Luke 2:1-20

(Advent Week 3) Luke 1:26-38   Mary's Call   When you get right down to the brass tacks, the Gospel is simply the greatest love story ever told.  One of the greatest joys of this time of the year is that Christmas reminds of this fact in a beautiful and dramatic way.  When we stare with wide eyed wonder into the stable in Bethlehem, it becomes clear that God is not some stern judge waiting to condemn us, God is not some far off deity who neither knows nor cares what is happening in our lives, but God is a God of infinite love, who always and forever seeks to share this wondrous love with us, His children.

(Advent Week 3) Luke 1:26-38   Mary's Call   When you get right down to the brass tacks, the Gospel is simply the greatest love story ever told.  One of the greatest joys of this time of the year is that Christmas reminds of this fact in a beautiful and dramatic way.  When we stare with wide eyed wonder into the stable in Bethlehem, it becomes clear that God is not some stern judge waiting to condemn us, God is not some far off deity who neither knows nor cares what is happening in our lives, but God is a God of infinite love, who always and forever seeks to share this wondrous love with us, His children.

(Advent Week 2) Jeremiah 33:14-16          Advent, and really Christianity itself is all about promises. Our faith is about the promise God made thousands of years ago to save us from sin and death and deliver us to eternal life!  That is an incredible, audacious, GLORIOUS promise for each one of us, one that almost sounds too good to be true. And of course, if a human being made this promise, it WOULD be too good to be true.  But the promise of Christianity is not the promise of a human being, it is the promise of God; a promise that has been fulfilled. That is what we will celebrate at Christmas---the fulfillment of the ultimate promise of God.

(Advent Week 2) Jeremiah 33:14-16          Advent, and really Christianity itself is all about promises. Our faith is about the promise God made thousands of years ago to save us from sin and death and deliver us to eternal life!  That is an incredible, audacious, GLORIOUS promise for each one of us, one that almost sounds too good to be true. And of course, if a human being made this promise, it WOULD be too good to be true.  But the promise of Christianity is not the promise of a human being, it is the promise of God; a promise that has been fulfilled. That is what we will celebrate at Christmas---the fulfillment of the ultimate promise of God.

(Advent Week 1) Isaiah 7:10-14    Make no mistake, God coming to be with us is not the result of a prize for our efforts; God’s coming is God’s decision, based solely upon His incredible love for us.  God’s coming is bound to His promise, not to our works or virtue.  God comes to us because of His powerful love for us, not because He is attracted by our beauty.  God comes to us in spite of ourselves; God comes to us even in moments when we have done everything wrong.

(Advent Week 1) Isaiah 7:10-14    Make no mistake, God coming to be with us is not the result of a prize for our efforts; God’s coming is God’s decision, based solely upon His incredible love for us.  God’s coming is bound to His promise, not to our works or virtue.  God comes to us because of His powerful love for us, not because He is attracted by our beauty.  God comes to us in spite of ourselves; God comes to us even in moments when we have done everything wrong.

"Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever. who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever. who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever." Psalm 136:1–28  

Gratitude begins and ends in God’s sustaining love. One of the best ways to truly show God our gratitide is to practice specific times to thank God for small things as gifts of his love.