A New Year at St. Paul's UMC

 
Join us for the first worship service of 2025 tomorrow at 10:15 a.m. in person or online here as Rev. Elizabeth Burg begins her ministry at St. Paul's UMC.

Devotional for the Eleventh Day of Christmas

  
Let the love that shaped earth and heaven dwell within us this Christmas.

Let the love that created humanity dwell within us this Christmas.

Let the love that overcomes suffering and hatred dwell within us this Christmas.

Let the love that causes us to rejoice with loved ones dwell within us this Christmas.

Let the love that forgives and renews dwell within us this Christmas.

Let the love that brings reconciliation after separation dwell within us this Christmas.

Let the love that brings the blessing of peace dwell within us this Christmas.

And may we share that peace with all people near and far. Amen. 

 

— Prayers for Christmas, posted on the Christian Aid website. http://www.christianaid.org.uk/

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“Christmas is forever, not for just one day. For loving, sharing, 

giving are not to put away.”

 — Norman Wesley Brooks

Devotional for the Tenth Day of Christmas

We come to adore you, little one. On bended knee, with hopeful heart, and eyes stretched wide with wonder and awe. The gentleness of your gaze draws us into the mystery of all that lies beyond, and in that place of falling into joy we yield  all that we are to you.

And we pray.

For those who are broken, 

Those who seek, 

The trembling and the rumbling tummies, 

The haggard spirits and the ragged lives.

For those who cling to the last best thing, and those whose hearts pine for love.

Bless us, O Lord, whom we adore, and turn our faces ever toward you. For peace, for mercy, for the sake of all that is   holy. We come to adore you, O Christ. Amen.

 

— Rev. Anne Fraley, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in South Windsor, CT. 

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"Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmastime."

 — Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957)

Devotional for the Ninth Day of Christmas

 

We waited. And imagined a savior. We imagined power. One like the world but stronger and on our side. 

We imagined a king on a white horse wielding a sword. We got a baby born in a stable among the livestock. We imagined the work done for us through the  destruction of our enemies.
We receive a baby who will teach us our calling to seek reconciliation and to love expansively. 

Praise be to God for the unexpected babe of Bethlehem. Praise to the wisdom of love. Amen!

 

— Tim Graves, and posted on LiturgyBits: Little bits for worship.

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"If you desire to find the true spirit of Christmas and partake of the sweetness of it, let me make this suggestion to you. During the hurry of the festive occasion of this Christmas season, find time to turn your heart to God.  Perhaps in the quiet hours, and in a quiet place, and on your knees—alone or with loved ones—give thanks for the good things that have come to you and ask that His Spirit might dwell in you as you earnestly strive to serve Him and keep His commandments. He will take you by the hand and His promises will be kept.” 

 — Howard W. Hunter (1907-1995)

Wednesday with the Wesleys

“We had a large congregation at four in the mourning. How much are men divided in their expectations concurring the ensuing year! Will it bring a large harvest of temporal calamities, or of spiritual blessings? Perhaps of both; of temporal affections preparatory to spiritual blessings."

~ John Wesley, January 1, 1756

Devotional for the Eighth Day of Christmas

 

Dear God, Spirit, Divine Mother,
On this day I ask You to grant this request…
May I know who I am and what I am,
every moment of every day.
May I be a catalyst for light and love,
and bring inspiration to those whose eyes I meet.
May I have the strength to stand tall in the face of conflict,
and the courage to speak my voice, even when I’m scared.
May I have the humility to follow my heart,
and the passion to live my soul’s desires.
May I seek to know the highest truth
and dismiss the gravitational pull of my lower self.
May I embrace and love the totality of myself…
my darkness as well as my light.
May I be brave enough to hear my heart…
to let it soften so that I may gracefully
choose faith over fear.
Today is my day to surrender anything that stands
between the sacredness of my humanity and my divinity.
May I be drenched in my Holiness
and engulfed by Your love.
May all else melt away.
And so it is.

Amen.

— Debbie Ford, and posted on Xavier University’s JesuitResource.org website.

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“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.”

 — Joseph Campbell (1904-1987)