The Word becomes flesh as Jesus calls us into community – and we call each other – “Together We Serve.” The Word becomes flesh not at the centers of power – but in the vibrant pulse of life at the margins – in everyday folk and our everyday lives – in this Jesus of Nazareth, in this community of mutuality.

Grace is God’s unconditional love for the whole world.  Grace insists that we say true things about systems of oppression and our complicity in those systems, and then calls us to change.  Grace then allows those who have participated in the harm to participate in the healing.

Claimed as God’s beloved in baptism, Jesus calls us to the work of making manifest in our humanity the life-giving, life-honoring reign of God.

On the first Sunday of a new year, we turn to the beginning of the Gospel of John, affirming that God's Word becomes flesh in the midst of us. Always, as we begin again, Christ manifests God’s Word in us.

Advent hope brings with it this question: Who do you want to be when Christ comes?

This Sunday, we begin our Advent theme: "Light Dawns on a Weary World."  In the dawning of Christ’s new day, Jesus invites us to keep on watching – watching out for ourselves and each other, watching for what God is doing in the world, watching for the work that is ours to do.

The kingdom of God is like an ICU nurse.  Christ the King stands in power and tender mercy with those whose backs are up against the wall, and brings about Christ’s reign of justice, healing, and peace. 

In Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, we hear a call to stay woke, to see what we see, and to be changed for good.

Amid the storm, what we are doing here is building the house of our lives on the sure and steady foundation of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ. Hope is what we do every morning when we rise with the day and say, “We can do this.”  

In the communion of the saints, our memory of life with God yesterday points us to where and how we might find our way to life today and tomorrow – not just for us, but for our children and our grandchildren, and for all the generations yet to come.