Monthly Message | December

Grace and peace to you!

“A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn”

Those are some of the lyrics to one of my favorite Christmas hymns, “O Holy Night.” The hymn tries to describe the scene from more than two thousand years ago on the “night of our dear Savior’s birth.” The world was weary when the Savior of the world entered it — God incarnate, coming to us as a baby born in a manger. Here we are in 2023 and the world is as weary as ever as we wait for Jesus’s coming again. Whether weary from wars, political division, or just personal conflicts and matters, each of us carry burdens as we enter into this most joyous time of year.

The tension between weariness and joy is why I was drawn to do a series this Advent and Christmas called, “How Does a Weary World Rejoice?” It is inspired by a series developed by A Sanctified Art, which is an organization that emerged as “a ministry to support worshiping communities in integrating art and creativity into their spiritual practices.” There is more information about the series inside the newsletter, and I will, obviously, talk more about it during Advent. We also will have a special worship service for the weary, traditionally called our Blue Christmas service, on December 21.

The season of Advent begins a new year for the church, and this year (2023-2024), is what is called Year B in the Revised Common Lectionary that we traditionally follow. It means most of the gospel readings for the next 12 months will come from Mark (and John, since Mark is a short gospel compared to the other three). We aren’t following the lectionary gospel readings during Advent this year because of “How Does a Weary World Rejoice?” but we will be reading them during our midweek Advent services that are at 6:30pm Wednesdays on Zoom and Facebook Live. The theme for those services is “Pause, Prepare, Ponder.” More information about the midweek services also can be found in the newsletter.

Whether you do indeed feel weary this season or are full of joy, we can all find joy and rejoice in a baby born in Bethlehem. Jesus, the Savior of the world, came into a weary world and still comes today to a weary world and weary people — to us. He opens His arms to you and says, “Come to Me, all who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

In Jesus we find our rest, and in Jesus we find the true nature of those themes of Advent that we light candles for each Sunday — Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.

Finally, my family and I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! As I wrote in November, we are looking forward to the hope, peace, joy, and love of walking alongside you as we begin a new church year and new calendar year.

Go in peace. Jesus loves you,

Pastor David