Acts 17:11
Consider this
“When I was thinking about the Incarnation and a Christmas song that meant a lot to me, I was thinking back to when I was expecting our second daughter and she was due mid January and we knew she had Down syndrome and would need a major open heart surgery shortly after she was born. And I think the weightiness of that Christmas…”
“Advent was a time when you were aware that it's getting dark earlier. So the winter light is a low light and there's not as much of it. So you're aware of the light in the darkness, not just the light in the darkness. And I had this sense of it and I associated it with later on the excitements of Christmas…”
Our Advent meditations take us on a journey of faith through the stories of four women whose names we do not expect to find in the lineage of Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 1. At Christmas we easily see the beauty and significance of Mary’s faith in her obedient submission to the announcement that she would bear the child who would take away the sins of the world. She too is named in Matthew, but contrary to the other women, Mary lived to see the results of her faith…
“The part that most intrigues me [about the Christmas story] is just Joseph's willingness to go along with this plan. He's engaged to this woman who ends up being pregnant and he doesn't want to shame her, he doesn't want to bring shame to her or to his family or her family. He plans to divorce her quietly. But then just having an angelic visitation come to him and say, ‘No, this is from the Lord’ …”
“So here I am, this little boy in Detroit, Michigan, looking up through the boughs of a Christmas tree and imagining these worlds of light and being captivated and transfixed by the wonder of it. And here I am beginning to enter as one of the little steps of grace into this relationship with the Father…”
“We sing quite a number of songs for Christmas, both in Uganda and here. One of the Christmas songs that stands out is “Joy to the World, the Savior Has Come…” Growing up as kids — first of all, I grew up in Uganda. To be specific, in the village where a majority of people treasured Christmas and look towards that day…”
Our Advent meditations take us on a journey of faith through the stories of four women whose names we do not expect to find in the lineage of Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 1. At Christmas we easily see the beauty and significance of Mary’s faith in her obedient submission to the announcement that she would bear the child who would take away the sins of the world. She too is named in Matthew, but contrary to the other women, Mary lived to see the results of her faith…
“One of my favorite Christmas carols is “O Come, All Ye Faithful.” I just love the invitation in there. I love the words, O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, and those are descriptors that I don't normally think to label myself, especially in mid December. I think of myself as frazzled, exhausted, drained. But that carol is an invitation to worship the Lord …”
“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree …” So begins the oft-quoted account of Jesus’ birth, as recorded in Luke 2. The setting of that first Christmas so long ago is as relevant today as ever. Not unlike our own times, the season of Jesus’ birth was a time of widespread upheaval and distress…
“It's really nice, if you feel like someone has something to say to you, to be quiet for a minute and listen. Advent's a way of doing that. And you do that by listening to the Scriptures of the season. So pray the collect. Don't take my word for it. Try it yourself, and see that it doesn't do something to you. Pray that collect. It's found in the prayer book…”
“The one Christmas carol that stood out for me, and not only musically, but certainly the words, is ‘Holy Night,’ or ‘O Holy Night.’ One particular verse that is in it ... In fact, I wrote it down here, ‘The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger in all our trials born to be our friend. He knows our need, to our weakness no stranger…’”
