Christmas
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The Song of the Flesh
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6 min read
This Advent several of us gathered Sunday evenings to eat together, to talk, to explore the birth stories of Jesus, and to pray. We marked this season by focusing on the story of our savior rather than the clutter and noise of the world. It’s a fitting reminder that Jesus is born into a noisy…
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The Thing About Christmas
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5 min read
The thing about Christmas is we can’t force joy. No matter how much eggnog and spiced lattes we drink, cookies we decorate, presents we receive. Joy isn’t forced upon us. We don’t wake up with Christmas Spirit because the calendar pages turn. Joy just happens. This is what separates joy from happiness. As The Oatmeal…
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Overwhelmed by Joy
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7 min read
The Evangelist tells a story which resonates so fully with the Hebrew story of oppression and enslavement under Pharaoh. Herod is the new Pharaoh! Judah has become Egypt! Overcoming darkness and restoring the world Christmas 2C | Matthew 2 In the Beginning The Hebrew story begins in creation, in GOD bringing forth everything into the…
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Fear and Loathing in San Francisco
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4 min read
The Christmas story is an immigrant’s story San Francisco’s Chinatown was designed to look older than the oldest parts of China. Why? Fear of immigrants. [bctt tweet=”We are always immigrants. All of us. Forever.” nofollow=”yes”] More than a century ago, blatant, nefarious racism against the Chinese was normal. But disaster made the racism even worse.…
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God Embodied
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9 min read
The birth story isn’t about Mary and Joseph; it is about how Jesus comes into the world. AND how Jesus keeps coming into the world. The purpose of the Christmas story Christmas 1C | Luke 2:41-52 The birth backstory Every year we anticipate the coming of Jesus, lighting candles, a new one each week; four…
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Jesus and the Heart of the Matter
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6 min read
The power of the Christmas story can be seen in what it drives us to do, where it drives us to go, who it drives us to become. The Inbreaking GOD and the hope of the world Christmas Day | John 1:1-14 [bctt tweet=”For the light is not alone, the light is not a…