Scripture Reading: Isaiah 43:16-21 (ESV) Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the…
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,…
Mary’s song is tender, but it’s anything but tame. She sees what almost no one else sees–that God is overturning the world’s assumptions. He lifts up the humble and brings down the self-assured. He keeps his promises fully, beautifully, and in ways no one expects. Her voice becomes the first proclamation of the great reversal that Jesus will embody in his birth, life, death, and resurrection. A lot of people in our church family walk feeling small, unseen, anxious, or…
John says the Word became flesh. Not a philosophy, not a program, not advice from a distance. God stepped into real human life with hunger, tears, vulnerability, and joy. He moved into our neighborhood. He drew near enough to be seen, heard, touched, rejected, and trusted. The birth of Jesus is not about God sending information. It’s about God giving presence. Jesus reveals what God is actually like, not through spectacle but through compassion, humility, and self-giving love. And he…
