Redeemer Weekend Sermons

Teach Us To Pray

February 01, 2026

Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown

Since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus.

— Luke 1:3

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

— Luke 10:38-42

The Good Samaritan shows us what love does.

Mary reminds us where love begins.

Prayer teaches us how to stay there.

“Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

— Luke 11:1

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place.  When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

— Luke 11:1

“When you pray, say: Father…”

— Luke 11:2

Prayer is about presence before it’s about anything else.  Prayer doesn’t begin with outcomes.  Prayer is the free choice to be with the Father, to prefer his company.  In our desire for certain outcomes or our confusion over not getting certain outcomes, we are tempted to begin there.  But we cannot brush past simply being with the Father and arrive at anything close to the sort of prayer Jesus won back for us.  Prayer starts with presence.

— Tyler Staton

Gracious Father,
you are the God of peace,
the sovereign King who gathers one Kingdom from many nations
and calls us to belong wholly to you and to one another;

Teach us to be with you before we strive to do for you.
Quiet our anxious hearts,
loosen our grip on lesser allegiances,
and form in us the mind of Christ.

Where opinions differ, give us charity.
Where fears rise, give us trust.
Where we are tempted to divide, make us one.

As we seek the future of Redeemer Church,
guide us by your Spirit.
Grant us wisdom in discernment,

patience with one another,
and courage to follow wherever you lead.
 

Make us a praying people before we are a decisive people,
that our life together may reflect the peace and unity of your Kingdom.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

My Witnesses

January 18, 2026

Teacher: Pastor Michael White

The golden rule

Matthew 7:12

Intro:

“We are an underwear family”

I need you to get on board with this.

It’s the done thing in our family

I would assume that we are all underwear people, if not, please don’t tell me.

Families have characteristics. 

Ways that they do things, 

things they don’t do, 

values they have. 

When you think about your family, now or in the past, what things characterized your family?

Maybe you’re a camping family

Or maybe you’re a “we watch a movie on Friday night family”

Maybe you’re a “we say grace even in restaurants family”

There are things that you do, that show what your family values.

“Remember who you are!”

You’ve been given an identity.

A set of values

You’re not just you, you represent a group of people.

Super familiar verse

But I want to put it into its context and that’s going to add a layer to its meaning.

Scripture

Matthew 7:12

12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Context is king

This comes at the end of the sermon on the mount, Matthew 5-7

That’s important

What’s the sermon on the mount?

Riff

Jesus greatest concentrated teaching

Important because he starts out with this.

He is defining what his purpose is

Showing what is important to him

For the next 3 years he lives this out

When we get down to our verse…7:12 

Doesn’t really feel related to vv. 7-11.  

7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 

Then the golden rule comes and it doesn’t seem to follow.

It goes back to 5:17 

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 

That’s the overall rubric, 

What does it look like to fulfill the law and prophets?  

Jesus takes 2 chapters to illustrate how you do that.

then it culminates in the Golden rule

The law and the prophets are fulfilled in how we treat other people.

That’s what the 2 chapters of the sermon on the mount are all about, how Jesus’ disciples should relate to other people.

The proof of a relationship with Jesus is a changed heart that results in changed behavior toward other people

Need to understand 

This is a verse about Christian community, the church

It’s not about being an individual.  

It does affect individual behavior, but in the sense of how we as individuals fit into the group.

This is about how the family behaves.

Just like your family of origin has certain characteristics,

The Golden rule characterizes the family of God

This is how the family behaves as God fulfills his plan and purpose for the world.

The movement of God from the moment sin entered into the world

Until the point where evil is finally defeated once and for all

Story arc that God is making a new creation.  

The church.  

We are living into God’s plan and purpose and 

we do that by acting like the family of God.

It’s fundamentally about redemption.

As people come to know the good news of Jesus, 

God is gathering them/us together, creating a new people, a new community of people who are living into the reality of God’s new creation.  

It’s like this taste of heaven.

Here’s where the Golden Rule comes in

Those people are pointing to a world where only good is done to each other.  

Can you Imagine what that would be like?

People wouldn’t hurt each other

No one would say terrible things to each other

There wouldn’t be any war

No one would need to be afraid

It sounds like heaven…

This is the profound point.

This is the answer to the line of the Lord’s Prayer

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven

A world where only good is done to each other

That’s the kingdom of God. 

That’s what we point to.

That’s how disciples of Jesus live

Do to others what you would have them do to you.

This is the done thing.  

This is how the family behaves.  

This is how the new community reflects the character of God.

This is how we live into the day when God’s rule is complete.

That’s what the Golden rule is all about

The Golden Rule in history

Nobody really knows how it became known as the “Golden Rule”  

But the story I like best is that the Roman Emperor Severus Alexander 222-35, was so impressed by the saying that he had it inscribed in gold on the wall of his chamber.  

Severus Alexander  

You’ve probably never heard of him, but he has a very famous descendent

Severus Snape

The Golden Rule isn’t original to Jesus.

It exists in Judaism, particularly in Rabbi Hillel, 

I’d show you a photo of him, but he doesn’t have any famous relatives

and many other places, 

Here’s the thing: it is almost always in the negative.  

Don’t do to other people what you don’t want them to do to you.

That’s a great rule. 

Would you like it if someone did that to you?

No?  Then don’t do that to them.

Cutting people off on the freeway.

Jesus takes that rule and does something interesting with it.

Jesus puts it in the positive

Takes it away from being passive

As long as your not doing anything bad, you’re doing fine.

By putting it in the positive makes it more demanding.

Therefore everything you would like others to do to you, your yourselves be doing to them.

It’s proactive

“Hey, here’s this person in this situation.”  

If I was in that situation, I would want someone to do this for me.

You can’t meet everyone’s need.  

It’s impossible.  

But don’t use that as an out.

There will be people God places in your field of vision

Me in the supermarket

You look lost can I help you.

In the negative way of understanding the rule, he didn’t have to do that.  

In the positive sense that Jesus introduces, this was a great way.

It has little implications and it has huge implications.

Maybe it means you open the door for someone who is caring an armful of packages.

Maybe you stop and help someone who looks like they need help.

Maybe you grant charitable assumptions instead of assuming the worst.

Maybe you put yourself into the position of people who are affected by policies and procedures that don’t affect you and ask yourself, what would I want someone to do for me if I was in that situation?

Water at Chautauqua

We take the initiative to love people.

It doesn’t say treat others as they treat you.

We are called to live by a higher standard, a greater righteousness, a deeper ethic than 

“pay each other back in kind”

quid pro quo

Feels like there could be this complex morality.

But Jesus boils down to something super simple.

There are 622 laws in the Old Testament

All the teaching of the sermon on the mount is caught up in this summary.  This one thing…

Whatever you would like other people to do to you be doing that to other people.

Raises issues of identity

Whose family do you belong to?

Maybe the more revealing question is: Whose family do you look like?  

What are the things that characterize your life?

Some of us, need to decide which family we want to belong to.

Others of us, need to decide that we are going to be more serious about reflecting the family priorities.

You can’t just dabble with Jesus

In the public square there are people saying Jesusy things but whose lives don’t reflect anything of the Jesus that I know.

What family are you reflecting?

Whose family do you look like?

Just because you show up at church, doesn’t mean that you are reflecting God’s family.

The biggest problem to be overcome?  Our anger

Inside and outside the church.

We are all Jesusy until something happens that makes us mad or that we don’t like.

Sajan and the capital fund.

We grow.  We get mentored.  We watch other people live

The longer you hang out with the family, the more you figure out what the done thing is.

Which means that some us need to make sure that we are setting a good example and all of us need to continue to grow into the image and likeness of Jesus

This happened in our family.

Brian  

3 criteria

I’m a girl dad

He’s a guy.  

He contacts his parents 3 times a year.

I have heard from Rachel and Allie

Our family is not like that.

Brian has learned

That’s the done thing in our family

I’m sure his parents don’t know he was deployed

They’ll have three kids

But he has learned what our family looks like

We sink our roots in deeply into the family and we participate with the Holy Spirit in the creation of the new community

I am a part of a group.  

I am not just me.  

I am an extension of us.

All about relationships.  

How we treat each other.

How we love God, by loving others

How does this help you make decisions?

The Golden Rule is like a compass.  

It doesn’t address every single situation.  

But, it points you in the right direction.

It might not tell you how long you need to do something or what the exact process should be, but it helps you find the right path.

Friend is dealing with a difficult employee.  

They do just the bare minimum to get by.  

They are passive aggressive.  

They are not actively undermining things.

They seem to know just where the line is and they push it but don’t cross it.

Before you put your management hat on.  

It’s complicated.  

And I haven’t told you the whole story.

The Golden Rule doesn’t tell you when to involve HR, or when to start a performance improvement plan. 

But it does tell you what your posture should be as you approach the situation. 

An application point would be to look at your relationships and ask “Who am I not treating like I would like to be treated?”

Context of the series on missions.  

Uniquely positioned to affect people

Place of hospitality and warmth

Keeping the main thing the main thing.

All sorts of churches who have become characterized by all sorts of things that are not the gospel.

God is inviting everyone into a new community.  That’s the evangelistic opportunity.

We have this to offer people.  

Showing people a different way, a better way.  A way that leads to peace and joy and fulfillment.

We do this by living differently

lives are Characterized by the things that characterized Jesus’ life.

Holding as important what Jesus held iimportant

I want to go back to something I said early about two very important teachings of Jesus.

The Golden Rule and the Lord’s prayer

Desire is in the golden rule 

Do the thing that you would desire other people to do for you.

It’s also key to the Lord’s Prayer

I desire that Your kingdom come, your will be done.

In my life and on earth in the same way it is done in heaven.

Our hearts is a not good judge of what is best.  

But our hearts can be changed to desire the things that God desires.

Encourage us as a group to think about that.  

What are our hearts desiring?

Who or what is forming our heart?  

The gospel or our preferred news outlet?

What would your friends, your children or your grandchildren say forms you more, your commitment to Jesus or your party affiliation?

We have this amazing gift which we have been given that we can offer people.  

Changed lives, changed hearts, a community where we are striving to honor God by faithfully working in our relationships to bring about a kingdom where only good is done.

Sermon question:

Who or what is forming your heart?

Who do you need to treat differently?

How can the golden rule help you make decisions this week?

My Witnesses

January 11, 2026

Teacher: Pastor Peter Mutabazi

My Witnesses

January 04, 2026

Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

—Acts 1:8

Witnesses = Martyrs

Our proclamation of the Good News must flow out of a life transformed by that Good News.

The church is the bearer to all the nations of a gospel that announces the kingdom, the reign, and the sovereignty of God.  It calls men and women to repent of their false loyalty to other powers, to become believers in the one true sovereignty, and so to become corporately a sign, instrument, and foretaste of that sovereignty of the one true and living God over all nature, all nations, and all human lives.  It is not meant to call men and women out of the world into a safe religious enclave but to call them out in order to send them back as agents of God’s kingship.

— Leslie Newbigin

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

— Matthew 25:34-40

The translation of dikaiosyne poses problems, however, at least in English.  It can refer to justification, or to righteousness, or to justice.  Most English New Testament translations reveal a bias toward the second meaning…To find a correct translation is, therefore, crucial.  A wrong translation may in fact prove the aptness of the Italian saying…”The translation is a traitor!”  Perhaps, however, we should not allow ourselves to choose between “righteousness” and “justice” when seeking for the meaning of dikaiosyne.  Our problem may, rather, lie in the fact that the English language is unable to embrace the wide scope of dikaiosyne in one word.  Maybe, then, we should translate it with “justice-righteousness,” in an attempt to hold on to both dimensions.

— David Bosch

Instead of “righteousness,” we should think in terms of “acting-rightly” for us and our neighbors.

2 Parts to “acting-rightly”

1. Spirituality — Loving God
2. Missions — Loving our neighbor

The goal of mission is to ensure that every person, regardless of ethnic or social-economic status, experiences the fullness of the Kingdom of God here and now.

When I think of words to describe deeply formed mission, I have in mind such words as patience, empathy, curiosity, discernment, incarnation, non coercive, invitational, justice, and service.  We need these words to combat a way of doing mission that is is often impatient, transactional, coercive, obtrusive, judgmental, disembodied, and anxious.

— Rich Villodas

The Intermission

December 28, 2025

Teacher: Pastor Leanne Benton

Guest: Amanda Mathes

The Intermission

Be still and know that I am God.

(Psalm 46:10)

BIBLICAL INTERMISSION #1:

Israel Between Egypt and the Promised Land

Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands.

(Deuteronomy 8:2)

He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna…to teach you that man does not live on bread along but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

(Deuteronomy 8:2)

The wilderness was not punishment.

It was preparation!

BIBLICAL INTERMISSION #2:

Elijah After the Mountaintop

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

(I Kings 19:11-12)

BIBLICAL INTERMISSION #3:

Jesus Between Birth and Ministry

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

(Isaiah 9:6)

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

(Luke 2:52)

In their hearts humans plan their course,

But the Lord establishes their steps.

(Proverbs 16:9)

He who began a good work in you

Will carry it on to completion.

(Philippians 1:6)

INTERMISSION #4: Redeemer Church

The Thrill of Hope - Christmas Eve

December 24, 2025

Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown

Joy turns into rejoicing.

Look, Charlie, let's face it. We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. — Lucy van Pelt 

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. 

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” 

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. — Luke 2:1-20 

I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. — Luke 2:10 

The good news is that the one true God has now taken charge of the world…The ancient sickness that had crippled the whole world, and humans with it, has been cured at last, so that new life can rise up in its place. Life has come to life and is pouring out like a mighty river into the world, in the form of a new power, the power of love. The good news was, and is, that all this has happened in and through Jesus; that one day it will happen, completely and utterly, to all creation; and that we humans, every single one of us, whoever we are, can be caught up in that transformation here and now. — N.T. Wright 

Joy turns into rejoicing. 

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. — Luke 2:20 

Feelings are great liars. If Christians worshipped only when they felt like it, there would be precious little worship. We think that if we don’t feel something there can be no authenticity in doing it. But the wisdom of God says something different: that we can act ourselves into a new way of feeling much quicker than we can feel ourselves into a new way of acting. Worship is an act that develops feelings for God, not a feeling for God that is expressed in an act of worship. — Eugene Peterson

The Thrill of Hope - Week 4

December 21, 2025

Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown

We all long to be known and to be loved.

You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in you.

— St. Augustine

I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

— Ephesians 3:17-19

“Wide” illustrates his accepting love.

“Long” reveals his lasting love.

“High” proclaims his exalting love.

“Deep” displays his sacrificial love.

You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in you.

— St. Augustine

God wasn’t hiding from us.  We were hiding from God, so God came to find us.

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”).

— Matthew 1:18-23

Immanuel — God with us.

God

The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

— Luke 1:35

With

Us

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

— Romans 8:38-39

The Thrill of Hope - Week 3

December 14, 2025

Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown

Joy

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

—Luke 2:8-1

What’s the difference between happiness and joy?

Happiness is an emotional response to our external circumstances. Joy is a deeper reality that flows from the core of our being.

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

— John 15:11

Joy cannot by bought, nor can we just flip a switch will ourselves to be joyous. Joy must be cultivated.

Joy is not a requirement of Christian discipleship; it is a consequence.  It is not what we have to acquire in order to experience life in Christ; it is what comes to us when we are walking in the way of faith and obedience.

— Eugene Peterson

The Thrill of Hope - Week 2

December 07, 2025

Introduction: Pastor Dave Brown

Teacher: Glen Peterson

The Story we live in..... is the Story we live out. 

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace…” Isaiah 9:2-6 (niv)

The Kingdom of God-Life in God's presence and God's power-has now become available to ordinary people like you and me.

Its right here, right now.

“Son of man, can these dry bones live?” “Sovereign Lord, you alone know."

“Non-discipleship costs abiding peace, a life penetrated throughout by love, faith that sees everything in the light of God’s overriding governance for good, hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging of circumstances, power to do what is right and withstand the forces of evil. In short, it costs exactly that abundance of life Jesus said he came to bring (John 10:10).” Dallas Willard

The Thrill of Hope - Week 1

November 30, 2025

Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown

The season of advent is marked by hope filled waiting.

Christ has died.

Christ is risen.

Christ will come again.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

— Isaiah 9:6-7

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”

— Revelation 21:1-5a

Christ has died.

Christ is risen.

Christ will come again.

A waiting person is a patient person.  The word “patience” means the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full in the belief that something hidden there will manifest itself to us.  Impatient people are always expecting the real thing to happen somewhere else and therefore want to go elsewhere. The moment is empty.  But patient people dare to stay where they are.  Patient living means to live actively in the present and wait there.  Waiting, then, is not passive.  It involves nurturing the moment, as a mother nurtures the child that is growing in her womb.

— Henri Nouwen

What God does in us as we wait is just as important as what we’re waiting for.

Christ has died.

Christ is risen.

Christ will come again

Jesus's resurrection is the beginning of God's new project not to snatch people away from earth to heaven but to colonize earth with the life of heaven.

— N.T. Wright

In this season, we might not wait well.  We might become impatient and disgruntled and lose hope.  But, dear friend, the good news of Advent is not that we are faithful in our waiting; it’s that God is faithful in his coming.

— Rich Villodas

Christ has died.

Christ is risen.

Christ will come again