 -Pastor Melissa Fain- 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. Matthew 10:29-31 NRSV Did you know that wrapping gifts have been around since the 1700’s, when the Japanese used fabric? In the United States, we wrapped our gifts in tissue paper. The modern idea of wrapping happened by accident when a pair of brothers, who owned a general store, ran out of tissue paper to wrap holiday purchases. In the back, they found fancy liner they used for envelopes. Not having any other option, they used it. It sold out. When they sold it again the following Christmas the same thing happened! Thus, a new business was born when the Hall brothers started Hallmark. When we see presents under the Christmas tree, we might focus on how it is wrapped. We all know the wrapping is not as important as the present itself. Even if the present is the most beautifully wrapped present we’ve ever seen, we will destroy that wrapping to get to the gift underneath. That’s like you. You have value. You have worth. How you dress yourself up is only how you want others to see you. God finds value in who you really are, and wants you to be the best you, you can be. Question: What was your favorite gift? Prayer: Dear God, thank you that you find value in each and every one of us. Amen. Places to connect:
To see or share pictures of the Advent Adventure Crafts: Twitter: @FigTreeTweet, #AdventAdventure For deeper discussion: Reddit: www.Reddit.com/r/FigTreeChristian
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 -Pastor Melissa Fain- 12 He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Luke 14:12-14 NRSV Did you know there is no one else exactly like you? More than that, no one has ever been, or ever will be exactly like you. You are unique. God loves you and created you in your uniqueness. You were not created to be like your co-worker or classmate. Could you imagine?! What kind of world would that be if we were all exactly the same?! Only some of the things would get done because everyone would have the same talents. We are often drawn to people who are different than us, because two different people can work off their strengths and weaknesses. If everyone were the same, we’d never make each other better. That sort of sameness would be like trying to build a Lego car, but all you have are wheels. It just wouldn’t work. Yes, we are unique. All of us. If we are all unique, that means our classmate, our neighbor, everyone is unique. Everyone has something that makes them special. Everyone deserves an opportunity to be part of the group in their uniqueness. God wants us all to be part of the party. God wants us all to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Yes, that includes you; special, unique you! Question: How are you special and unique? Prayer: Dear God, thank you for making each and every one of us. May all of us see, in our uniqueness, we are invited to be part of God’s party. Amen. Places to connect:
To see or share pictures of the Advent Adventure Crafts: Twitter: @FigTreeTweet, #AdventAdventure For deeper discussion: Reddit: www.Reddit.com/r/FigTreeChristian  -Pastor Melissa Fain- 3 A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 40:3-5 NRSV Did you know for one Christmas eve night during World War I, there was a pause in the fighting? Dec 24, 1914: In France, the British and Germans were cold, wet, and tired. Trench warfare had turned a quick war into a drawn-out mess. The German side, wanting to keep the sacred celebration of Christ’s birth, decorated trees that night. Then, they began singing “Stille Nacht,” or in English, “Silent Night.” After they finished, the German’s cheered. In response, the British sang the English version of the carol. Throughout the night, along the 500 miles of the Western Front, pockets of soldiers stopped fighting. They wished one another Merry Christmas, as enemies became friends for just one Christmas Eve. Peace is not the lack of action. Peace is not silence. Peace is often the brave first steps of singing with the enemy; of acting when everything says you should stay still. The most courageous people in the world are people of peace. Question: In what ways can you show active peace in your life? Prayer: Dear God, in the middle of chaos, help us be bringers of peace. Amen. Places to connect:
To see or share pictures of the Advent Adventure Crafts: Twitter: @FigTreeTweet, #AdventAdventure For deeper discussion: Reddit: www.Reddit.com/r/FigTreeChristian  -Pastor Melissa Fain- 46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. Luke 1:46-49 NRSV Did you know Mary sings in the Bible? Well, not exactly sing, but rejoice. The Church has taken her rejoicing and her words became some of the oldest songs sung in Church buildings. This rejoicing is called the Magnificat. It’s called that because in many translations of her song it begins, “My soul magnifies the Lord.” Have you ever taken a magnifying glass to something? I have. Bugs, flowers, and so many different objects look completely different when under a microscope or magnifying glass. When we magnify something, we are getting a better picture of what we want to see. What is Mary’s better picture? Well, there’s a difference between better picture, and total picture. Mary’s total picture doesn’t look so good. She’s an unwed, pregnant, teenager in a world that forces unwed pregnant women into poverty and homelessness if they are lucky. If they are not, the community throws stones at these women until they die from it. Wow, that’s bad! Knowing what we know, why is Mary singing praises to God? Why is she happy instead of scared? It’s because her soul magnified what was important: God. Her soul was showing that even a girl like her was special in God’s eyes. Those around her would show the opposite of love to her. Even her fiancé was planning to just walk away from the situation. Meanwhile, God had picked her, chosen her, told her she was important; loved. She magnified that, and it left her with no other option than to sing. Question: What good parts of life can you take a magnifying glass to this Advent season? Prayer: Dear God, thank you for making us part of your story. May our souls magnify you. Amen. Places to connect:
To see or share pictures of the Advent Adventure Crafts: Twitter: @FigTreeTweet, #AdventAdventure For deeper discussion: Reddit: www.Reddit.com/r/FigTreeChristian  -Pastor Melissa Fain- 24 After those days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she remained in seclusion. She said, 25 “This is what the Lord has done for me when he looked favorably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people.” Luke 1:24-25 NRSV Did you know a book that takes 10 hours to read, probably took 10 months to write or longer! That’s not considering how long the publishing process takes. When you pick up a book, you are looking at the finished product. So much goes into getting to that point. Whenever we tell the Christmas story, we hear about Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus. They’re part of the main story. They’re key players. So are the shepherds and the angels. They make it to the birth, which is only the end of the Nativity story. What about Elizabeth? Elizabeth was Mary’s cousin. In her old age she got pregnant. She didn’t think something like that was even possible. So, why are we talking someone other than Mary getting pregnant? Elizabeth would give birth to John, the person who would grow up to baptize Jesus. She is so important to the bigger story, the story that takes place over years, not just months. Even though she isn’t at the birth, she is just as important as Joseph, Mary, and the shepherds. God’s story is big. There are all kinds of people invited to be part of it. Maybe their job isn’t in the final product, but that doesn’t make it any less important. You don’t get to see all the people who make a big project happen, but they are still there. Elizabeth is there, rejoicing. Question: If you could celebrate someone who doesn’t get appreciated for his or her work, who would it be? Why? Prayer: Dear God, be with those I cannot see. May I be given sight to see the bigger picture. Amen. Places to connect:
To see or share pictures of the Advent Adventure Crafts: Twitter: @FigTreeTweet, #AdventAdventure For deeper discussion: Reddit: www.Reddit.com/r/FigTreeChristian  -Pastor Melissa Fain- 1 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.' Luke 2:1-5 NRSV Did you know countries have been getting counts of their citizens for thousands of years? It is called a census. The United States does their census once every 10 years, and ours was this year! Did you know there was one in the middle of the Christmas story?! When Christmas time comes, we want to push away everything not related to Christmas. Parents don’t want to deal with bills. Kids don’t want to work on homework. We don’t want “surprises” like unexpected loss. Let’s focus only on Christmas! Only, not even the first Christmas was just Christmas. Christ was born during a census. The Roman government wanted to know where everyone called home, so they told everyone to go there. This meant Joseph and a very pregnant Mary was forced to travel to Joseph’s birth city: Bethlehem. If not for the census, Mary could have given birth to Jesus in her home, surrounded by family. Normal life continues, but isn’t that a good thing? We forget that Christmas is added to life; not that life interrupts Christmas. Life continues, and God is joining in. Question: What normal things are you dealing with right now? Prayer: Dear God, when life happens, thanks for being there with us. Amen. Places to connect:
To see or share pictures of the Advent Adventure Crafts: Twitter: @FigTreeTweet, #AdventAdventure For deeper discussion: Reddit: www.Reddit.com/r/FigTreeChristian  -Pastor Melissa Fain- 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Jeremiah 31:33 NRSV Did you know that God can meet us any time and any place? God is not limited by a building or schedules. God can meet us in the car on the way to practice, in our school or work, even while cleaning up messes. Isn’t that amazing? God is not limited. But we are. We can’t be at two places at once. We can’t magically snap our fingers and be someplace that’s thousands of miles away. We have limits. That’s why we need to be purposeful about setting aside time and space to meet God. But why? If God can meet us anywhere and anytime, why do we need to set aside our time and space to meet God? God wants us to take action. Think of it this way: Think of a close friend. Imagine that friend always came and visited you and took time for you. That would feel special. It would also be important for you to make time and space for that friend. Yes, it’s great that you are given time by your friend, but you must also give time to your friend in return. The manger, where Jesus was born, was a space made for God. We call it sacred. It wasn’t covered in jewels or gold. It probably didn’t even smell nice. It was just a space that became special because it was a purposeful place set aside for us to meet God. The manger is a reminder we make space to meet God. Question: Where and when do you make time for God? Prayer: Dear God, today we stop and make time to learn about you. Amen. Places to connect:
To see or share pictures of the Advent Adventure Crafts: Twitter: @FigTreeTweet, #AdventAdventure For deeper discussion: Reddit: www.Reddit.com/r/FigTreeChristian  -Pastor Melissa Fain- 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. John 1:1-4 NRSV Did you know there is something called a Christian Calendar? It’s been around for centuries! It begins this week with something called Advent. Advent is a word that means “beginning.” It takes place over four Sundays, the four Sundays before Christmas to be exact. Advent is about preparing for that special day, preparing for Christ’s birth. Preparing for Christmas! It has always been prepared for the same way. Every Sunday we are given a new word that helps us get to Christmas: hope – peace – joy – love. Many Christian faith groups celebrate these ideas with something called an Advent Wreath. The wreath itself is a circle, reminding us that God is without beginning or end. God is forever. The wreath is also evergreen. In the winter, evergreens like pines stay green. It reminds us God’s presence is with us even when everything living sleeps. Today we make our advent wreath. Today we also make our first candle: Hope. Godly Hope is like looking at a map. Have you ever seen a map? You can see so many amazing places, while you don’t actually go to those places. A map helps you plan for an adventure. Our map is leading us to Christ, on Christmas. That is our hope. We are going to do more than plan for it- Christmas is the destination! We’re going to be there in 24 more days! First, and always first, we must begin our journey in hope, by setting the destination on Christ. Question: What are your hopes? What are your hopes for Christmas? What are you hoping for in life? Prayer: Dear God, you are always with us. You want us to find your hope, seek your path, and walk your way. May we see and hear your call. Amen. Places to connect:
To see or share pictures of the Advent Adventure Crafts: Twitter: @FigTreeTweet, #AdventAdventure For deeper discussion: Reddit: www.Reddit.com/r/FigTreeChristian  -Pastor Melissa Fain- Usually, when we as a nation get to this time of year, we collectively sit back and give thanks for everything we have to be thankful for. Some of us might not have a lot, but most can recall something we can raise up in gratitude.
Then came this year. I don't know about you, but being asked to find gratitude in 2020 is like a parent asking an ungrateful child to tell an adult "thank you" for something they didn't want in the first place. "Thank you for filling the cavity in my mouth. I'm sooooo grateful." You get what I mean. Only, maybe we do need to step back a moment, and see things a little bit differently. I'm not going to suggest this was best year ever. No one is going to recall how 2020 became the signature year people will be making beautiful Hallmark memories for years to come. I do believe this will be the year we talk about systems breaking. To be clear, nothing's broken that wasn't going to break eventually. There were structural cracks. They weren't obvious to the untrained eye but they were there. It's why we can't just put it all back and go on like nothing has happened. Something will never be the same again. So much could have happened this year, but never did. We could have reinvented how things are done: music, art, theater. Yet we are so invested on rebooting pretty much everything, we forget there are unborn stories waiting to be told. Reboots suck the life out of that potential and takes it's place. We are killing our future to relive our past. So, thanks! But I am grateful. I'm not a fool. I can post this without fear some government is going to kill me for my words. I live in a home. I eat every day. Sometimes those simple blessings are enough. Is it always fair? Nope. Welcome to life. Thank God I can name that! God isn't going to smite me because I name something as unfair. Jesus spent countless words naming things that were unfair, and then calling on us to change those things. There's a whole book about renaming unfair things: Job. For that, I am grateful. It's so exhausting pretending unfair things are fair. So what am I getting at? I'm thankful. I'm thankful for unfiltered truth. I'm thankful for getting through 2020 in relatively one piece. I'm thankful that I'm called to speak truth to rebooted world. The world's a mess, but God is good. -Pastor Melissa- A few months back I got a messenger bag that I was told I had to carry around with me everywhere. It was a very professional looking black, canvas bag. When it was given to me, I didn't realize there was a problem with it. The edges hadn't been sealed before the parts were stitched together. Anyone who has dealt with canvas understands how important it is to seal the edges. Canvas can fray pretty badly. Typically, I iron on a backing to the edge to give the canvas some support. There was nothing for this bag, so it had been in my possession for about a week and this tiny hole appeared at the top middle. I knew what was coming, but there was no way to stop it. A couple of months later, when I had to turn the bag back in, the entire top had come undone. It no longer looked professional. It looked like trash. Your ministers didn't prepare for thisAbout a decade ago I sat in a church meeting where we were discussing the age ole' question: How do we reach people who are not normally reached by a "traditional" worship. (I'm using really big air quotes for the word "traditional." I tend to translate the word to be anything that uses the general skeleton of modern worship. They meant organ vs guitar.) I don't usually refrain from saying what needs to be said. It's what makes me off-putting. It's also what people respect about me. I named the problem that day. We were 20 years behind the world. All churches were. We needed a hard change to meet the culture head on. I vividly remember the answer to this statement. I remember the room I was in. I remember the lighting. I remember the faint smell of breakfast pastries and coffee. I remember the woman who said it. I remember the anxiety she had on her face as she spoke. "The world is changing so fast, we just want something that stays the same." It was really thirty, but let's say ten years ago was the collective moment where the Church was called to prepare. Ten years ago we chose ease over need. Now we live in a world where our sanctuaries have become one of the easiest places to spread Covid-19. God gave us ample time to prep the Christian fabric for what was coming, but the world was changing so fast, the church just wanted something to stay the same. For many churches, going online didn't work. Why? You can't be authentic on camera until you've had years talking to a camera. You can't bring 60-90 year old people into digital spaces if they've never wanted to be there. You can't be an online church if you never wanted online church. I wish I had Brueggemann's "Prophetic Imagination" in front of me 10 years ago. Passion does not rise from complacency and sedation. Souls do not truly sing from comfort. It is from our lament that passion takes hold, and from our passion we build our hope. If we don't begin our process from lament, our hopes will eventually fray and fall to pieces. What's coming?Here's my warning for the future. Just like there were personalities that took hold when the television became a centerpiece in everyone's home, there were be the same with the internet. These personalities will solidify how we define online "church." Most Americans don't have the creative spirit to see anything beyond copy/pasting their worship online. These copy/paste internet worships are built on fear, not passion. They will fray and fall away, because nothing can grow without first being prepped with lament and hope.
If we don't get serious about letting the past go and finding our prophets for this next generation, wolves in sheep clothing will take our spot. We'll give our potential to those who are ready to fleece the poor, just like they did with television "ministry." Simply put: Stop looking for comfort. God's not there. God's in the shadows with the lost. God's in the infirmaries with the broken. God's with those who lament. Maybe it's time we did too. |
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