Newton Cowan, Associate Pastor for Pastoral Care
We have made it once again to Bethlehem to see this thing that God has made known to us. We remember the prophecies of the Old Testament and the Scriptures of the New Testament that lead us to Bethlehem, to pay homage to the child, to Jesus.
We find ourselves in the in between. We live in between two advents. The advent of Christ having been born, fully human, fully divine and he lived, and taught and modeled the way we are to live, loving God and neighbor as ourselves. He died for us and rose to sit on the right hand of God. The other end is the advent of his second coming. When that will be is not for us to be consumed with because we have work to do. We have the tasks of being his disciples and following the way God wants for our community and the world.
So today let’s bask in the light of the word made flesh, sent to us, the greatest gift. In recalling the words of O Little Town of Bethlehem: O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray; cast out our sin and enter in; be born in us today. We hear the Christmas angels, the great glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel. May Christ be born in us today, and every day.
This morning we will have worship at 10:00 AM in the sanctuary. You are invited to join us in person or online. Here is the link to watch the service.
I leave you this day with a thought from Unfolding Light, a daily reflection by Steve Garnaas-Holmes.
“ The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
therefore the child to be born will be holy;
he will be called Son of God.”
—Luke 1.35
With Gabriel’s news the cosmic becomes personal.
Christ is coming — God is embodied — in a new way,
to transform the world,
and whatever that is, it is happening in you.
You are being asked to bear work that will have cosmic ripples.
What is that new act of Creation God is accomplishing in you?
What are signs of God’s new creating in your own heart and life?
Look into your soul. Like gazing into a starry sky,
it will require time for your eyes to adjust,
time for the stars to come out.
Give time and stillness to watch, to wait, to observe.
What holy mystery is the Spirit doing in you?
Wait, and wonder… and say Yes.
