29-Dec-24 (Luke 2:41-52)

When Jesus' parents asked him why he had stayed at the temple, he said, "Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” I would translate that to say, "Did you not know that I would be about my Father's business?" ...and just what was that business?
When Jesus is old enough to begin his ministry, he says that he has come to "proclaim good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
In some ways the Church is called to do the same. We proclaim Jesus' words of Good News to each and every person and we also act to help people in need, to aid in the healing of people, to visit prisoners and work to set them free.
We spend our time and give our resources so that this work can be done.
And here comes an opportunity to do that right now.

Prayer:

Please join me now in prayer.
God who sent Jesus into the world so we could experience your love for us, we pray that you would bless our gifts, that they would be put into service according to your will.
We pray for ourselves as well, that we could be about your work in this world in all the ways we have.
We pray in the name of Jesus, our Savior, Amen.