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Devotion
Someone has said, “We keep time by observing the sun and the moon; we keep sane by telling stories.”
A calendar without a story might get us to the right place at the right time but what good is that if we don’t know who we are when we get there. Stories are what tell us who we are and what we can do.
Christians inherited a Roman calendar that was perfectly adequate for getting up in the morning and going to bed on time, when to plant your crops and when to set your wedding day. But from early days, Christians told stories of Jesus and their experience with him. And as the stories were told and retold, they clustered around the calendar and the “Roman” year slowly gave way to the “Christian” year.
The Christian calendar is our storybook. Every year we live inside the stories of Jesus Christ – we begin in Advent, anticipating the coming of a Savior, and we live and move through his birth, his life and his teachings, his death and resurrection, his ascension into heaven and the birth of his distinctive people, the Church, through the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost and all that this means.
We tell these stories that define and shape our beginnings and ends, our living and dying, our rebirths and blessings – and behind and in it all, is the story of our God revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ.
This Sunday, our story-telling begins anew with Advent. In Advent, we tell our stories of waiting. We are waiting, waiting, for an infinite God, unbound by time and space, to reveal himself to us in a way we can understand:
“The virgin is with child and will soon give birth to a son: and she will call him Emmanuel, God-is-with-us.” Isaiah 7:14
Imagine if new stories had been found, ancient scrolls pulled from the sand of first-person accounts of those who were there at the nativity? By chance, these ancient texts have been secreted to me by persons who have chosen to remain anonymous. I assure you they are of reputable character. After prayerful consideration, I have chosen to break the silence and reveal these untold stories to you this Advent.
Mums the word.
Pastor Kristen
Announcements
IMAGINE: An Advent of Storytelling
1st Sunday of Advent, November 29th, The Angels’ Point of View
2nd Sunday of Advent, December 6th, The Testimony of the Innkeeper
3rd Sunday of Advent, December 13th, An Angel’s Case Against Christmas: The Grievance of Hector
4th Sunday of Advent, December 20th, A Director’s Encounter
JOIN US FOR CHRISTMAS EVE CANDLELIGHT SERVICE, December 24th at 7-7:30pm.
DONATIONS OF UNWRAPPED TOYS, MITTENS, SCARVES AND GLOVES FOR CHILDREN are being received at the Crete United Methodist Church. The non-contact drop place is outside the drive-through entrance off Exchange Street on Sundays, between 9 and 10am and Wednesdays between 6-7pm only. Gifts must be received prior to December 13th. All gifts will be given to the Jones Center in Chicago Heights.
OUR THRIFT SHOP is now taking donations on Tuesdays, between 9-11 am.
OUR THRIFT SHOP is now taking donations on Tuesdays, between 9-11 am.
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
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DONATIONS OF UNWRAPPED TOYS, MITTENS, SCARVES AND GLOVES FOR CHILDREN are being received at the Crete United Methodist Church. The non-contact drop place is outside the drive-through entrance off Exchange Street on Sundays, between 9 and 10am and Wednesdays between 6-7pm only. Gifts must be received prior to December 13th. All gifts will be given to the Jones Center in Chicago Heights.
