Category: Advent

No one uses a piece of new cloth to patch up an old coat, because the new patch will shrink and tear off some of the old cloth, making an even bigger hole. Nor does anyone pour new wine into used wineskins, because the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the…
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This year we chose to celebrate a Who Christmas… A Who Christmas, what is that? You know the kind of Christmas patterned after the movie, How the Grinch stole Christmas, in which the Who’s of Whoville gather around a tree without presents and sing anyway. To be honest, I found it refreshing not to be…
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I have been seeking the perfect gift for you to unwrap this beautiful Christmas morn. And, at long last, on the eve of Christmas, our pastor reminded us of where it was hidden. The most perfect gift is Christ, the Messiah sent from heavens bliss. His name is Immanuel which means God with us and…
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The fullness of time (Ephesians 1: 10) had come and God became a human being (John 1: 14), born of a woman (Galatians 4: 4; Luke 1: 35), wrapped in swaddling clothes (Luke 2: 7) and born for us (Isaiah 9: 6; John 3: 16-17; Luke 2: 11). This event was long predicted. “God Himself…
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There is nothing better than good news. It doesn’t matter how it comes, by mail, telephone, face to face, television, instant messaging… we love good news. Better still, is getting good news when it’s unexpected. We love surprises even more, if it is good news. The birth of a child used to be one of…
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Christmas can happen… because the Star is shining bright. Every year in December, I look forward to the day when they turn on the star. It is quite breathtaking actually, 20 feet tall and 200 foot candles shining brilliantly over the Elizabeth River. It takes my breath away… Bright white against the stark and empty…
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Hope. Hope is such a little word… It is just four letters and yet this little, one syllable word conveys such powerful meaning. If we were to take away the letter on the end of the word hope, we would find our word altered and yet, the change is ever so slight. Hope facilitates joy…
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When you hear the word Christmas, what is the first thing that pops into your mind? In America, many of us think about twinkle lights; merry Christmas wreaths; or the smell of incense burning while candle light flickers onto lofty wooden beams or high stone arches laid together by pious ancestors long dead but still…
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Christmas Eve is here, at last. Bells are ringing, children singing…and tomorrow, Christmas day we light the last Advent candle. Placing an Advent wreath in the home and lighting Advent Candles became a tradition during post-Reformation Germany. I can only imagine that many believers during this time period, seeking intimacy with God were immediately drawn…
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This morning, long before sun rays kissed morning clouds of dawn, truth was given me. I have read this passage of scripture many times. Generally reading and passing by, reading steadily onward… to light on another flowers’ nectar… stopping elsewhere in the book of Luke, Mary’s’ betrothal perhaps….swaddling clothes….shepherds keeping watch by night….not to sip…
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