Have you ever realized how strange the story of the magi from the east visiting Jesus is? Today I contemplate the inspiration of the famous hymn “As With Gladness Men of Old” and how it connects to this strange story in the gospel of Matthew.

The night that Jesus was born was unlikely to be silent, so why does the hymn “Silent Night” resonate so much with the Christmas season? I contemplate the inspiration of this hymn and how it can be an analogy of peace and stillness before God even when our lives are busy and noisy.

Today I reflect with out Church’s kids on the presence of angels at the birth of Jesus. The shepherds share the news with the most unlikely folks in a nearby field watching their sheep.

I reflect on the beautiful contradiction of the Christmas story, God become human in Jesus. God provided a rose in the desert. A blooming rose in the frigid winter.

I continue to look at the hymns of advent and Christmas this week by exploring the setting of Jesus’ birth and inspiration for “O’ Little Town of Bethlehem”

Today I begin a new series inspired by the music around the story of Christmas. This week is “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus” written by Charles Wesley to remember the waiting of Israel for the messiah fulfilled in Jesus and our waiting today for Jesus to return.

There is so much more beauty in the world than we typically see. God makes all things beautiful in the end, even that which is dark and ugly now. Are we willing to see life through the eyes of God and recognize beauty in its unusual forms?

God is a God of innovation. If we really examine the scriptures it seems God is always up to something new. God is doing something new now. Are we open to seeing the new thing God is doing and join it?

Often we get stuck in nostalgia when we look back to our past. God calls his people to look back regularly but never in a desire to go back to the “good ol’ days” but to see how God was always faithful in the past so that we can trust him today.

Every year I explore the life of two prominent Christians from History. One during the Fourth of July weekend from the USA, and another on Reformation Sunday from somewhere else in the world. This year we are taking a look at Mother Teresa.