As Advent turns Christmas, Fleming and Jason talk about Christmas coming in a burst, the light shining most bright in the world’s darkness, and the need for white Christians to listen to the experience of black Christians. The audio is a little wonky in the beginning on her end…bear with it. It’s worth it. Merry…
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Four years ago, my husband and I discovered we were expecting our fourth daughter. Unlike many of my sisters who struggle with infertility, I am one for whom fertility came easy. I wish I could tell you the news of another pregnancy, in a seven year period (felt more like every year) was welcomed news….
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Isaiah 9:8-21 Rev. Fleming Rutledge says, “Advent is not for the faint of heart.” Contrary to the sentimentality we’ve ascribed to the season, primarily focusing on sweet baby Jesus, advent begins in the dark, forcing us to wrestle with the depth and breadth of the human condition as we await Christ’s second coming. “To grasp…
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After Jesus receives John’s baptism he goes to the wilderness and meets the tempter. But he says No in the desert to everything Adam and Eve said Yes to in the Garden. He emerged from the wilderness leaning on the Lord as the New Israel and the Second Adam. He makes children of the serpent into the sheep of his flock.
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Isaiah 10:5-19– God is punishing Israel using Assyria, then Assyria gets called into the principal’s office. Just screams baby-Jesus-in-the-manger, doesn’t it? The problem was, the king of Assyria started to think his spectacularly great run of luck was all down to his smarts and good looks, as one does. “‘By the strength of my hand…
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Here we stand. Waiting. Promises not yet fulfilled. Bruised, scarred, often confused and lonely. And yet, capable of a bigger love than we likely ever imagined, even as we take our place, often in the shadows.
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This Advent season, a dawn has broken upon us from on high. It brings light to those who sit in darkness, and it also casts a shadow revealing the darkness within. The good news is that this dawn has signaled our rescue where we could find no strength in ourselves.
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“As the deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.” —Psalm 42:1, NRSV Yes, I know it’s all about God. But give me a minute to long. Or rather…therefore let me long. Yes, longing. As in “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus…joy of every longing heart.” If you asked me…
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Says Fleming: “Advent is designed to show that the meaning of Christmas is diminished to the vanishing point if we are not willing to take a fearless inventory of the darkness.” We often understand Advent as a season of preparation for Christmas and our celebration of Jesus’ birth. And surely it is that, in part. …
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With haste, she packed her belongings into a duffel. She folded her jeans and some blouses and wondered how long she’d fit into them. She zipped her bag shut and sadly glanced at the wedding dress hanging in her closet. Seeing it, she knew it would be too small on her wedding day, should that…
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