God our redeemer,
who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be the mother of your Son:
grant that, as she looked for his coming as our saviour,
so we may be ready to greet him
when he comes again as our judge;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2 Samuel 7.1\u201311,16<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7 Now when the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2<\/sup>the king said to the prophet Nathan, \u2018See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.\u2019 3<\/sup>Nathan said to the king, \u2018Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4<\/sup> But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: 5<\/sup>Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? 6<\/sup>I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. 7<\/sup>Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, \u2018Why have you not built me a house of cedar?\u2019 8<\/sup>Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; 9<\/sup>and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10<\/sup>And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11<\/sup>from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. 16<\/sup>Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Luke 1.26\u201338<\/p>\n\n\n\n 26<\/sup> In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27<\/sup>to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin\u2019s name was Mary. 28<\/sup>And he came to her and said, \u2018Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.\u201929<\/sup>But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30<\/sup>The angel said to her, \u2018Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. 31<\/sup>And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32<\/sup>He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33<\/sup>He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.\u2019 34<\/sup>Mary said to the angel, \u2018How can this be, since I am a virgin?\u201935<\/sup>The angel said to her, \u2018The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36<\/sup>And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37<\/sup>For nothing will be impossible with God.\u2019 38<\/sup>Then Mary said, \u2018Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.\u2019 Then the angel departed from her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All collects and readings appointed for this day as well as the orders of Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer and Night Prayer can be found at almanac.oremus.org\/2020-12-20<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sunday 20th December – 4th Sunday of Advent Collect God our redeemer,who prepared the Blessed Virgin Maryto be the mother of your Son:grant that, as she looked for his coming as our saviour,so we may be ready to greet himwhen he comes again as our judge;who is alive and reigns with you,in the unity of … <\/p>\nGospel<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n