As the light dawns on a new year, we are asking a simple but persistent question: Why church? Why do this thing we do together? People have been asking that question for decades. Some ask it quietly and opt out, choosing a Sunday morning bagel and a few more hours of sleep. Others stay but reshape church into something easier to manage: a country club, a political tribe, a self-help space, or reliable children’s programming. Still others stay out of deep loyalty,…
Matthew 2:13-23 Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what…
Matthew 1:18-25 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,…
Isaiah 40:1-5 Comfort, O comfort my people,says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,and cry to herthat she has served her term,that her penalty is paid,that she has received from the Lord’s handdouble for all her sins. A voice cries out:“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up,and every mountain and hill be made low;the uneven ground shall become level,and the rough places a plain. Then the…
