 The Christmas season is filled with traditions and memories and the familiar stories, sights, and smells. As a result the story of Jesus' birth sometimes loses it's impact and becomes "the same old, same old..." I hope you've read chapter 22 in "The Story" which combines the birth of Jesus accounts from the gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John (if you haven't yet, go do that now). Reading these passages away from the Christmas season - as well as placed together in a chronological order - brings new perspective to this well-known and well-loved story. One of the important things to grasp is just how impactful Jesus' birth was. It required the willingness of both Mary and Joseph to live with the scandal of assumed infidelity and sin. It complicated an already inconvenient 70-mile trip for a Roman census. And it split the history of humanity in two - forever changing the dates on the timeline. All of this pales in comparison to God's mysterious and miraculous melding of his UPPER story with our LOWER story through the incarnation: God squeezing himself into a human baby's limitations to become someone unique - fully God and fully man. It was his solution that all of the Old Testament hinted at and pointed to that would bring a way for sinful people and a holy God into a restored relationship! I hope you'll be able to join us this Sunday, March 1st, as we transition to the heart of The Story: Jesus. He's the Man with the Plan! Cabin Fever Game Night!Are you going nuts during this wind-down from winter? Well we've got the solution for you: GAME NIGHT!
All ages are invited to join us at the church tonight, February 27th, from 6:30-9:00 pm. Feel free to bring a favorite game and maybe a snack to share. It'll be a fun time for all. This past week has been a difficult time for Seahawk fans. The way the last 26 seconds of the Super Bowl wound up sent us all into shock -- just as we were preparing to celebrate the second championship in a row, the victory was snatched away by the heads up play of an undrafted rookie who made the play of a lifetime. Stunned silence.
Failure can be like that - unexpected and like a punch in the gut. But other times it happens with little fanfare or even notice. It gets shrugged off and we move on to something else. This Sunday, February 8th, we continue with the story of the Israelites as they get the opportunity to return to their home after nearly 70 years of life in exile in Babylon. But it's not simply an opportunity to return to Jerusalem. It's a mission to rebuild the temple. However, it doesn't go smoothly and, after struggling against many challenges and harassment, they turn away from the task and put their efforts toward other things. God has to send two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, to get them back to work on the job he'd given them. When we experience failure in our lives -- either failing to accomplish our own goals or following through on what God has called us to do -- we need to remember that it's not just up to us. We have a God who not only has a wonderful future for us, but promises to be with us and assist us in accomplishing it. I hope you will be able to join us as we remember that God is greater that our failures. Take some time to read chapter 19 in The Story or the book of Ezra. |
Pastor JeffThoughts about living as a Jesus follower and life at Community Covenant Church Archives
December 2020
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