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An Embrace from the Church Family
In the late 1990s, the youth of First United Methodist Church of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, were burdened Read More
Becca Stevens, Don Welch | Read Isaiah 61:10-11 , Read Isaiah 62:1-3
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Sign Up TodayThe Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring
up.” Every Christmas morning for the past twenty-five years
I have sprung up out of my bed to celebrate with children the
joy and wonder that we call Christmas. Because of them I can see
the magic of how hope...
O God, you have caused this holy night to shine with the brightness of the true Light. Grant that we, who have known the mystery of that Light on earth, may also enjoy him perfectly in heaven; where with you and the Holy Spirit he lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Ecstasy over the Christmas miracle binds these passages together with unrestrained joy over what God has done and over who God is. The God whom these texts celebrate is a God who reigns in strength and whose activity on behalf of humankind is timelessly ancient. As worshipers, we join in rejoicing over the coming of the messenger “who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’” (Isa. 52:7). We also celebrate “the LORD, for he is coming to judge the earth . . . with righteousness, and . . . equity” (Ps. 98:9). Then a note of immediacy is struck by the focus on what God has done just now, in these “last days,” in which “he has spoken to us by a Son” (Heb. 1:2). The One who was present at Creation, the eternal Word, “became flesh and lived among us” (John 1:14).
• Read Isaiah 52:7-10. Where do you see signs of God’s peace amid the world’s brokenness?
• Read Psalm 98. Where in your life has a new beginning come most startlingly from an ending?
• Read Hebrews 1:1-12. When you next celebrate the sacrament of Holy Communion, re ect on how God has brought healing to your life.
• Read Luke 2:22-40. When have you been surprised by an inbreaking of God’s extraordinary love in an ordinary moment?
Respond by posting a prayer.
"Wherever I’m appointed to serve as pastor I plan on encouraging our youth to participate in a Discovery Weekend. Knowing that The Upper Room is a part of building the content, I can trust it as a Wesleyan spiritual formation resource for youth." Learn more about Discovery Weekend here.
