04 | Handling the Holidays: Peacemaker!

 

Luke 2.1-21

The holidays are prone to sentimentalism, that warm fuzzy feeling that lit trees, cute family Christmas cards, and stockings hung by crackling fires brings us. And because the Christmas story is so familiar, it is really hard for it to be for us anything more than emotional warmth. But the first Christmas was not sentimental in the least: an unwed teen with an unplanned pregnancy gave birth in a barn, poor and rejected and alone, with nothing but strips of cloth and a manger for her newborn. And in that barn 2000 years ago God broke into our world to do something that forever changed the course of history and ushered in a whole new possibility between men and God: Good news for all people, in and through Jesus, the Savior, Anointed King, and Sovereign Lord!

December 22, 2019 - Steve Hart

 

03 | Handling the Holidays: Helper!

 

Luke 1.46-55

The holiday season has a very particular set of songs and melodies, and they range from some of the richest theology to some of the most banal sentimentalities. One minute we're singing "born that men no more may die," and the next minute we're singing "I saw mommy kissing Santa Clause." Huh? Mary, the mother of Jesus, wrote the first ever Christmas song, and in it she declares how her soul was set ablaze by the message of Christmas. As we look at her song, we'll see how the Christmas message ought to lead us all to lasting joy.

December 15, 2019 - Steve Hart

 

02 | Handling the Holidays: King!

 

Luke 1.26-33

Last week we looked at changing our hopes from what our culture promises and surrounds us with, to Emmanuel, God with us, and to Jesus, Our God saves. This week we will continue handling the holidays and the magic of Christmas by looking for more permanent magic. In Luke 1:26-33, Gabriel the angel comes and announces the birth of the long awaited Messiah, the Eternal King. The conclusion of our passage is to have our practices (celebrations) celebrate this Eternal King and to seek His presence.

December 8, 2019 - Scott Cooley

 

01 | Handling the Holidays: Savior!

 

Matthew 1.18-25

We come into Thanksgiving and then into Christmas with high hopes - for depth of connection with our loved ones, to give or receive gifts that mean something, to feel that life isn’t just mundane and hard all the time. And while we sometimes catch glimpses of all that (thank God!) the reality is that “the holidays” rarely feel very holy, our gatherings don’t quite bring the joy for which we long, and (if we’re honest) we’re still the same old schmucks we were last year (ok, maybe that’s just me!). In any regard, whether you’re a Grinch or a Cindy Lou Who, handling the holidays is no easy feat. So, all December we’re looking at the songs and stories of the very first Christmas, and returning again to the Savior King who brings the holy into the everyday.

December 1, 2019 - Steve Hart

 

 

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