Latest / Eurasia Region Podcast / S1-E34 | Everyday Eurasia | Debora Myrtle Anish

Transcript

S1-E34 | Everyday Eurasia | Debora Myrtle Anish · Eurasia Region Podcast

• 0:06
  Welcome to the special advance series of the Everyday Eurasia
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  podcast, Inspiring Fate, or every day.
• 0:13
  In the coming weeks, they'll be journeying together toward
• 0:16
  Christmas, A season of anticipation, reflection, and
• 0:20
  light in the darker days. During this special season of
• 0:24
  Advent, we will journey through the Advent themes of hope,
• 0:28
  peace, joy, and love. This third week, we will join
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  Deborah Myrtle Anish. She is a Sunday school teacher
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  and NDI president at the Co Free Church of the Nazarene in
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  Chennai, India. In her daily life, she is an
• 0:41
  assistant professor and clinic opsiologist in a government
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  hospital and is also pursuing geological studies.
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  She will share with us about the team.
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  It's from joy. Joy at Christ's arrival.
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  Today's Bible reading is taken from Luke chapter 2, verses 8 to
• 1:00
  14. And they were in the same
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  country, shepherds, abiding in the fields, keeping wash over
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  their flock by night. And lo, the Angel of the Lord
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  came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them,
• 1:16
  and they were so afraid. And the Angel said unto them,
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  Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
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  which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in
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  the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
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  And this shall be a sign unto you.
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  Ye shall find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a
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  Manger. And suddenly there was with the
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  Angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God in
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  saying glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace,
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  goodwill toward men. Picture this for a moment.
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  It is a cold winter night. A small group of shepherds
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  huddle around a flickering campfire, wrapped in their
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  cloaks, whispering as they keep watch over their sheep.
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  It's an ordinary night, nothing remarkable, just the same
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  routine. They have lived day after day,
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  night after night. And then suddenly everything
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  changes. An Angel of the Lord appears,
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  and the glory of the Lord surrounds them.
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  These men who lived on the margins of society, simple,
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  unnoticed shepherds, are suddenly standing in the
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  radiance of heaven. Naturally they are terrified,
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  but the Angel speaks words that come and astonish them.
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  Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will
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  cause great joy for all the people, great joy for all
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  people. The joy announced that night was
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  global and personal, big enough to shake the heavens, yet close
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  enough to reach ordinary workers in an open field.
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  The Angel continues. A saviour has been born to you.
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  God's joy is not distant, it is personal.
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  It comes near, right into the places where we are, even when
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  we least expect it. And this announcement didn't
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  happen in a palace or temple, but in a field.
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  God chose ordinary people in an ordinary place to be the first
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  to hear and the first to share the good news.
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  As the shepherds listened, heaven erupted in praise.
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  Glory to God in the highest heaven.
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  This Advent season, many of us long for joy.
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  The shepherds remind us that joy is not something we create.
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  Joy is something we receive. Jesus is the joy that meets us
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  where we are, in our routines, in our responsibilities, in our
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  ordinary moments, even in the fields where we never expect
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  anything extraordinary. Today, shall we ask God to help
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  us notice one place where his joy shows up, because the God
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  who met the shepherds in their fields is the same God who meets
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  us in our everyday lives. Let's pray.
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  Father God, we thank you for the good news of great joy announced
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  on that night long ago. Thank you for your joy that
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  reaches us in ordinary places just as it reached the
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  shepherds. Open our eyes today to notice
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  your joy breaking into our lives.
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  Full our hearts with the assurance that Christ has come
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  to us to bring hope, peace and joy and help us carry that joy
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  into the world around us. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
• 5:05
  Thank you for listening to the Everyday Eurasia podcast,
• 5:08
  Inspiring Fate for everyday. For more Everyday Stories,
• 5:12
  subscribe on this podcast channel, follow our socials,
• 5:15
  Facebook and Instagram, or our newsletter Snapshots.
• 5:19
  For our newsletter and further information about the Eurasia
• 5:22
  region, visit our website, eurasiaregion.org.