AN ADVENT PRAYER

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;

and the government will be upon his shoulder,
and his name will be called
“Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.”

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Isaiah 9:6

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LET MEN BE MOVED

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Lord our God, you have sent light to shine on earth
and have revealed your heavenly power in Jesus
Christ, so that in spite of all the darkness and evil
we may rejoice because we have a Savior. Reveal
your power in our day. Let something be done anew
toward the building of your kingdom on earth. Let
something draw men’s hearts to you to give them
light so that they may thank and praise you for all
you have done and are still doing to bring the whole
world into your hands. O Lord God, let men be
moved by the opening of the heavens. May their
hearts awaken and their sadness give way to joy in
Jesus Christ the Savior. We are your children who
are allowed to wait in expectation for you to set
everything right. We can know that even in our
troubled times your hand is at work to reveal your
will, to make your will plain to all generations on
earth, as you promised through Abraham. May your
name be glorified, O Lord God. May your name be
honoured, your kingdom come, and your will be done
on earth as in heaven. Amen

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Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt
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Blumhardt was a 19th century German Lutheran theologian who practised a radical message based on Jesus sermon on the mount and the Kingdom of God. As the First World War broke out, he declared his belief in a coming Kingdom of God, declaring "we live in the time before a massive change in the world. This darkness will be vanquished through the Lord Jesus Christ." He is regarded as one of the fathers of Christian socialism but also believed and worked in the area of the miraculous and the supernatural. He was a significant influence on the theologians Karl Barth, Hermann Kutter and Leonhard Ragaz ~GOSh.~