This morning is the first day of Advent! A time when we anxiously await the appearing (“advent”) of our Jesus. And that’s the wonderful thing about the Advent of our Savior Jesus Christ. In it, we can see two aspects of God—a God who is King ruling and reigning over all creation and achieving his cosmic purposes…and a God who is Servant and comes close and personally serves us in humility and lowliness. King and Servant. These two aspects are seemingly contradictory, but both are important for our understanding of who God is and how we experience Him.
Why did Jesus have to be born for us anyway? Why do we really need Christmas to happen? This week we will explore the reason behind our need for a Savior as we navigate through Psalm 13.
It’s the season of the year to reflect on people who are important to us…People whom we care about and who care about us. Our readings paint pictures of a God who cares about us and is committed to us…In fact, committed to us into eternity.
In a culture where we are overwhelmed with blessings, why is it that thanking God is so hard? Digging into the story of the 10 lepers healed by Jesus, we will examine thankfulness as a daily faith practice.
The last several Sundays in the church year tend to focus on end-times, final alignment for eternity, and reality checks for the Kingdom of God. This week’s Gospel reading gives us a reality check on how we are utilizing the resources we have been given in our lives. We are all given a different set of resources physically, mentally, and emotionally. In addition we are placed in differing life situations which may be more or less helpful. The emphasis is not on what we have received but how we use it. The call is to use well whatever gifts we have been given. What gifts have you received in your life? How have you used them under God’s grace?