Today is the third Sunday in Advent when we light the candle of love. What is Christmas if not a story of love reaching across time and space and dimensions - from the heavenly realm to the earthly? When the Bible wants to describe the divine motivation for all that Jesus has done, it goes to this:

"For God so LOVED the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

It is God's love that sparked the birth of Christ and the celebration that we have today and this week. As we read through the stories in Matthew and Luke, we find stories of love in the lives of Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men- God's love moving them all. God's love moves us at Christmas. God's love transcends time. We will reenact the manger scene and place ourselves in that moment on Christmas Eve, drawn by the love of God as if time compresses at Christmas. We look back 2,000 years and we also look forward to the promise return of Christ again and the fresh gift of resurrection life and the hopes that he brings.

God's vision of love is to lift up those who are broken and to heal the sick and the struggling and to give hope to the hopeless and peace to those who are exhausted by violence. God's love in Jesus is here to make the desert places in your heart bloom with life.

For God so LOVED the world...

Glory to God in the Highest: The Birth of Jesus
Weekly Devotional 12.23.2024

“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.” Luke 2:11-12

The Château de Versailles is unlike any other palace and stands in stark contrast to the birthplace of King Jesus. Instead of an elaborate palace with curated gardens, Jesus was born in a humble stall. The true King’s birthplace wasn’t filled with marble floors and gold leaf furniture, but instead a feeding trough for animals where He was wrapped with strips of cloth. The promised Messiah came in the most mundane and humble way, and yet, heaven and earth marveled and exalted His birth, giving praise and glory to God for the arrival of the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Everything about the arrival of the Savior was humble and meek.

Discover Joy - Luke 2:8-14 - Dr. Jeff Raines

We don't have to manufacture joy or hold onto joy but instead discover joy because it's not an emotion we have to figure out how to feel. Our impulse and our world says that joy is found in youth, in money, in getting things, in feeling good.

But joy comes more in the seeking and in the struggle. Joy is what happens when the Holy Spirit intersects the human heart.

In Luke 2, the announcement of good news comes to the shepherds- the outcasts, on the fringes of poverty.

Joy often comes in the unexpected. When we're serving or creating or building- sometimes when we're engrossed with something joy surprises us.

Joy often comes in the midst of a struggle. James 1:2-4 implores us to "consider it pure joy... when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your fairy produces perseverance..." Growth and maturity can sometimes only comes through being broken.

Joy often comes in obedience to God. Going to see an infant wasn't convenient for the shepherds, but the errand brought great joy. God's work intersected them in a surprising way.

How's your joy today? Sometimes it takes opening our eyes to see it. Sometimes it takes closing our eyes and asking God to reveal it to us. Sometimes it takes letting go of our idols. Sometimes it takes taking the next step in obedience. God's joy is available to all of us. It's there for us to discover.

My Soul Magnifies the Lord: The Birth of Jesus Foretold
Weekly Devotional 12.16.2024

“And Mary said: My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.” Luke 1:46-48

Announcements are important because they focus on a single event that will happen in the future and the importance of the event. One of the most significant announcements was from the angel Gabriel to Mary and that she would bear the promised Messiah, Jesus our Lord. The angel’s announcement to Mary, the sequence of the announcement in the gospel story, and her reaction are significant and help us better understand the Christmas story and God’s plan throughout redemptive history.

People of Peace - Luke 1:67-79 - Dr. Jeff Raines

How are you doing with peace today? Is peace hard for you to find? Our world is bombarded by elements that are designed to take away our peace - all kinds of barriers for us to REALLY experience Gods peace.

It’s ironic that in this very season of Christmas where we celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace that we often feel WITHOUT peace.

In our text today, we are looking at the first chapter of Luke where he tells the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Although we are told that they walked closely with God, they were old and had no children and were thus looked at as “less than”.

When Zechariah enters the holy of holies to perform his priestly duties, the angel Gabriel appears to him and tells him about the coming birth of his son, John the Baptist, who will serve as a forerunner to the promised Messiah. Zechariah doubts Gabriels words and Gabriel tells him he will not be able to speak until his son John is born.

When Elizabeth gives birth to John, Zechariah explodes in song about John’s role of announcing Jesus and the path of peace he will bring to the whole world.

What is Peace? The absence of war? Time on a beach?

Peace is a way of life - It’s things being made whole. Peace is NOT something to be experience in a retreat from life, by escape, but it is lived in the practice of everyday life.

Peace is connected to God’s Salvation. We long for our life of wholeness that we had with God before the fall. God has given us a way to experience this wholeness again through the gift of his Son Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

In this season of Advent, we wait in hope for the light of Christ breaking into the darkness of our world. He alone offers us TRUE peace.

Looking Back and Looking Forward: Prophecy & Promise
Weekly Devotional 12.9.2024

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14

An essential element of many stories in the sci-fi realm is a singular person who is the promised one who will come to care for the marginalized and oppressed people and bring them to salvation through the defeat of an evil oppressor. The theme of a single savior is also the basis of many other world religions. Jesus is the fulfillment of true prophecies and promises set forth at the beginning of Genesis and throughout the Old Testament. Jesus is the one who will redeem God’s people, defeat evil, and the one in whom we can put our complete hope and trust this Christmas. When everything around you is failing, you yearn for salvation, but where do you put your trust? Is it things on this earth? Because Jesus has fulfilled the prophecies and promises surrounding His birth, life, death, and resurrection, we can have full hope and confidence this Christmas that he will also keep His promises about His return and what we have been promised in Him. Despite everything happening in the world, we have hope in Jesus!

December 1, 2024 - Lauren McCoy

Isaiah 40 - a word of comfort from God while the Israelites are in exile

“but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Isaiah 40:31

Sometimes we're impatient for the grace of God but God teaches us to wait and to hope.

The Israelites are asking if God has forgotten them, but God answers with questions -

“Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.”

Isaiah 40:26

Our world tells us everything has to be logical and organized and clean- we make lists to try to order our lives and control things. But when we control our world and order our lives, that's the problem. We forget about God in the process. And then we ask - why, God, have you forgotten me?

God then reminds us that He has no limits. He has created the universe AND he knows us. He encourages us to think outside our limits and depend fully on him.

We question if God can help us. But God answers again with reminders that He does not grow tired. He can indeed help us.

We run on our own and we forget about the Creator who gives us strength in the first place. Our hope is in the Lord. We can let go and trust that God has us.

Hope is more than wishful thinking- it is a renewal of strength. It is inwardly groaning and expectantly waiting for Jesus. It is not passivity. Christian hope is an expectant leap forward. It doesn't ignore fear or doubt- it confronts them.

"A Christian who is waiting and watching is full of hope." Eugene Peterson

Let's ask ourselves: Have I forgotten God? Can I let God rescue me?

There is a thrill in our hope- it is freedom in God, the church walking together, trusting in Jesus as a unified body.

We have hope in the thunder of the voice of God in the wilderness. Our hope is in the Lord.

The Father Of, the Son Of: Genealogies to Jesus
Weekly Devotional 12.2.2024

“This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham….Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.” Matthew 1:1;17

Genealogies are an essential part of our lives. We all have curiosity about our family lineage and heritage. You may know about a family member who served in the Civil War or was a surviving member of the Titanic. You might have a cousin who is a celebrity or a great-grandfather who helped found a town. Knowing where you’re from and the people you’re connected with helps you define your identity and life story. In 1996, Ancestory.com was founded, and today, they have more than 25 million users from around 128 countries. While some users have found long-lost siblings and distant relatives, others have found connections to famous historical figures and nobility. While these are fascinating connections, the most famous genealogies in history are actually found in Matthew and Luke's gospels. In both accounts, Jesus is the central figure, but Luke and Matthew have different approaches to tracing Jesus’ lineage. When taken together, we see that Jesus is the perfect Son of God who represents all humanity and will be a blessing to the nations, reigning as King forever.

This is the actual message and hope of Christmas. Though we see Jesus as a tiny babe born in Bethlehem, we should also see Him as a conquering King who will redeem His people and reign forever on His eternal throne. The promised Messiah has finally come! These genealogies help us see Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s great promises and the climax of redemptive history. When you proclaim Jesus is Lord, you become part of this great genealogy. You become part of God’s family, a community of believers, where Jesus is head and will reign forever.