I wonder if the child’s face was glowing when they found him? If his halo rested over his head, even then? I wonder if that is why they were so overwhelmed with joy when they finally found him. When the star finally led him right to the child’s home, to Bethlehem…
God’s salvation. The Kingdom of Heaven… Christmas… Light breaking through the dark… Not a promise of perfection, or power, or that we will never feel the pain of life. This year, this of all years… let’s look for Christmas, not in all the purest, happiest, all is well moments… but in the messy, hard moments that the we… and the world… need it most.
again?
What would Jesus do?
You are living your life, and Jesus is by your side. You are in the most beautiful sacred place you can imagine. In this place, there are priceless items. Maybe that irreplaceable jar that your great grandmother made by hand. Maybe it is a stained-glass window… Jesus nudges you, calls you, guides you along a Holy Path (prevenient grace). Even with Jesus nudging you and guiding you, you break one of these priceless things (we all break things. We are imperfect!) Surrounding you are broken bits of priceless beauty, and you cut yourself too! You are broken and bleeding… you refuse Jesus’ help (because we can do it ourselves!) Then you stop saying no, you stop pushing him away, you welcome in the healing presence… Jesus doesn’t instantly make you better, he doesn’t make you perfect, but he stops the bleeding (Justifying Grace). Like a Trauma Doctor in an ER. Then, he invites you to learn, grow, help clean up the mess, others come alongside you, together you learn to live your best lives (Sanctifying Grace). You learn to be compassionate, and curious, and hopeful, and…. Then what?
What would Jesus do?
Join us for this final week of advent in our series on Mary and God’s grace at work in our lives. Let’s look to see how God shows up in Mary’s song from Luke 1:46-56.
What would Jesus do?
You are living your life, and Jesus is by your side. You are in the most beautiful sacred place you can imagine. In this place, there are priceless items. Maybe that irreplaceable jar that your great grandmother made by hand. Maybe it is a stained-glass window… Jesus nudges you, calls you, guides you along a Holy Path. Even with Jesus nudging you and guiding you, you break one of these priceless things. Surrounding you are broken bits of priceless beauty, and you cut yourself too! You are broken and bleeding… you refuse Jesus’ help (because we can do it ourselves!) Then you stop saying no, you stop pushing him away, you welcome in the healing presence…
What would Jesus do?
Join us for this third week of advent in our series on Mary and God’s grace at work in our lives. Let’s look to see how God shows up in Mary’s visit with Mary in Luke 1:39-45.
What would Jesus do? Jesus and you are in the most beautiful sacred place, your life. There are priceless things in your life… priceless relationships. Priceless moments. Treasures beyond measure. Jesus IS walking in your life with you… nudging you, calling you, guiding you… in ways you can see, in ways you can’t see, in ways that you can sense in the moments of stillness and quiet. And still you break things. We all break things. We bring ourselves and our loved ones pain. We make choices that are not grounded in love but fear. In our lives we are surrounded by broken, priceless pieces of our story. We are broken. Bleeding.
Jesus nudging you, calling you, guiding you… how do you respond? In what ways do you wrestle with his work in your life? What would Jesus do? Would Jesus do nothing, not pushing himself on us until we say a prayer? Would Jesus cover us up so God cannot see that we are less than perfect? Would Jesus give us a list of thing to do… confession, worship, prayer…
What would Jesus do?
An advent sermon on Mary, the mother of Jesus, God’s work in her life long before she could know it or do anything about it. Prevenient Grace. Preached on November 29, 2020 at the first Heartstrings service at First United Methodist church in Colorado Springs.
Drawing Each week, as I’ve prepared my sermon, I find myself doodling, writing, drawing… anything that moves my thoughts and
Did he ever go out after work, have a couple of beers, get in a little brawl, tell someone to go to hell… and regret it the next day?!?
¶324.9.b: What is your understanding of evil as it exists in the world? John Wesley believed that humanity is evil