ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness
GOD IS FAITHFUL God is reliable and faithful in his words. He always does what he promises to do, and we can depend on him never to be unfaithful to his promises. Thus, he is “a God of faithfulness”
Numbers 23:19 God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
Praise God because He is Faithful
Praise God because he promised salvation and faithfully fulfilled his promise. Praise God that every promise he has made will be fulfilled. Praise God that he is faithfully present. Praise God for the times that you have personally experienced his faithfulness.
CONFESSION: Confess your sins to God and receive his continued mercy.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
THANKSGIVING: Giving thanks to God for his specific blessings in our lives.
“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalm 100
SUPPLICATION: Bringing our requests to God.
- Bring your personal prayer requests to God.
- Pray for your friends and family who do not know Jesus. Ask God to draw them to Himself. Pray for opportunities to make His love known.
SCRIPTURE READING:
John 1:1-18- New Living Translation
Prologue: Christ, the Eternal Word
1 In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with God.
3 God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
5 The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.
6 God sent a man, John the Baptist, 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. 9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
15 John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’”
16 From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (NIV)
Jesus—God incarnate, fully divine, fully human, two natures in one person—has made it possible for us to know God more fully. This means Jesus was not a hologram or a ghost disguised as a person. He was a real, living, breathing person. He was fully God. He’s never stopped sustaining the universe. And at the same time, as an infant he was dependent on his mother. Yes, the incarnation is a paradox, yet it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. If anything, it shows our human minds’ finiteness to fully comprehend who God is. We don’t need to be undone by all this mystery. God’s revealed truth is adequate. He’s given us all he wanted us to know. We can trust in his wisdom.
The incarnation is the “steel truth” Terry talked about last week. It’s solid, it’s firm, and it happened in real time and space over 2,000 years ago. Sit in the wonder of all its majesty. Now, thank God for his involvement in your own life.