of its story
points to Christ our Lord,
so may your life find its focus
always on Him.

May the wonders of God’s handiwork in Creation
and the longing in your heart for a Creator
serve to reveal His heart to you day by day;
but may these things also always move you
to return more passionately to Scripture
to learn from and walk in His ways.

May the Lord awaken in you
a desire to know the Bible thoroughly
and a longing to be molded by it continually.

May the Lord give you a certainty about its truths
so that you may handle the Word rightly
and walk in the freedom
of the purpose you have found in your Savior.

May your life be ever shaped by the living Word of God.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance to you and give you peace.

Psalm 107:1-9 | Thanksgiving

May the goodness and steadfast love of the Lord be made known to you this week.

When you are tempted to allow your days
to be defined by the things that would lead you
to wander from your Maker,
may the One who has brought you to redemption
also redeem your troubled days.

May any wandering in your life
only serve to remind you
that your Heavenly Father
is constantly in pursuit of you,
and His love endures forever.

May the God who always welcomes us home
reveal to you the countless reasons
we have to be thankful to Him.

May this lead you who are currently wandering or feeling lost
to turn back towards home.

During this week when Thanksgiving is so popular,
may the blessings you take time to reflect on
be reminders that God’s goodness
is never in short supply.

May your soul find its satisfaction in your Creator,
for all good things find their source in Him.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance to you and give you peace.

1 Peter 5:1-14 | Leading & Following Humbly

May the hope of Christ overshadow all that you do.

May knowing your future hope in Christ
motivate you today to live out your hope daily
as you walk through this short time we have.

May you be humbled at the task before you of
following Christ and leading others to know Him better.

May you who are called to be leaders, elders and the like
carry the weight of your calling with humility
and love those that God has put under your care,
giving yourself away for their good.

May the Holy Spirit enable you to have such strength.

Finally, when the trials and storms of this life come to you,
may you cast each anxiety and care
upon Him who is strong enough to bare them.

May He who loved you enough to give up His life for you
strengthen you and help you to stand in the day of trouble,
if not by delivering you, by placing brothers and sisters
on either side of you to lift you up.

You will never suffer alone.

May our loving God help you to live
each day of this fleeting life in ways
that allow you to participate today
in the eternal and glorious story that God is writing.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance to you and give you peace.

1 Peter 4:1-19 | Imitating Christ

May our faithful Creator enable you this week to imitate Christ.

May your time be spent
in seeking out His will for your life
so that in all that you do,
He would be glorified.

May we be people who communicate
our God’s character through love,
hospitality, service, and prayer.

May the Lord allow our actions to lead others
to know Him more greatly.

When trials and storms come our way,
may they never hinder our ability to remember
the imperishable and unfading hope we have
because of Christ’s resurrection.

May we have a Christ-shaped view of our reality,
and in all things may we continue to do good
and entrust our souls to our all-loving and great Father
as He makes His Spirit to rest upon us.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance to you and give you peace.

1 Peter 3:13-22 | Christ in All You Do

May Christ our Lord be at the heart of all that you do.

May He be your first thought as you wake each morning,
and the One on whom you lay your cares to rest each night.

When trials come your way, may God bless you
with a knowledge of how He is working;
but when you do not see clearly,
may the Holy Spirit guide you back
to the living hope we hold in Christ.

May any suffering that comes your way
never be a result of your misdeeds,
for it is better to suffer for doing good
than for doing evil.

In all of this, may you submit to the will of God,
knowing that He works all things together
for the ultimate good of those who love Him.

May your words and deeds serve to tell the story
of all that Christ has done in your life.

May your life direct others to hope in Him.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance to you and give you peace.