A Word from Pastor Jay - December 2023

The song of Mary fills the air
In soft and sweet refrain
To lift the lowly from despair
And grasp the heavenly gain.

“My soul, it magnifies the Lord
My spirit’s great with joy
For God has filled me with the Word
With life, a baby boy.”

God’s lowly servant willingly
Bears all our hopes and cares
That life will come abundantly,
The answer to our prayers.

“God’s mercy is for those who fear
And revel in God’s name
Through generations far and near
Who toil without fame.”

A peasant girl, she bears the Word
That ushers in God’s reign
Of plowshare that is forged from sword
And fuller life from pain.

“The strength of God in weakness born
That scatters prideful hearts
Now sews together what was torn
By all that sin imparts.”

From now on will the people say
That God has blessed us through
The handmaid, who in faithful way,
Bore forth our hopes anew.

“Of kings and rulers, potentates,
The powerful and strong
In weakness will God seal their fates
And give us a new song.”

But how, at present, do we see
This mother, lowly styled,
Who bore for us in hope and glee
This precious, holy child?

Do we, too, magnify the Lord
With spirits great with song
And long to know God’s gift, the Word,
This child awaited long?

Are we God’s servants, willingly,
Who give our hopes and cares
To Jesus, Savior, can he be
The answer to our prayers?

God’s mercy, do we hold it dear
And claim the Christ child’s name,
How will our generation hear
In Christmas God’s great claim?

A peasant girl, she bore the King
In joyfulness and pain
So that we all can with her sing
The song of God’s great reign

The strength of God is yours to hold
In heart and soul and mind
To ponder in this story old
God’s love, for all to find.

But don’t forget to share it, too
This blessing from above,
That all the world can hear anew
The story of God’s love.

So let us fill the air with song
As Mary, meek and mild,
Sang out for all who dared to long
For God’s gift, the Christ Child.