December 2008 Archives

What is Christmas about, and what is the true Christmas spirit? These are questions we hear during the Christmas season. Now, in the time after Christmas and before the New Year, we take a look at Christmas and what it truly means. Filling in for John Mury, Matt Luker looks at how Christmas is not just about gift giving or hospitality, but about a beginning that changed everything, a beginning that brought about the end of the kingdom of darkness.

On a more personal note, our whole church family extends our deepest condolences to the Mury family. Eugene will be missed by us all, and our thoughts and prayers are with your whole family.

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I held out all night but as of 6:30am the weather forecasts have only gotten worst. Enjoy your Beacon snow day! We seem to have one of these just about every year. Last year, we had to call off service even earlier in the year. Especially with today’s service being a Kid Connection, there are so many individuals who are absolutely necessary for service. Hope to see you Christmas Eve!

(12/14) Joy is a word used quite a bit during the Christmas season. But what is the true nature of joy? Is it just a feeling of happiness, fleeting at best? Or is there something more? This week, John Mury explores joy and why it is sometimes so difficult for us to grasp.

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What is peace? In this season of Advent as we celebrate the coming of the Christ Child, the question is especially relevant. Our modern understanding of peace is only defined negatively: the absence of conflict. But for the writers of the New Testament, peace meant so much more. For them, peace was based in the Hebrew concept of shalom. As we celebrate the peace Christ brought and look forward to the final peace he will bring, the meaning of shalom reveals a peace that truly surpasses our modern understanding.

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In the midst of our suffering and our trials, God provides hope. Often we only see part of this hope: hope of an end to suffering and difficulty. As we move into our Advent season, John looks at the other part of the hope God provides to us: that God can redeem our suffering and difficulty, turning it into something amazing. In the midst of our need, we find God ready to provide for all our needs, working to form the nature of Christ in us. The hope God extends to us through his spirit is real, and it does not disappoint!

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