Acts 17:11
Consider This
Acts 17:11 says the People in Berea received the message of Jesus with great eagerness. They considered what Paul was telling them. They examined it every day to see if it was the truth. They were being shaped into disciples. We hope, in small measure, you will consider this blog and that it might spur you onward.
“The time that made Advent meaningful, that made the Incarnation come alive, is we had a family tradition where we viewed slides on an old technology called View-Master, and one of the slide sets was the Christmas story. There was this one picture of the wise men following the star, which covered the wall of the house that we were sitting in, and it was just amazing and mysterious…”
“The season after the Epiphany goes through what is called by Roman Catholics – and it’s catching on – ‘Ordinary Time,’ which means that it’s not devoted to anything in particular. Historically though, it was a season in which one considered the mission of the Church. It culminates in the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus…”
“I remember my boss when I was a new curate, asked me if I believed in the Yuletide spirit. And I said, "What's the Yuletide spirit?" He said, "Well, you know, there's a Christian celebration of Christmas, but there's also a secular celebration of Goodwill and presents…”
“A few weeks ago, a friend shared for KING & COUNTRY’s new music video ‘Little Drummer Boy’ with me. ‘It’s so beautiful,’ she wrote. ‘You will love it!’ If Little Drummer Boy is your favorite Christmas carol, I apologize for my initial lack of enthusiasm…”
“Rejoice, Rejoice” Emanuel shall come to thee, oh Israel. This is my favorite line of my favorite Christmas song, though it is more appropriately an Advent hymn. The song announces that Emmanuel, God with us, shall come but is not here yet…”
“I didn't grow up in a Christian home and I only came to know Christ in my mid-late teens. The message of Christ and a very counter-cultural aspect of ‘God became man as a child’ didn't really make sense. During Christmas when I was growing up until when I was in my late teens and my college years, I started to understand actually what the Gospel was about and the whole revelation of what Christmas actually centrally is for…”
“There was an emphasis on the second coming of Christ and the need to repent in preparation for his coming, but my dad used to tell me when I was a little boy, he said, ‘Son, keep short accounts with the Lord and live in a state of grace.’ I said, ‘What is that?’”
“Advent has a kind of a dual focus, and the focus of Advent is the first coming of Christ in preparation for celebration of his nativity and the second coming of Christ in preparation for the fuller coming of Christ. There was originally a little longer period of preparation for Christmas…”
“We don't know when Jesus was born, but we fixed the celebration of his birth and manifestation around the time of the winter solstice because there was great festivity going on in the feast of Sol Invictus, for example, in the Roman Empire…”
“Advent begins the church year traditionally, and then the ... This is in the West. I'm not speaking for Orthodox Christians in the East. But in the Western churches, Advent begins the church year. Then there's Christmastide, of which there are 12 days…”
“Originally though, they seem to be these two foci. One was preparing for the second coming. That seemed to be Irish influence in what were the Gallican, what we call France today, churches. And then there was this other emphasis of preparing for the Nativity of Christ…”
“One of the things that makes Christianity so unique is that we know God. We have a relationship with our God in a way that just, you don't find anywhere else. He's our God. He came down through Jesus Christ, His son, and lived with us for a small time in history. But it was a connection that is so meaningful…”
What does the Incarnation mean to me? What does it mean that Jesus, the Son of God, became flesh and lived among us? I am not sure I have the language for a sufficient answer. Rather, let me borrow these words from the first verse of “O Holy Night.” O holy night, the stars are brightly shining, It is the night of our dear Savior's birth, Long lay the world, in sin and error pining 'til He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
“Having our first baby, we adopted three kids, but I just remember seeing Laura, our oldest one - being there, seeing her as a baby. And so the meaning of Incarnation … just my thought went to Jesus being born. And what did that mean to me? I became a father, and that gave me the chance to see the Father heart of God and bringing a baby into the world.”
“You'll have hymns at Christmas, like ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem',’ in which we hear about how silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given. So God imparts to human hearts, the blessings of His heaven. No ear may hear His coming. But in this world of sin where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in…”
“In April, Charlotte was born. And when I was holding her, it really struck me that the God of our whole universe, who we depend upon for everything, made the decision to come down and be an incarnate baby, and become completely dependent on His creation…”
Our Advent meditations take us on a journey of faith through the stories of four women whose names we do not expect to find in the lineage of Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 1. At Christmas we easily see the beauty and significance of Mary’s faith in her obedient submission to the announcement that she would bear the child who would take away the sins of the world. She too is named in Matthew, but contrary to the other women, Mary lived to see the results of her faith…
“One of the best parts about Advent is just the time that you get to spend on reflecting, why we need a savior and what Jesus gives to us and gives us hope. And a fun way and a really meaningful way for me is Silent Night when we get to turn off all the lights and just sit in the silence and hear the beautiful music…”
“I think the Incarnation hit me quite deeply two Christmases ago when I was expecting our second son and was pregnant over the holiday season. And it really started to resonate with me how much Jesus dignified our human body…”
“One of the biggest things that really reinforces the Incarnation to me is holding a newborn. My husband and I have seven children, including newborn twins. And every time we have a baby in the house around Christmas time, it just reminds me so much of the value and preciousness of life to God…”
“When I was thinking about the Incarnation and a Christmas song that meant a lot to me, I was thinking back to when I was expecting our second daughter and she was due mid January and we knew she had Down syndrome and would need a major open heart surgery shortly after she was born. And I think the weightiness of that Christmas…”
“I think the Incarnation hit me quite deeply two Christmases ago when I was expecting our second son and was pregnant over the holiday season. And it really started to resonate with me how much Jesus dignified our human body…”
“Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.” Advent is a season that emphasizes waiting and hoping. It seems every person in Scripture encounters at least one significant period of waiting on God: Moses, Elijah and Jesus are a few significant examples…
“Advent was a time when you were aware that it's getting dark earlier. So the winter light is a low light and there's not as much of it. So you're aware of the light in the darkness, not just the light in the darkness. And I had this sense of it and I associated it with later on the excitements of Christmas…”
Our Advent meditations take us on a journey of faith through the stories of four women whose names we do not expect to find in the lineage of Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 1. At Christmas we easily see the beauty and significance of Mary’s faith in her obedient submission to the announcement that she would bear the child who would take away the sins of the world. She too is named in Matthew, but contrary to the other women, Mary lived to see the results of her faith…
“The part that most intrigues me [about the Christmas story] is just Joseph's willingness to go along with this plan. He's engaged to this woman who ends up being pregnant and he doesn't want to shame her, he doesn't want to bring shame to her or to his family or her family. He plans to divorce her quietly. But then just having an angelic visitation come to him and say, ‘No, this is from the Lord’ …”
As we journey through Advent, here is a roadmap of all the signposts surrounding the birth of Christ. Follow along with a journey that begins in Jerusalem and ends in Galilee…
“So here I am, this little boy in Detroit, Michigan, looking up through the boughs of a Christmas tree and imagining these worlds of light and being captivated and transfixed by the wonder of it. And here I am beginning to enter as one of the little steps of grace into this relationship with the Father…”
“We sing quite a number of songs for Christmas, both in Uganda and here. One of the Christmas songs that stands out is “Joy to the World, the Savior Has Come…” Growing up as kids — first of all, I grew up in Uganda. To be specific, in the village where a majority of people treasured Christmas and look towards that day…”
Taking the necessary time to recoup and quarantine since having COVID has meant Sundays away from you. This has been hard, especially in light of recent events. What we witnessed at the U.S. Capitol building on January 6th, in the wake of a complex and burdensome year, leaves us all emotionally unsettled. Tragically, the violence and destruction of that day only deepened the seemingly intractable divisions in our nation…