watershed: a community church

A couple of thoughts for Christmas...

The birth of Jesus made possible not just a new way of understanding life but a new way of living it.
-Frederick Buechner "Listening to Your Life," Christianity Today, Vol. 37, no. 15

 

Life is a constant Advent season: we are continually waiting to become, to discover, to complete, to fulfill. Hope, struggle, fear, expectation and fulfillment are all part of our Advent experience.

The world is not as just, not as loving, not as whole as we know it can and should be. But the coming of Christ and his presence among us-as one of us-give us reason to live in hope: that light will shatter the darkness, that we can be liberated from our fears and prejudices, that we are never alone or abandoned.

May this Advent season be a time for bringing hope, transformation and fulfillment into the Advent of our lives.

-Life Is an Advent Season, Connections, 11-28-93

May you have eyes to see your Savior and respond to his gift of love during this Christmas. I'm thankful for all of you who are part of this journey with us.

 

Thanks to my friends the Reynolds for sharing these quotes with me.

"The angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.'" -Luke 2:10

Who would have thought that the Glory of God would be delivered into poverty and dirt?! The Son of God belonged in a palace, on a throne - certainly anywhere but a stable. Jesus entered this world vulnerable and with no material glory. The blue-collared shepherds were the first to see respond to t the good news of Jesus' birth.

Throughout Jesus' life, he is constantly challenging the powerful and indentifying with the weak and poor. The political and religious leaders were consistently angered by Jesus' words and actions, but it was always good news for the poor - the broken, the discouraged, the sick and homeless. His message was always full of hope and healing for those in need.

How are we poor? If not financially, where are we most aware of our need? Are we poor in spirit - recognizing our need for God's love and grace and humbled by our unworthiness of God's good gifts to us? The comfortable and successful have little need for a Savior. How might we submit ourselves to this love, realizing that it is more powerful than our personal kingdoms, our wish lists, our careers and families? How might we submit to this love that can alone bring light and life to someone else? Jesus is building a Kingdom, and love is a key the city.

The coming of Christ remains good news, an act of love. He is still the wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Where have you witnessed the good news of Jesus in your life?

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." -Matthew 5:3

 

Portions adapted from "Peace is Here" by Jars of Clay.

I recently came across this beautiful reflection on what it means to hope at Christmas, written by Jars of Clay frontman Dan Haseltine.

"But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." -Luke 2:19

Christmas comes each year with its dangerous invitation to hope. Yet for most of us this invitation feels more like an inconvenience and a burden. We see this burden from the very beginning, as Mary herself pondered the meaning of all these things. I wonder how many of her personal hopes and dreams were on the altar at this moment. Surely this was not the life that she had dreamed for herself, and who could possibly understand the road that she was about to walk? Who would go with her? As she began to consider all that she would lose along this journey the invitation to hope must have felt callous and far-fetched.

If you are like me this is where most of my adult Christmas' have been spent, burdened and heavy under the Hope that promises much but asks for everything along the way. Maybe this is your story this year, maybe your losses have been deep and painful. Maybe you stand in the reality of every Christmas from now on being a bitter reminder of those that are no longer with you, and things that have been lost along the way. If this is you take courage from Mary who somehow found a way to move from peep pondering and introspection to singing. Somewhere along the road the question of her life ceased to become "If you knew me and love me God how could you ask this of me" to "God who do you see when you look at me?" Somewhere along the way her hope was unfettered to all those good things that she had hoped her life would be and became anchored to God's hopes for her.

"For he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed," -Luke 2:48

Where do you need hope this Christmas?  How can we be a portrait of hope to the Stoughton community?

Christ tends to get overlooked at Christmas. Let's be honest. December comes and you think, "Ok, this is the year." This time you'll definitely slow down and take it all in. Make the most of time with family. Help the needy. Zero in on what it really means to be a Christ follower during this holy season. But then, life happens, Christmas comes and goes and everything is pretty much the same.

What if this Christmas things really were different? What if this Christmas you could discover how to

• WORSHIP MORE
• GIVE MORE
• LOVE MORE

Here's the deal: I'm not a cynic or a humbug, but there's nothing magic about the Christmas season. Christmas doesn't change me, and the Christmas season can't change me. I can't really become something at Christmas that I'm not the rest of the year. But, it's not hopeless.

The coming of Christ was meant to change the world. Christ changes me. The coming of Christ fulfilled a long awaited promise. In Christ we now have full access to life in the eternal kingdom of God.

So, while I may not become a different person at Christmas, in Christ I am a new creation, and I'm learning to live like the person God says I am in Christ. It's an ongoing journey, and I'm letting Jesus teach me the way to live.

This Christmas season, we'll be exploring these ideas together and discovering how the coming of Christ invites us to a life where we can worship more, give more, and love more.