I had trouble sleeping the other night. It was in the early hours of the morning and it was too early to get up for the day so I decided to see if relocating downstairs would help me fall asleep for a couple more hours. As I lay there on the couch I could see the beautiful night sky framed by the family room window. A dark midnight blue. The soft glow of a waning moon. The silhouette of winter trees. And stars scattered across that heavenly canvas.
(more…)Archive for December, 2020
Advent 1, November 29, 2020
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Advent 4, December 20, 2020
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“Greetings, favored ones! The Lord is with you.”
This is how the angel Gabriel greeted Mary with good news. He came to announce to Mary that she was going to have a baby and that she should name the baby Jesus and that this child was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Mary ultimately surrendered her will to God’s will and she consented to this gift and accepted it with grace.
(more…)Advent 3, December 13, 2020
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We put lights outside our house this year. I noticed many in our neighborhood doing that this year. I have to say I am amazed at how many lights it takes to cover just one tree. Our yard looks festive, but it’s not even that impressive. There ARE some pretty impressive light displays this year – the State Fair grounds and Valleyfair for example. These displays boast MILLIONS of lights. Apparently you measure the “wow factor” of a holiday light display by the number of lights.
(more…)Advent 2, December 6, 2020
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You’d think that the stories from the Bible that we hear during the season of Advent – these weeks before Christmas — would describe the exciting moments surrounding the arrival of a baby. Right? Like the arrival of the baby JESUS? And there are stories like that in the Bible. Angel appearing to Mary announcing the upcoming birth. That’s in Luke. Angel appearing to Joseph getting him ready for the new arrival. We read about that in Matthew. The manger? That’s also in Luke. The star? That’s in Matthew. Shepherds? Luke. Magi? Matthew.
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Pastor Jon's Sermon Blog 