“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
—Psalm 119:11 (NIV)
Fearless Worship (Luke 1:57-79)
“For many, Christianity is just a beautiful dream. It is a world in which every day reality goes a bit blurred. It is nostalgic, cozy, and comforting. But real Christianity isn’t like that at all. Take Christmas, for instance: a season of nostalgia, of carols and candles and firelight and happy children. But that misses the point completely. Christmas is not a reminder that the world is really quite a nice old place. It reminds us that the world is a shockingly bad old place, where wickedness flourishes unchecked, where children are murdered, where civilized countries make a lot of money by selling weapons to uncivilized ones so they can blow each other apart. Christmas is God lighting a candle; and you don’t light a candle in a room that’s already full of sunlight. You light a candle in a room that is so murky that the candle, when lit, reveals just how bad things really are. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…Christmas, then, is not a dream, a moment of escapism. Christmas is the reality, which shows up the rest of ‘reality’. And for Christmas, here, read Christianity.”
—NT Wright, For All God’s Worth
Rejoicing in the Lord's Saving Work (Luke 1:46-56)
“Optimism and hope are radically different attitudes. Optimism is the expectation of things—the weather, human relationships, the economy, the political situation, and so on—will get better. Hope is trust that God will fulfill God’s promises to us in a way that leads us to true freedom.”
—Henri Nouwen
Advent: Coming and Remembering (Luke 1: 39-56)
Oh come, oh come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel.
Who mourns in lowly exile here
Until the Son of God appears.
Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel.
Has come to thee oh, Israel.
—O Come, O Come Emmanuel