Merry Christmas to all! I hope this message finds you well as you read. I am sitting in my office on the 22nd of December getting ready for the holiday by putting some finishing touches on my message for our Christmas Eve service. The sun is shining into the south windows of my office making it deceivingly warm in here even though the temperature outside is still well below zero. Maybe it's because I'm not used to North Iowa winters, but I'm not sure the temperature should ever be below zero if the sun is shining. Just my personal opinion.
I write this message to simply wish you a merry Christmas. I write this because we can rejoice in the fact that Christ has come. We can rejoice that Christ is coming back again. We can rejoice that the beautiful creation we live in is under the watchful eye of a loving creator. A creator that also sustains and governs creation and, even when there are winter storms, God is sustaining the world and all which dwells within and outside its boundaries.
I write this message because I know rejoicing in this time is still hard when the news still pours in of a world that is hurting. Cholera in Zimbabwe, a new Humanitarian crisis brewing in the Central African Republic, economic upheaval in the United States and now even abroad.
Many of you know my favorite Christmas/Advent Song is "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." It is my favorite song for this very reason: that because we needed and still need a savior like we need oxygen for our next breath, Christ came into the world. "Rejoice, Rejoice Emmanuel has ransomed captive Israel," sounds the triumphant chorus. No matter what we are captive to, like the people of Israel so long ago; captive in Egypt, captive in Babylon, captive in their own land under Rome, we rest in knowing that our Lord hears our cries and has come to redeem the world. Rejoice, Rejoice!
Merry Christmas to all and, as always, Grace and Peace
I write this message to simply wish you a merry Christmas. I write this because we can rejoice in the fact that Christ has come. We can rejoice that Christ is coming back again. We can rejoice that the beautiful creation we live in is under the watchful eye of a loving creator. A creator that also sustains and governs creation and, even when there are winter storms, God is sustaining the world and all which dwells within and outside its boundaries.
I write this message because I know rejoicing in this time is still hard when the news still pours in of a world that is hurting. Cholera in Zimbabwe, a new Humanitarian crisis brewing in the Central African Republic, economic upheaval in the United States and now even abroad.
Many of you know my favorite Christmas/Advent Song is "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." It is my favorite song for this very reason: that because we needed and still need a savior like we need oxygen for our next breath, Christ came into the world. "Rejoice, Rejoice Emmanuel has ransomed captive Israel," sounds the triumphant chorus. No matter what we are captive to, like the people of Israel so long ago; captive in Egypt, captive in Babylon, captive in their own land under Rome, we rest in knowing that our Lord hears our cries and has come to redeem the world. Rejoice, Rejoice!
Merry Christmas to all and, as always, Grace and Peace
the picture above is the work of Botticelli, Sandro (click the link to learn more about him and this work) The Mystical Nativity
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