Luke 2:1-20 John 1:1-14 I sit to write on Christmas Eve, trying, and trying again as I have for days, to bring words to the meaning of this day. For myself, of course, yes, but also for those who will gather in a few short hours now. Last Christmas was almost unrecognizable for all that …
Tag: Luke 2:1-20
The Christmas Shepherds
Luke 2:1-20 It was going to be a quiet Saturday. I had planned to spend it in the kitchen baking and making toffee with Christmas carols accompanying me as I measured and stirred and kneaded. Only a text pinged at 7:30 and the phone rang again not much later with the news of first one …
Just Another Day… Christmas This Year
Luke 2:1-20 I have shared this story of this particular Christmas Eve before in many times and places. For some reason, though, I am carrying it especially close this time around. Indeed, I have held this memory for so many seasons now that the edges of it are becoming blurry. Even so, there are pieces …
Listening for the Rustle of Angels’ Wings…
Dear Friends, Following is my ‘first run’ at a Christmas sermon. May you also hear the ‘rustle of angels’ wings’ this year. And may you never be the same. Blessed Christmas to you and those you love and those you serve, Janet Luke 2:1-20 Have you heard the rustle of angels’ wings this night? …
“There Was No Place For Them…”
Luke 2:1-20 I heard it differently this year, this string of words which tell the whole story of the what and why and how of Jesus’ coming. We were with our confirmation youth. We have been teaching worship this year and part of the experience has included having them actually lead worship with and for …
Making Room: Experiencing God’s Wonders
Luke 2:1-20 I would offer now a story of ‘making room’ — one where God is working God’s wonders again and again. And again. A few years back, Dean, a long faithful member of our congregation who was then in his late 90’s, gave us his house. He no longer had need of it as …
Walking to Bethlehem
Luke 2:1-20 Somehow I had a spare moment earlier in December, and decided to try to get a head start on my Christmas Sermon. At least for me, this is one of the most difficult sermons to preach in any given year. Emotions run high. The crowds tend to be larger than usual — expanded …
Re-Telling the Story…
Luke 2:1-20 It seemed like a good idea at the time — if not altogether original. It has been my practice for many years to ‘build the creche’ with the children during the children’s sermon during Advent. One week we add the animals. The next week the angels join them. Pretty soon Mary and Joseph …
What Christmas Eve is For
Luke 2:1-20 As we approach another Christmas Eve, I find myself remembering now one of the first Christmases I served as a pastor. I was still young, of course, and I confess I found myself not quite settled into the role or even into my life as an adult. To be honest, I was struggling …
Christmas in the Barn
Luke 2:1-20 I have friends who have done this for years — gathering in a barn on Christmas Eve — with bales of straw and battery operated candles and more people than room and a few animals to make it seem especially real. I’d thought about it in other years in other places, but existing …