He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
​~Luke 2:49
 
Wasn’t it Christmas just yesterday? Surely it was, yet here we find ourselves transported 12 years to a young Jesus on the verge of adulthood making good trouble in the temple. If we want to recover the 12 days of Christmas, this surely doesn’t seem to help! At least we get this in Luke (and in Samuel!). The other gospels are even less interested in letting Jesus be a child!
 
And yet. The boy—the boys, Jesus and Samuel both—may be teaching us about lingering, about not moving so fast, about attending to what is worthy of our attention, about giving ourselves to what makes for Christmas living. The truth of a moment surely depends on your perspective. We cannot blame the parents for their panic when they find that Jesus is missing on the road home. But can we fault Jesus? There is a singularity of purpose, a mindfulness to the moment that may be just the medicine we need to navigate our way through anxious, unsettled times in Christmas confidence. The psalmist has something to say about this too, lost as well in seemingly unbounded gratitude.
 
There’s a good place to linger for a while! Let us listen and learn. And breathe. Deep. 
 
Enter into worship.
​
Sunday's Texts: 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26 † Psalm 148 † Colossians 3:12-17 † Luke 2:41-52

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Hope, peace, joy, love.
 
We have have been rehearsing for this night, preparing the way. And now the air is pregnant with possibility as we enter again into the promise of Good News and Great Joy. But what do you notice? What do you hear? Smell? Taste?
 
It’s earthy, but it lacks the citrus and pine notes of frankincense. There is that woody, warm and slightly medicinal pungency, but that’s not myrrh. These gifts, with all their weight, will come soon enough. All that glitters is not gold in this labored room.
 
And what’s that sound? Lowing? Do you imagine the animals were sensitive to Mary’s labored pains? Do you imagine they shared her relief as the Christ child entered the world? There is something about being a living being that connects us to one another. Come and see. Come and remember. Come and sing. The Creator becomes a creature. Listen for the flutter of wings—be it angels or other feathered friends.
 
Come and adore him. Sing songs of salvation. Enter into worship.

​Hope is a condition of the soul, not a response to circumstances.
~Vaclav Havel
 
Hope is the struggle of a people.
~Jurgen Moltmann
 
“Hope” is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all
~Emily Dickinson
 
And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth;
    and he shall be the one of peace.
~Micah 5:4b-5
 
No, we are not back to the first Sunday of Advent with its theme of hope. The nativity is near. The fourth candle--love—is set to be lit, and with it the aim of Christian hope, the precursor of peace, the surprise of joy: love has come, a radiant red beacon in the darkness.
 
Love, after all, is no feather light, flitting flight of fancy. It is a muscular, tenacious visitor that makes a home wherever it is born. The nativity, of course, is only the beginning. Love is cradled, fed, nurtured, reared, and protected. There’s nothing passive about it. It’s evidenced by who you run to with that 2:00 a.m. crisis. It’s unveiled where you reveal those most fragile of your gifts. It’s practice gives life and light to the world.
 
That’s what Mary and Elizabeth teach us. Enter into worship. 

Sunday Texts: Micah 5:2-5a † Luke 1:46b-55 or Psalm 80:1-7 † Hebrews 10:5-10† Luke 1:39-45, (46-55)

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“God will rejoice over you with gladness, God will renew you in God’s love; God will exult over you with loud singing,”
 ~Zephaniah 3:17b 
 
What a treasured image buried away in Zephaniah - this little book in the Hebrew Scripture: A God that sings loudly, over the love of you! What a joy! What a powerful image to hold next to those messages that tell us we are not enough, don’t have enough, can’t possibly be enough. Advent is gift of time to remember and sink deeper into the story of God who sings loudly, who came humbly, and who gives fully, all for the love of God’s people – the love of you. Come enter into worship and remember.

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Prepare the way of the Lord!

This advent, we hear this line from Malachi, Isaiah, and Luke. It is a call to action! But how do we do it? Or do we just think that John the Baptizer took care of that, and we are off the hook?

​When we consider hope, peace, joy and love on our Advent Sundays, we also consider the justice and right-relationship of the Lord’s coming. Do we look for justice or do we “do” justice? Yes! Both add to our hope, peace, joy and love. They are personal and corporate. Through our hills and valleys of life, we look for what is smoothing out the way for us and for all.  Sometimes, it is a surprise, a splash of red out of the corner of the eye that offers a new way to be.

Prepare the way! Stay awake! Good News is on the way!

Enter into worship.

We continue to keep our financial commitments to our mission partners and staff. If you are not yet able to join us, thank you for remembering to send in your financial pledges and offerings or donating here. ​