In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1
Dear Friends in Christ,
Merry Christmas! I pray that you are aware of God coming closer to you this Christmas. That all sounds very “spiritual” and sentimental. Do you know how earthy and real God’s presence is? A mindset of “spiritual but not religious” disembodies spirituality from our physical, messy lives. It is a kind of pablum of escape from our day to day. Yes, we need times of spiritual focus, set apart from daily distractions. But as Christians, that focus is about awareness of God’s presence with us in the mess and distractions of our worldly lives.
In Jesus, the eternal God entered temporal human history. The eternal “Word,” as Plato called him—the active, creative power of the eternal God—became flesh and lived among us. Jesus lived our human life with its struggles and losses and sufferings and joys. He died a human death in this messy world, joining with us in our humanity and bearing the mess of our sins. And as both man and eternal God, he rose from the dead to bring us new life both in the mess and beyond the mess. “In him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:4-5). “And the Word became flesh and lived among us… full of grace and truth (John 1:14).
In the midst of your mess, God comes to you. Look for him and embrace him each day. Merry Christmas!
Yours in Christ,
-Tom
Join us to celebrate the first Sunday of Christmas this weekend: 5:30PM, Saturday, 8AM and 10:30AM on Sunday. Join us also for the Feast of the Epiphany, Saturday, January 6 at 5:30PM, with music and the children’s presentation of the Gospel. Join us for the first Sunday after the Epiphany on Sunday, January 7 at 8AM or 10:30AM, the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord.