First Sunday After Christmas

Psalm: Psalm 148 

Old Testament: Isaiah 61:10-62:3 

Gospel: Luke 2:22-40 

Epistle: Galatians 4:4-7

Although the secular calendar says Christmas has come and gone, the Church calendar has us right in the middle of Christmastide. This Sunday marks the 4^th day of Christmas, so we should be looking for “four calling birds” or something like that. Just like other seasons of the church, such as Advent and Lent, things that we typically associate with a 1 day celebration are actually seasons to be celebrated. I like that Christmas is actually a season and not just a day because it means that we can keep the decorations up longer and sing Christmas songs for a few more days. But, it also gives us more time to celebrate the birth and early days of Jesus life. It seems like Christmas Eve and the rare year when Christmas falls on a Sunday are always reserved for Jesus’ birth. But more things happened in those early years of Jesus’ life than just a stable and some shepherds.

Advent Week 4

Psalm: Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26 or Luke 1:47-55 
Old Testament: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 
Gospel: Luke 1:26-38 
Epistle: Romans 16:25-27

Welcome to the final week of Advent. Hopefully at this point most of us are done with our preparations for Christmas. (Other then maybe the whole cooking the meals thing.) After reading our passage from Luke this week, I have been thinking about about the song "Mary, did you know?" If you don't know the song, it asks the question of whether Mary knew exactly who and what the child Jesus would become. One reason I like the song is because it reminds us that Jesus was fully God from the moment of his conception. Even at his birth in the manger, Jesus was God incarnate-fully God and fully man.

Advent Week 3

Psalm: Psalm 126 or Luke 1:47-55 

Old Testament: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 

Gospel: John 1:6-8, 19-28 

Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

The third week of Advent is here and we are getting closer to Christmas. This week, our church did the annual tradition in some churches of the Christmas Cantata. It is one of those things where I can’t say it is bad theologically to do or even impractically, yet it seems like a service out of a different decade. Choral arrangements just don’t seem like an effective way to reach people. But, it is a holiday tradition that some can’t let go. No doubt we all have little traditions in our families, churches, workplaces, wherever that we would like to see die, but others in the group hold fast to it. It is moments like this where we just have to recognize that not every element of a church or group pleases everyone and just move on. If some people enjoy that style of service, then there is no harm in doing it once a year. There is not really any point to bringing this up, but you might be in the same situation at your church and the Christmas musical is just one of many traditions we do during December.

Advent Week 2

Psalm: Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 

Old Testament: Isaiah 40:1-11 

Gospel: Mark 1:1-8 

Epistle: 2 Peter 3:8-15a

Welcome to the second week of Advent. Holiday cheer and maybe colder weather is coming in. It definitely does not feel like Christmas or winter here. But hopefully you have begun to do some of the Christmas traditions like putting up lights or other decorations, going to holiday parties, and buying presents. We do all of these things as tangible ways of preparation, i.e. getting gifts for the family to open on Christmas morning. But we also do things like decorating and sipping eggnog (but not me) because it prepares us in an intangible and internal way. We have a whole host of traditions and practices in our homes and churches that we only do during the seasons of Advent or Christmas. In a sense, we are preparing our homes, churches, and hearts to celebrate Christmas to the fullest extent.