Don't miss what REALLY happened this time of year
In the ongoing pressure to assimilate into the larger culture, this time of year presses hard.
Lots of distraction - far less that centers.
And no wonder...
When over 73% of practicing atheists, agnostics, Buddhists and Hindus in the US "celebrate Christmas," it is not because we've won the battle: Something's been lost in translation.
When we look at most of our own habits as the church, we seemed to have shifted more to tradition than how the Word would actually anchor us.
Traditions are great - but not if they obfuscate the Word in time.
Last night was, admittedly, a bit of a fire hose of revelation but it will help you to reorient.
So....pop quiz: Do you know the specific words that Jesus released and God time-stamps to this time?
Do you understand why John's gospel links them directly to Hanukkah, what that celebration is about and why on earth it matters now?
Did you know that Luke's gospel proves that the Word became flesh in this time, but not in the way it's celebrated?
The download on these things can be learned in the replay. But there's more.
In the connecting of four linked events, a kind of pattern emerges: Light breaks in, issues are exposed, people respond and God addresses them all.
There are Issues of cultural compliance and compromise, hopelessness, cluelessness, and hardness of heart.
But for those who are His sheep, there is tremendous grace and hope.
Where we've surrendered to the crush to conform...there is restoration.
Where we've succumb to hopelessness...He re-establishes.
Where we're stunned in disbelief over a promise that we just can't wrap our heads around...we will receive.
Take time to get your brain and heart recalibrated.
Get centered down so you're not amped and ramped by the pressure around you.
After all, we are called to be a 'peculiar' people.
Of all seasons and time - this is a perfect time to reflect that.
Stephen
PS: Next week - Party time at The Deck - Come early (6:30), bring eats. Celebrate, worship, engage the Festival of Lights. (More details will follow.)
Full replay, click here.
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