A place for my thoughts and sermons.
We begin our new series, Facing Doubts, with “Do I Belong?” Weall have fears and doubts. What happens when we doubt that we belong? What is our role in the church to welcome others? Who does Christ welcome in? Do we follow his example? Let love cast out fear as we face our doubts.
Our scripture reading comes from 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a.
Today’s message is the last in our Christmas Spirit series and covers the “Spirit of Acceptance.” What can we learn from the acceptance of the Holy Spirit? What about the acceptance of the early disciples? How can we practice God’s radical love? Keep the Spirit of Christmas with you all through the year.
Today’s scripture readings come from Acts 8:14-17 and Luke 3:15-17,21-22.
There will be no new message next week, as I will be on vacation.
Our next message in Christmas Spirit is “Spirit of Praise.” We often focus on the wise men brining gifts, but what happens after? How did that gift of praise impact others? How do we keep a spirit of praise year round? Keep the Spirit of Christmas with you all through the year.
Our scripture readings come from Isaiah 60:1-6 and Matthew 2:1-12.
Our first series after Christmas is Christmas Spirit. Our first message is “Spirit of Growth” and we look at how we keep Christmas with us. After the holiday is over, what happens to all that good will? The kindness? Keep the Spirit of Christmas with you all through the year.
Our scripture readings come from 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26 and Luke 2:41-52.
Here’s the full text of tonight’s message! Merry Christmas! If you’d like to hear it, you can find it here.
Continue reading “Christmas Eve Sermon”
Tonight we have a special Christmas Eve message. “Child of Light” is the final message of Advent Children. How do we keep Christ in Christmas? Love. Merry Christmas to you all!
“Child of Peace” is our last Sunday in Advent Children. As we look to Christmas we ask a difficult question. How does one prepare for peace? What does peace mean to us? How do we share peace? We experience the advent of Christ as a child of God.
Our scripture reading comes from Micah 5:2-5a.
Our third installment of Advent Children is “Child of Redemption” and looks at our salvation. What does it mean to be redeemed by God? Do we act as if we are saved? Do we show thankfulness? Do we share that gift with others, freely and joyfully? We experience the advent of Christ as a child of God.
Our scripture reading comes from Zephaniah 3:14-20.
Our second message in Advent Children is “Child of Righteousness” and continues our Advent preparation. Can we make ourselves righteous on our own? What really lasts in our lives? What does it mean to be made righteous? We experience the advent of Christ as a child of God.
Our scripture reading comes from Malachi 3:1-4.
I’ve had some interesting and heated discussions surrounding refugees. I can get heated in a good discussion. Especially if it is about topics that I feel strongly about. Refugees are one of those subjects. There’s lots of reasons that I can get so worked up about it. There’s a justice for the oppressed aspect. There is the fair treatment of all people aspect. There is the loving a neighbor aspect. But maybe it is because I keep coming back to Jesus of Nazareth, Refugee Savior. We are told very little about the early life of Jesus. That makes whatever details we do have that much more striking. One of those images is of Mary and Joseph fleeing to Egypt. They are trying to escape a violent situation, and to do so they flee to a foreign country. I’m thinking about all the ways we picture Jesus, but it seems to really get to people if you call him a refugee. There’s always the argument that Mary and Joseph did things the legal way, but I cannot imagine they would ever have said “well, laws are laws, so I guess this baby will die.” I get heated because I know what I would do if I thought my children were going to be in danger. I also get heated because there’s a general feel that there is a need to say “well [liberal X] wasn’t any better than [conservative Y] so you must not care.” Here is the thing. You can like a politician and disagree with them. You can be a liberal or conservative and not go along with everything another liberal or conservative says. It also doesn’t matter who did what in the past when addressing the problem of here and now. Can it explain how we got here? Yes. Does it change that there are people desperate to find a home? No. One last rant before bed. Fact check your claims first. There’s plenty of places that can let you know that a lot of the terrible things said about refugees and immigrants is without merit. A dishonest argument never helped anyone. Especially when talking about vulnerable people.
So, here’s my message. Remember that Christmas is about remembering Christ. And if we remember Christ, we should remember that he was a refugee. He was taken from his native country and escaped into another land. Today, Jesus would have to get through a checkpoint. Jesus would have to come to the border and ask for asylum. Remember that the next time you see someone seeking a safer home for their children and themselves. And remember that when we help them, we are helping Christ.
