A message from the series “Invited to Hope.” Christmas, of course, is not a day, it’s a season. The baby has been born… and then what? As the Old Testament prophets prepared us for the “coming someday” Messiah, John the Baptizer, a New Testament prophet, heralds the presence of Jesus the Messiah among us, encouraging us to open our eyes, look around and try to see him and understand what he is doing.
A message from the series “Invited to Hope.”
A message from the series “Invited to Hope.” For the first three Sundays of Advent, we have heard the hope-filled words of the prophets of Israel. Today we hear the promise of another word, but this word brings hope in the flesh. This word will be the light of all people and will illumine the darkness. This word “lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of the father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” Today we are invited to hope embodied in the one born in a manger, crucified on a cross, and raised from death. All that we may have hope everlasting.
A message from the series “Invited to Hope.” On this third Sunday of Advent, we hear once again from the prophet Isaiah. This time his message is an invitation to enjoy God’s abundance. He says, “Come buy wine and milk without price.” The invitation includes a promise that all, even the wicked and the unrighteous, can return to the Lord, who will have mercy on them. “For you shall go out in joy and be led back in peace; the mountains and hills before you will burst into song.” When all creation sings, how can we not be hopeful?!
A message from the series “Invited to Hope.” On this second Sunday of Advent, we hear a hopeful message from another of God’s prophets, Ezekiel. His message comes at a difficult time in Israel’s history. Their land had been invaded, the temple ransacked, and many taken off to live in exile in Babylonia. But Ezekiel has a vision that signals a new day. He is led to a valley littered with dry bones, a symbol of Israel’s exile. God calls on Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones, and miraculously the bones come alive. In the very same way, God promises to put the Spirit in the people of Israel and bring them back to their own soil. Sometimes we may feel our lives have become dry as dust, but Ezekiel’s words invite us to a vision of hope and new life.