Scripture: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
We begin the season of Lent by remembering how fragile life is. Jesus reminds us that if we live for ourselves, all we build is just as fragile, but if we live for God’s love and others… that love makes something that can last.

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Scripture: Matthew 17:1-9

As we hear the story of Jesus’s Transfiguration, we are tempted to define and limit the life of the spirit to experiences of wonder and amazement… but when a voice says, “Listen to him,” Jesus speaks with a life that does not revel in mountaintop experiences, but goes down into the heart of all that may be hurting and broken in our world.

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Scripture: Isaiah 58:1-12
Guest preachers The Rev. Jeff Logan from Grace-Street Ministry and Matt Brown from Hope Squad offer the wisdom they have found with our neighbors who live unhoused. The prophet Isaiah calls the people to this worshipful way, finding the face of God and the invitation to true worship in caring presence.

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Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12
Jesus proclaims blessings in “the Beatitudes,” telling of God’s closeness and care for those in the midst of struggle… and and the call to us all to do the same, drawing near to those who yearn for peace, righteousness, and comfort in times of mourning.

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Scripture: Matthew 4:12-23
“What are you prepared to do?” As Jesus takes on a new chapter in his ministry and begins to call disciples to follow in his way, we wonder at the gifts and skills we bring with us into the ministry of the church, and the challenge to use those gifts to “escalate in love.”

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Scripture: Psalm 40:1-11
In a time of deep divisions, the psalms can tempt us into a painful duality of those who we would call friends and enemies. Yet they may also call us into that life giving tension of naming injustice clearly and holding out faith in God’s reconciling and redeeming power.

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Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12
Wise ones come from away seeking a new king. They get lost, because they go looking in a palace and in a capital. When they find a child born among animals, they—and we—are left to ponder, what if nations came to pay homage to a poor child? What if nations sought to live together in such a way that all children might be welcomed as the beloved of God?

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Lessons and Carols

As we tell of the many characters of Christ’s birth stories, we recognize that none of them find God with Us through a path they would expect. As we come to celebrate perfect love come down, we pray to release all our expectations of perfection in our celebrations, in the season, in our lives… we find that God has come to meet us where and how we are. What Joy to the World!

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Scripture: Luke 1:46-55
The Church has adapted the story of Mary’s reflection on the coming of her child, Jesus. We say she sang these words. What changes when we sing a story of God’s love? How can the song hold our deepest hopes, even when we cannot?

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Scripture: Isaiah 35:1-10
As our children share Christ’s birth with us in our annual Christmas Pageant, we wonder at what gifts come to us as we turn this holy story over to our youngest members of the church. As they bring creativity, the unexpected, the silly, and wondrous to life with Jesus… how are we changed? How are we invited back into this story to hear it fresh again and again?

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