Christmas has come and gone but isn't meant to be shuffled aside. Christmas is the beginning of Christ doing something new in our lives and all Christ-followers pursuing the love of Jesus. Having prepared for and welcomed the guest in our lives, we must realize everything about who we are and what we do has changed. As ones who have come to know hope in Christ, we are to live full of God's grace and mercy, and give God praise and glory! We are to live a life of celebration until we all feast at the heavenly banquet with all Jesus and all the saints! Wesleyan Covenant Prayer I am no longer my own, but yours. Put me to what you will, place me with whom you will. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be put to work for you or set aside for you, Praised for you or criticized for you. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and fully surrender all things to your glory and service. And now, O wonderful and holy God, Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer,  I am yours, and you are mine, and I am yours. And the covenant which I have made on earth, Let it also be made in heaven.  Amen. Scripture: Ephesians 1:3-14 (CEB)

It's Christmas Eve, and the company has arrived! Christmas isn't merely a celebration of Christ's birth, but an opportunity to experience year after year the indescribable gift of meeting grace and salvation in the flesh. Welcoming the guest with arms open wide means living a new way and allowing the Christ child to transform us from the inside out. This Christmas, we realize that the moment Jesus was born, everything changed for us and the world. Scripture Reading: Titus 2:11-14 (CEB), John 1:1-14 (CEB)

God’s idea of home is different than ours. God chooses to make his home in ours and wants to reside in every aspect of our lives. Yet, so often, we get so busy and distracted that we forget to leave room for God’s presence in our lives. In the days leading up to Christmas morning, as we’re rushing to make everything just perfect, God is calling us not to run overload but to experience God’s palpable presence and unending room. Company is coming. Is there enough room for when the company arrives?

Having recognized there are messes and cleaned them up, what’s next to prepare for the coming company? That’s right—decorating! In a world full of desperation, God calls us to decorate the world with love, kindness, and service! Isaiah decorated with garland, oil, and mantles of praise. John did it with water and baptism. How can you shower the world with decorations? Where can you proclaim the good news of great joy and invite people to the Light of the World?

Having surveyed the mess around us, what are we going to about it? Advent is a call to action and proclamation to prepare the way for the Lord. An important way we prepare for Christ’s coming again is to acknowledge where sin is in our lives, confess our sins to God, and seek the wholeness of our hearts, minds, and souls. What confession do you need to offer today to the Lord? How do you need to make straight the pathway to wholeness in your life?

Throughout our lives, we often fall into complacency, and our watchful waiting falls by the wayside. Then the season of Advent suddenly hits us with a reminder that we are continually waiting and preparing for something. Despite our tendency to get off track and the many challenges, the year has presented, Advent is the time of year to start over. During this first week of Advent, we do the important task of self-examination, recognize the state of messiness our lives are in and remember the hope-filled promise of Christ’s return. Christ has come. Christ is come. Christ will come again!

It's that time of year again, when we're usually full of joy, laughter, eating, traveling, and expressing our gratitude. Yet, this year feels different, and the weight of all the world's challenges are heavy on people's hearts. Amid all the suffering, illnesses, death, hate, and divide currently surrounding us, is it possible to still give God thanks? Absolutely. However, it may take a different form. As people and followers of Christ, it's crucial to create a safe space to feel the feelings and lament before God. When we do, it draws us closer to the Living Water source and into a relationship of dependency. By feeling the feelings, we remember where our hope comes from and are led again to give thanks to our saving presence and our God.

We continue in our current series, “There Is Now,” by exploring Jesus’ Parable of Talents. Our call as followers of Jesus means nurturing our inward faith with spiritual oil and sharing that faith outwardly with the world. Each of us has graces and gifts which aren’t meant to be stored up for personal gain but to advance the Kingdom of God. We are called to be good stewards of the talents, resources, and grace given to us, and when we do enter into the joy of faithful service to the Lord.7

It’s three weeks before Advent, and as the current liturgical year comes to an end, we explore passages that inspire us to live each day aware of Christ’s reign and presence and acknowledge that all of us are closer to the One we follow than we realize. This week in Matthew 25, we are reminded that every day presents us with the opportunity to prepare for Christ’s second coming by living faithfully in Christ. Each day we have an opportunity to trim our lamps and burn our oil.

On All Saint’s Sunday, we not only remember all those who have gone on before us but also of the hope we share. Amid all the great hardships of today, as followers of Christ, we share the hope of comfort and peace. Trials and tribulations are unavoidable on earth, but they do not define us. As followers of Christ, we are they who are known for the robes we wear.