We expected more from Christmas: more hope, more peace, more joy, more trust, and more love. And Christmas has come. So we ask: was there more that mattered? Or were there just more things? Further, now that Christmas Day has passed, what do we do with the “more?”

Join your neighbors in person or online for Christmas Eve worship as we figure out what Luke 2 has to say to us today about the love of God in Christ.

Christmas is not “happy, happy, joy, joy” for everyone. Further, this season reminds some of someone missed, a lost loved one, an “empty nest,” a broken relationship. So we recognize the mixed feelings of Christmas in our Longest Night worship experience.

We end out Expect More from Christmas series with trust. To be clear, it is the bedrock of every relationship. And in the end, Christmas is all about a relationship.

Isn’t joy the same thing as happiness? And if it is, chasing after it just leads to disappointment, right? Furthermore, I am too busy to be joyful just now. Perhaps I can fit it in between gifts on Christmas? So it goes. Yet find joy is a core message of Christmas!

Does Christmas bring out your hope or simply anticipation and anxiety? Certainly, the season leading up to Christmas is busy. Furthermore, the preparations are overwhelming. And the world is overwhelming! So what will we do about it? And where will we find hope, let alone, more hope? In short, is there “hope” in this season at all?

Peace? You’ve got to be kidding! This is busiest, sometimes pressure-filled time of year. So how will we find peace? And how would “more peace” be possible!?

Thanks: A Beautiful Discipline by Saint James Church Alexandria VA

Timing is important. We will take a look at timing on Sunday.

For 1500 years Christian mystics, monks, and nuns have sought union with God in the religious life. But for those of us who lead lives in the ordinary world, it seems like an unreachable goal, and that often saddens us. But should it? And can we touch this feeling of union even though we don’t live our whole lives in seclusion in a monastery? The answers will surprise you! Join us on Sunday to learn more.