Friends, we are beginning the run up to the holidays in retail stores already and so let’s have a run up to Christmas in church as well. During December and Advent we often speak of “preparing for Christ” in our hearts and in our lives. Obviously we should always be preparing spaces for the influence of Christ in the world. During the month of November, our focus in worship will be on Jesus and the Church. We will get a head start on the Christmas season as our scripture text illustrates how the Church is to be the very presence of Jesus in the world.
First we are people called to praise God, stand firm and hold to Jesus’s teachings (2 Thessalonians 2:13-17). Then we will discover God’s vision of a new heaven and a new earth and hear God calling out “Do you not see it? Do you not hear it? Indeed it is already happening (Isaiah 65:17-25). Finally we discover the fullness of God’s purpose through Jesus that all of creation may be reconciled and forgiven to inherit the fullness of life with God (Colossians 1:9-20).
I am excited to journey toward Advent and Christmas as we prepare to see the Church and how Jesus leads us into God’s vision of earth as it is in heaven. In fact that is the very significance of the birth of Jesus celebrated at Christmas, God incarnate (in human form). Join me this month as we discover what it means to continue to be the present and human form of God in the world, representing our Savior, Jesus Christ, for all the world to see.
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