Longing for Advent
“I have a complaint,” she declared with arm raised to get my attention. The closing song had barely finished when she quickly came to the front of our sanctuary. “Why didn’t we sing any Christmas songs? And where are the Christmas decorations?” Continue reading
Filed under worship
Now that the garbage and recycling have been picked up, only a few remnants of Christmas remain in our house. There’s that one card stuck on the wall still, the decorative fake tree guarding our front door, and a few remaining bites of Margaret’s speculaas cookies in the kitchen. Oh, and lest I forget, the string of lights above the gutter, waiting for a warmer day, when I can pull the ladder out to take them down. With New Year’s resolutions disciplining our bellies and school rhythms regulating our sleep schedules once again, our Christmas celebrations have been done around here for a few days already.
Filed under devotional
* This post concludes a series of Advent devotionals that was posted daily during Advent 2014. For an intro to this series of posts, please read the initial post here.
Christmas Day: December 25 – Jesus Christ: God with Us!
Our Context
What more can we say? God has entered our darkness and turned it into light. We were hopeless; but in Jesus Christ, God has filled us with an overflowing hope. We were without peace; but in Jesus Christ, God has enveloped us in his all-encompassing shalom. We were without joy; but in Jesus Christ, God has given us the gift of a joy that endures all circumstances in eager anticipation of Jesus Christ’s return. We desperately needed to be loved; and in Jesus Christ, God has lavished upon us the glorious riches of his love. Jesus is the life that lights our way! Continue reading
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It really was a flippant comment, one of those crazy, too-far-out-there ideas that you toss out simply because it seems so ridiculous that you would never do it. But for whatever reason, this one stuck.
Back in early December, Hennie and I were talking about how we might celebrate Christmas as a family this year. As we anticipated a busier than usual holiday season, we were tossing around ideas about how we could make our Christmas celebration into something more than simply giving gifts on one evening between a couple other commitments. More as a joke, I started singing “The 12 Days of Christmas” and suggested we could get all of our kids the traditional partridge in a pear tree. We laughed and then paused. There was something about that idea of extending our Christmas celebration over 12 days that stuck with both of us. Without hesitation, Hennie grabbed a notebook and started planning. Continue reading
Filed under discipleship
Muddied Prayers 