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Often in church, we hear a line of worry, a concern “du jour” as it were.  One heard a great deal are the deep concerns harbored over the debilitating divisiveness in our culture.

It is interesting to witness how something virtuous can be turned to a vice over time.  A simple concept, “We are here to save the world”, is one such example.  Listening to “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” on Podcast brought this home.

Last week a young woman from Texas reached out. This week, a young man from Oklahoma. Those are the people we know, joined no doubt by many others searching for community but not yet quite willing to raise their hand and say, “I am here.”

As a Pastor, Rev. Martin Luther King’s work simply overflows with beauty, all grounded in the richness of the Christian message. Every year, cyclically, I find myself re-drawn back to two MLK ‘legacies’. (A) A document – “Letters from a Birmingham Jail”. (B) A concept – “The Beloved Community.”

Don’t lose the day with fear or worry.  Don’t lose the day with distraction.  Don’t lose the day with entertainment or comfort.  Don’t lose the day with anger or drama.  Simply put, don’t lose the day.

There is an essential, anchoring goodness to God.  Despite our worries, our fears, our alleged assuredness that this time, we are indeed abandoned and alone, God’s faithfulness remains.

Many of us long for a fresh start.

We are incredibly grateful for the generous support of our congregation over the years.  What a joy it is to work with such amazing people trying our humble best to make a difference in the world.

In 2022, many of us anxiously wonder what world we are stepping into over the next few weeks.  There is the joy of Christmas.  There is, as well, fear around new waves of Covid about to make their rounds.  It makes the times, for many, strange.

With a smile, it is a forever task to flip our thinking away from Christmas just as a stand-alone day to celebrate, to a more life-giving view of advent as a call to the work.  Restated – advent then begins, not ends a story.

It may be that one of our largest challenges around the joy of the Advent season are “rehearsals.”  Here I am not speaking of rehearsals around plays or concerts, but of mental rehearsals of old, tired stories of hurt that we rehash endlessly.

An old adage reads well – we believe that a good life engenders gratitude yet, in reality, gratitude engenders a good life. “To be a saint [then] is to be filled with gratitude … nothing more and nothing less.” (Anne Voskamp)