We cruise along thinking everything seems worth rejoicing in—until something smacks us over the head and forces the question of what really matters. Paul faces that same reckoning in Philippians 3, listing every credential and mark of status he once counted as gain.
When wise men arrive in Jerusalem asking where to find the one born king of the Jews, Matthew 2 says Herod was deeply disturbed—and all Jerusalem with him. It's a strange reaction to the fulfillment of a centuries-old promise, and it looks a lot like what we do when God's work threatens the status and stability we've been quietly building our joy around.
Pastor Tim talks about extravagant gifts and what the Bible says about the truly extravagant gift we receive at Christmas because of the very first Christmas.
When you prepare a small dinner and twenty guests arrive unannounced, you wish you'd known what was coming—yet knowing what to prepare isn't the only kind of readiness that matters. Luke 1 tells of a righteous priest who knew exactly what God expected of him, yet when God himself appeared with news he'd prayed decades to hear, he found himself unprepared to simply listen.
We’ve all wanted to write that resignation letter—to let the world know the hurt isn’t our fault. Joseph faces that exact urge in Matthew 1, betrayed and confused after he finds out Mary, the woman he is betrothed to, is pregnant — forced to choose between saying his peace and keeping it.
Pastor Tim spent time in Busiek State Forest to better think about the time between the Newborn servant coming into the world and when we, His followers, will get to experience His triumph.
Plans go awry all the time, and in the moment it feels terrible whether the fault is human weakness or God himself saying no to what we wanted. That's exactly where Mary finds herself in Luke 1 when Gabriel's greeting turns her ordinary day—and her entire future—upside down.
