What is the voice and role of the Church in politics? How are we to understand and navigate our dual citizenship—as people of a nation on earth and a people of the Kingdom of God?

What if stewardship is bigger than tithing and church budgets? What if our identity as stewards of God’s grace has less to do filling out a commitment card and more to do with living in abundance rather than from a deficit.

Thanksgiving Eve 2008. Maybe the nature of our shared bond, our reason for giving thanks, is not the answer to the question “What was in it for me?” but rather “What has been committed to us?"

Zechariah and Elizabeth were engaged in a particular kind of waiting. They had been waiting for the blessing of being able to conceive a child together. They were still waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promise to change the world.

For Mary, time was a grace that enabled her to ponder the message proclaimed through God’s story. It was in the waiting that Mary found the space to reflect upon what such news meant for her life, the life of her son and the world at large.

For the Church, a new year dawns with the first day of Advent. Advent heralds the new year by waiting. We begin a new cycle of time, not by doing, not by resolving, not by celebrating but by waiting, by remembering, by anticipating.

Don’t be afraid that you don’t understand what God is up to. Wait to see how God is fulfilling what he promised a long time ago. Believe that what seems like a dead end in your life, is really God’s new beginning. In other words, God says, “Trust me.”

As the prayer of our season of Advent has been heard, in the knowledge that Jesus Christ has come among us, let us rejoice together and give thanks!

Continuing our celebration of Christmas by observing the birth of Jesus through the unique perspective told in the Book of Matthew.

Epiphany Sunday marks the transition from the birth of Jesus to the life of Jesus. Together may we be surprised as we reflect on why Jesus was baptized and what his baptism tangibly reveals about God’s love for us.