There’s 103 things we are all “preparing” as we move through December toward Christmas.
But is “Ourselves” even on the list?
At St. Paul’s this Advent, Pastor Kristen designed “Advent In A Bag” to help people prepare themselves for the good and great news of Jesus’ love coming into the world once again. Each week in December, I’ll share one of her activities for you to experience and enjoy to make sure that preparing YOU becomes more of a priority in this wonderful season.
Here’s one for the second week of Advent:
We have peace because God is with us.
Light two candles to represent hope & peace. God is with you always, but begin by acknowledging God’s presence. Say, I (we) gather here in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Share/Contemplate a high & a low of your day. How do you feel when plans change? Do you enjoy it or feel stressed?
There was a man named Joseph who was going to marry a girl named Mary. After marriage, Joseph hoped they would have children together. Joseph was not planning on being a father be- fore they were married, and when he heard Mary was going to have a baby, he was afraid. Maybe Joseph did not understand there are many ways to be a family. He was not at peace with this new plan. In fact, he started thinking about ways he could change the plan.
Have you ever had a big change of plans? Did you feel at peace? Did you feel nervous? God knew that Joseph was feeling nervous.
An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “do not be afraid” to embrace this new plan. The angel told Joseph to marry Mary, to name their baby “Jesus,” and that Jesus would save God’s people. This message must have given Joseph peace about the new plan because when he woke up, he married Mary and committed himself to be a father.
The writer of Matthew tells the reader this plan would fulfill a prophecy from the Hebrew Scriptures: “…and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”
This does not mean Joseph and Mary called Jesus “Emmanuel” around the house. Instead, it means every time Joseph and Mary thought about their son, they would remember God was present in their son and God wanted to be present with the whole world. Even though our plans change and unexpected things happen, God is always with us. Like Joseph, we can find peace knowing we are not alone when plans change.
REFLECTION OR DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
When has your family had a change of plans? How did you feel? What makes you feel peaceful?
Prayer: Practice Breath Prayer Take a deep breath in. Take a deep breath out.
Do you remember what Emmanuel means? It means God with us! No matter where we are, what we do, or how we feel, God is al- ways with us—just like our breath!
There’s 103 things we are all “preparing” as we move through December toward Christmas.
But is “Ourselves” even on the list?
At St. Paul’s this Advent, Pastor Kristen designed “Advent In A Bag” to help people prepare themselves for the good and great news of Jesus’ love coming into the world once again. Each week in December, I’ll share one of her activities for you to experience and enjoy to make sure that preparing YOU becomes more of a priority in this wonderful season.
Here’s one for this week: (can be done on your own or with fam around the dinner table)
We have hope because God is with us.
GATHER & PRAY
Light a candle to represent Hope. Begin by recognizing that God joins you here in the space you created. Say, I (we) gather here in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.OPENINGShare/Contemplate a high & a low of your day. Or ask what is something you’re looking forward to this week?READ: Matthew 1:1-17 Sometimes, when we tell the story of Jesus, we begin with his mother Mary. That is a good place to start. But the Gospel of Matthew begins the story thousands of years before Mary was born. Matthew begins with a list of all the ancestors who came before Jesus. It is a long list with names you may have never heard before. Matthew’s list sounds like this:“Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar…”And it continues like that until the end of the list where it says,“And Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.”14 + 14 + 14 = how many generations between Abraham and Jesus? So many years and so many people!Throughout those generations, there were ups and downs for the Jewish people. The people of Israel experienced slavery, freedom, prosperity, suffering, and exile. There were times they almost lost hope. But God was with them.If you study Matthew’s list carefully, you will find names of admirable people with integrity, problematic people who caused suffering, and people from other countries who never expected to find themselves in Israel’s story. God was present with all of them, showing the way, whether they chose the best path or not.Matthew’s list reminds us that even if our stories are imperfect or take unexpected turns, there is hope for our future because God is with us.REFLECTION OR DISCUSSION QUESTIONSIf someone told the story of your family, where and when would they begin?What is one of your favorite things about your family?Where do you find hope in your family story?What does your family hope for now? Lord, thank you for being with me (us) and with everyone who has come before us. May we remember that no matter how backward, sideways, or upside-down life becomes, you will always be there. Amen.
Had a powerful conversation with someone earlier this week. I was calling to check in on how they are doing. They are long time St. Paulers, but have transitioned to mostly online worship through the Livestream. But I miss seeing them so I thought I’d check in.
They, like many, find themselves frustrated at the “state of the world.” Everything from government to news feeds to how polarized we have become. It’s a conversation I have many times a week right now.
But what we discerned together is that sometimes when we don’t get a healthy dose of community, ministry and relationships, that wackiness of the world can get amplified. And the aloneness can even turn paralyzing.
Online worship is a great tool to stay connected to God in your faith journey. But I would suggest that coupling it with “Christian community at work” interactions may be even more important.
I shared with them that every time I hear about the Burrito Project team heading downtown Tuesday nights to feed and warm people, I get recentered.
Every time I talk with one of our missionaries at church and they tell me about their ministry that evening coming up, I get recentered.
Every time I gather in worship with people I’ve known for years or are just meeting, I get recentered.
This week, we will end the church year with Christ the King Sunday and gather after church for a pot luck meal. If you are needing some ministry, face or food time, please join us, If you are feeling disconnected and overwhelmed at various aspects of the state of the world, there is a seat for you. Around those tables, we will share things we hope for and things that bring us joy as we look toward Advent.
I doesn’t have to be St. Paul’s in Eggertsville. It can be any community of faith where we get to hear about God’s love and connection to us. (However, you are all probably less than 20 miles from a church named St. Paul’s of some denomination. We’re not super creative church namers)
Continue to worship in the way you can. But don’t forget the community and ministry time as well. It may just recenter you.Lord, thanks for the reminders of love and hope that we can find in community. Amen.
“Zaccheus was a wee little man….a wee little man was he.”
If you grew up in church and are older than 40, there is a good chance you could sing the rest of this song from memory. Zaccheus, not the tallest guy, climbs up a tree to see Jesus. Jesus sees him, talks to him and invites him to dinner. The relationship begins! And that invitation, meal and conversation change Zach’s life because he commits to giving half his stuff to the poor and righting all the financial wrongs he’s ever done!
That’s some invitation! Some conversation! Some relationship!
Some transformation.
Invitation into relationship with Jesus and a community of faith can transform people’s lives. And when that transformation occurs, it can/should/might rearrange our priorities for our time, our possessions and our presence.
I had this happen when someone invited me to Haiti years ago. After the earthquake in Port au Prince in 2010, I “climbed up a tree” to see what we could do to help. I found a local church that had a mission team stuck down there and showed up at their church to offer support. Instead of giving me a task to do to help, the staff person at the church just invited me into relationship with the faithful people that live in Haiti. And it transformed my life. Every minute I’ve spent there, prayer I’ve offered, relationship I’ve built and dollar I’ve shared has changed me.
Has someone done that for you? Have you done that for someone? Either way, my guess is that transformation occurred. Probably on both ends of the relationship.
I want to invite you this week to look up at the trees. Not for the falling leaves, but for those that might be struggling to see. Those that might be searching for a glimpse. Those that might be too afraid to get too close just yet. Those that need an invitation and a relationship. Those that might be looking for something, but not sure what this Jesus character is all about. Those that have gifts to give to the poor, but need a connection to do it. Those.
And then, call their name. Start a relationship. Begin a conversation. Offer trust to come out of the branches. Invite them to a meal. Tell them your story. And listen.
And then watch how God can still transform today!.Lord, may we look to the trees today. Amen.
“Let us confess our faith together using the words of the Apostle’s Creed….”
We do it together as a community almost every worship service. And Sunday at St. Paul’s Eggertsville, we did it together with two young women as they celebrated their Confirmation in church.
Back in the day at Resurrection Lutheran, where I was Confirmed, the whole confirmation class, me, Matt, Ray, Penny and Sue, had to memorize the Creed and then recite it alone in front of the Council and then the church during the Confirmation service. The church community didn’t say it with us. We had to do it alone.
So we memorized. Practiced. Messed up. Rehearsed. And then did it live.
At that point of my age and brain function, I was pretty good at memorizing and spitting things back out. To this day, I still know most of the lyrics to Michael Jackson and Men at Work songs from the ’80’s. Not that helpful in the big picture of life though. I could memorize most everything short term. But I’ve forgotten most of those things.
Now at St. Paul’s, we don’t make the kids memorize the Creed anymore and recite it alone. We changed that a few years ago when during one Confirmation service, unintentionally, the whole congregation chimed in with the kids as they started saying the Creed. And I loved it. It was a perfect mistake.
Instead of feeling like they were being tested or doing something on display, the kids heard the voices of “all the saints” around and behind them. They could hear the faith, the doubts, understanding and the confusion. They could feel that they were part of something bigger. They were united with a Lutheran Christian community.
The Creeds of the church are not there for us just to memorize and regurgitate. They are there to remind us of a powerful, creative, redeeming and present God. They are there to connect us to a faith that we may just be starting to understand. They are there for us to know we are part of something bigger.
As you read through the Creed again today, know you’re not reading it alone. You’re reading the same Creed that everyone who opened these Devo’s are reading. The same Creed churches proclaimed together last weekend and will next weekend. As you read, you’re connected to a larger community and a larger God, even if you’re on your own today.
Confirm that faith today, connect to that God and community, using the words of the Apostle’s Creed:
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen..
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