Love Chapel Hill

Reimagine: New Beginnings --- Mark 5:1-20

A demon-possessed man. A community that didn't know what to do with him. While the confrontation here may not be the same as a contemporary mental illness, the conflict and suffering would be familiar to any who have experienced it. As we close this New Beginnings series with a fiercely intimate account of imbalance and presence, remember that where you came from is part of your testimony. A new beginning isn't wiping away the history. It's starting where you were and moving forward with the help of God, community, and professionals.

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Reimagine: New Beginnings --- Mark 4:1-20, 26-32

This early and familiar parable of Jesus offers quite the challenge. We may be tempted to find ourselves in the good soil here. But Jesus reminds us that the best harvests come from when the sower's few seeds multiply into many times what they were when they fell? Has scripture always borne that kind of fruit for you, or could rocks and thorns be hiding in your soil too?

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Reimagine: New Beginnings --- Mark 1:14-20,3:13-19

We continue in the book of Mark as Jesus gathers his disciples. Imagine being these men. You're told that the promises of generations were coming to pass, that the world you existed in was a distorted reflection of what it should be and salvation was coming. Would you then drop your livelihood with the same lack of hesitation? Would you invite others to do the same?

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Reimagine: New Beginnings --- Mark 1:9-13

Jesus opens his ministry in a dynamic and beautiful display of power and identity. All elements of the Trinity come together to kick off three years that would change the rest of history. The baptism of Jesus also harkens back to our fall and foreshadows the redemption that is about to take place. The people there may not have gotten it then. And even with 2000 years of context, there's a lot for us to learn here too.

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Reimagine: New Beginnings --- Mark 1:1-8

Happy 2024, Love Chapel Hill! The turning of the year makes us all feel a call to start something new... to varying degrees of success. (Usually low). And this year, like so many recently it seems, we know that so much of what is needs to be renewed. When Jesus's ministry is heralded by his eccentric cousin, a turning point was reached. Hope itself took to the road. And new beginnings would ripple across history.

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Protagonist -- Luke 2:8-12

Merry Christmas, Love Chapel Hill! It's the last Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve to boot! As it was for the shepherds in Bethlehem, we are in a period of night. The anticipation of the Light doesn't diminish the darkness of the night before. More than four-hundred years had passed since Israel's last prophet spoke. They were again under occupation. Maybe you are in your own period of night. You're not sure where to go and haven't seen hope in a very long time. This Christmas is for you too. The Author of your story became the Protagonist for just this kind of night!

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Protagonist --- Matthew 1:18-23

Imagine that you suddenly found yourself as a key figure in a story that defines a whole culture's identity. Mary and Joseph were told that they were the culmination of Israel's centuries of redemption, fall, and salvation. Very human people responding in faith to enter into the power of the narrative. Remember that we're also carrying on the story of hope and redemption in dark times. That's what Advent is all about.

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Protagonist --- Isaiah 9:1-7

Expect the unexpected. God incarnate and the prophesied King came to the world in a feeding box and grew up as a carpenter's son. Gideon defeated the Midianites with a tiny army and a lot of noise. Jesus was what the world needed, even if he bucked expectations of what the Messiah would be. And yet the redemption he brought was greater than anyone ever imagined. God thrives in the unexpected. Has something similar happened to you?

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Protagonist --- Isaiah 64:1-4

The Advent season has arrived! We make a natural move from our series in Isaiah to the coming of the foretold King generations later in Bethlehem. Using the devotional written by Pastor Matt and Josh LeRoy as guide, let's turn our hearts to the moment God came down to live among us. Where the story about God's people pivots to make God a living, breathing character among them; the Protagonist to whom Scripture has been leading.

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God is Speaking --- Isaiah 61

We close this series in Isaiah with the hope of restoration that Jesus himself directly quotes. It uses the imagery of the year of Jubilee, giving Israel a glimpse of what a return to their homeland would be like. With the same passage, Jesus would expand that vision to the whole world. We don't even have to wait until a 50-year mark to see the love of Christ transform a hopeless situation. You can be that restoration to others. Maybe someone can be that for you too.

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