Have you considered that Christmas might be more about shattering stillness than securing it? Hear me as an introvert, who loves quiet moments. Travel with me for a moment to the hillside outside Bethlehem over two thousand years ago, where sheep are resting in the dark, shepherds are settling in, and the stars are overhead. Frederick Buechner imagined the shepherds in the…
Open. Grow. Serve.
Sermons on Advent (Page 3)
The Museum of Architecture in London held its annual Gingerbread City exhibition with public voting again this season.(1) The new special exhibit features more than 60 gingerbread buildings built around a masterplan developed by Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design. The architectural masterpieces made of sweet confections are designed and built by some of the most prominent firms in the world. Gingerbread City…
The prophet Isaiah foretold that Messiah would be called: Prince of Peace. Jesus – the Prince of Prince. Peace, not as the absence of conflict, but a deep and abiding authority over chaos and presence of justice. In a world filled with war and conflict, it is almost impossible to imagine peace. Peace is a stark and opposite change from the daily…
“All I want for Christmas is a teddy bear,” the eight-year-old daughter of vicar of Christ Church in a small Welsh village requested. Nothing wrong with this request. In fact, very reasonable request, indeed. It was only the timing that made it wild: 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve. As the vicar recounts the story, he…
Father: Resolute and God-Trusting There is a legend about the life an Elizabeth of Hungary from the 13th century. I was reading this story to my children this week. The story goes like this. This royal princess in her own right marries another royal at the tender age of 14. While she had grown up…
Today, might be the first the Sunday of Advent, but the decorating and preparing for the event of Christmas has begun! In our house, fresh eyes saw the decorations anew as the train set came out. Hours upon hours have already been spent transporting countless Nativity people, Paw Patrol pups, and firetrucks from point A…
Thank you for joining us this morning in worship. Thank you to all who came in their pajamas as well as the rest of us! Thank you for leaving the tree and the stockings, the breakfast table and the collection of family to be together in worship. Our Bishop wrote back in November as she began to get inquiries about Christmas on…
Car games are the gift of any driver with children. This time of year, I am reminded of when Alisabeth first really saw “yights”. That is Christmas lights. We would be driving around in the evening when she was two years old, and she would holler out – “yights!” pointing right or left for us to look. Each time we would look…
Piles of Prophets and Presents Is your Christmas shopping done yet? Are the presents piling higher and higher for your loved ones? There is no doubt the doing of Christmas keeps us busy. How are we listening to the call of the prophets and not just hearing the call to piles of presents which is loud. Marketing is effective. We can often…