-Pastor Melissa Fain- 26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Matthew 1:26-33 NRSV Did you know love is a theme in the Bible and is a subject that comes up hundreds of times? That makes love an important part of understanding and following God. The fourth theme of Advent is Love. To get here we had to travel through the other three themes. First, like pulling out a map, we had to plan our journey with Hope. Then, we had work towards that destination with active Peace. It is when we begin to see our work paying off we can start to celebrate with Joy. Now, Love is the destination. It is the X that marks the spot on our journey to prepare for Christ. We now have everything we need to meet Jesus at Christmas! Love is something we can spend our entire lives working to understand but is also super easy to understand too. Love seeks the best for a person or group. The Christmas story is the story of God’s first steps to find the best for all humans. God loves us so much; God took on humanity to do it. Godly love is always where we should be traveling. It is right, and it is good. Today, that’s what we have, and now there is only 5 days until Christmas! We’re ready! Question: Where have you seen Godly love out in the world? Prayer: Dear God, help us see your Love in our lives! 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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