It’s a tradition that many Presbyterian churches don’t follow – but one with a strong theological vision.
While many folks celebrate New Year’s Eve with champagne and parties, or an evening around the TV with a bowl of popcorn, some Christians choose to wave in the New Year at church.
One of the most densely packed New Testament texts is the feeding of the 5,000 that appears (Mk 6:34-46) just after the murder of John the Baptist. The larger setting of the story is clearly one of the "Markan sandwiches." The Twelve are sent out, John is murdered and suddenly the twelve return to Jesus. The mission is brought to an abrupt end as they return at once for consultation. The entire countryside is in an uproar with people "coming and going" (v. 31) from "all the towns" (v. 33) in the province. Only here in the entire New Testament do we read the phrase "coming and going." Everyone wants to know: What does Jesus have to say about the murder of his cousin and what is he planning to do about it? They are not even able to eat (v. 31). Making an astute decision, Jesus tells his disciples, Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while (v. 31). It is time to regroup and reflect on their next move.
He came a most unlikely guest
on night when air was cool and still
and people sought to hide from dark
amidst the shelter of an inn.
Some years ago my family was invited to attend a Christmas party at the home of one of our church members. It was to be a casual affair. We were asked to bring a salad to share. It was a potluck gathering for a number of people in the congregation. After an hour of visiting, our host asked for everyone's attention and he sat down in front of the fireplace and explained that what he was about to do was one of the greatest honors a person could have. He paused and a tear rolled down his cheek and then he began to read Luke's version of the birth of Jesus. He read it simply and quietly. The room was still. Even the children listened intently, because even they knew that to get to Bethlehem one has to hear the story.
Consider that you're not that far from Bethlehem ...
It was a rather messy story in many ways:
She wasn't married, but she was pregnant.
And she tried to convince her beloved and betrothed
that, although he wasn't the father,
neither was any other man.
Yeah, right ...
She faced the possibility of being stoned
for being in such a position.
He certainly anticipated public scorn and ridicule ...
"Tell us more, Joseph, because of course we believe
that the Holy Spirit is the father!"
The travel to Bethlehem was uncomfortable to say the least,
and once they arrived, they had to settle
for substandard accommodations.
She gave birth without the comfort and support
of family and friends.
A sonnet by Stephen Rehrig.
Recently I visited New Orleans for the first time. I had traveled to Gulfport, Mississippi for a church mission trip to help the Presbytery of Mississippi in Katrina rebuilding.
I arrived a day ahead of the team and decided to take the opportunity to visit the Big Easy. Not knowing where to go, I looked for familiar street names. I found my way to Canal Street, and then onto Bourbon Street, and into the French Quarter. As I drove through the French Quarter, looking at the homes and the architecture, I had the distinct feeling that I had been there before. Something about the place just seemed very familiar. I couldn't quite place what it was.
Looking at the birth stories in Matthew and Luke, Ken Bailey finds three startling revelations in the brief accounts of Joseph.
Ken Bailey shares how the original, intended audience of Jesus' birth story would have interpreted the text. This reading changes the traditional, Western nativity story.
Last year, some megachurches got tongues flapping fast when they decided to cancel worship services on Christmas Day -- which happened to be Sunday morning.
This year, churches face another Christmas "what to do" decision, because Dec. 24 lands on a Sunday. So congregations big and small must decide whether to offer both Sunday morning worship and a full lineup of Christmas Eve services -- or whether that's just too much.
Some people want a traditional late-night Christmas Eve service, with a choir and communion and candlelight.
In the darkness of Christmas morn I stand under the back porch roof, listening to the rain falling gently on the almost..
The answer to this question will vary in Presbyterian churches, and the way in which we respond reflects our most fundamental attitude toward outreach and evangelism. Almost every congregation desires church growth and sets it as a primary long-range goal, but sometimes our behavior prevents the very thing we say we seek.
I have a vivid memory from a Christmas Eve service when I was a boy in my home church. The pastor welcomed the congregation with words something like, "I want to wish many of you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, a joyous Easter, a pleasant Fourth of July, and a Happy Thanksgiving because I know that I will not be seeing most of you for another year!" Maybe, in Daniel Powter's words, he "had a bad day." However, even as a child I knew this attitude was unfeeling and insensitive, and as a pastor I have never even thought, much less said, such a thing during any service I have led.
His answer, in his own words: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good..
There is power - and then, there is power. There is the power that comes with military supremacy and another kind of..
As the first faint light of Christmas cast its imperceptible glow around the celebration of Thanksgiving, I preached and celebrated the Lord’s Supper in the renovated chapel at an ecumenical Christian community, Richmond Hill.
Wise men from afar, angels visiting shepherds in the night, a child cradled in a manger — through what lens shall these stories be viewed? Are they fact or fiction? Kenneth Bailey reflects.
Being now among their number, I am nevertheless not especially fond of old people. That is, I object mightily to church activities that separate the old from the young, the married from the single, the male from the female. Naturally, if the church camp has only one shower, segregation delivers the U.S. Male from strain to eye and whiplash to the neck. However, in general segregation is a bad idea because families, including the family of God, are by nature, and by nature's God, multigenerational.
"Make them stop! Make them stop!" That's my younger daughter's advice to the people in our town who fired up their Christmas lights and decorations, even put up their trees, well before Thanksgiving.
"Don't they know they're rushing the season?" my older daughter asked.
Being a keen observer of the human condition, and a sometimes participant in it, I think it is fair to say that most new mothers love their new babies. When our first child arrived, Margaret exclaimed in wonderment to the attending physician, "I thought all newborns were ugly; my daughter is beautiful!" Nature knows that a baby without a mother's love is in for big trouble. Even government knows.
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