Pastor's Blog

December 7 Isaiah 42:6-9   I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;   I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people,  a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. -Isaiah 42:6-7   Being called by God is a common encouragement—you see it in screensavers, memes, calendars. It gives us purpose and certainty when we find those thi

December 6 Isaiah 53:3-6   All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. -Isaiah 53:6   I am drawn to the idea of those who bear the “iniquity of us all,” the communal sins called out throughout the prophetic tradition: the exaltation of wealth, a lack of hospitality to the outsider, the exploitation of vulnerable populations. The prophet points both to the lamentable victimization of some and the s

December 5 John 1:15-18   From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  -John 1:16-17   During Advent, we celebrate the birth of Jesus and the gift of God’s eternal grace. In John 1:15-18, we are told “...grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Through Jesus, grace and mercy became personal; it is unearned and freely given. We are reminded that Jesus was sent by God from Heaven