White Christmas?

It looks like Portland, OR is going to have a white Christmas for the first time in years.

I'm personally very excited about this.  It may delay or cancel some of my plans, but this happens so rarely I think I can enjoy it. 

Here are some of the pictures I have taken of this exciting "snow event"

All of my snow pictures can be found here

4th Sunday of Advent - Peace

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26 or Luke 1:47-55
Romans 16:25-27
Luke 1:26-38

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27

We live in a world where the idea of peace seems to be a fantasy. Just turn on the news and the events and situations that present themselves are at times unbelievable. Someone has done something despicable to someone else. A husband is accused of killing his wife. A car bomb has killed innocent people in someone’s attempt to make a statement.

And even closer to home in our own lives peace is something that always seems to be out of our grasp. Things are bad at work, which for some reason we cannot leave at work. The test last week did not go well and next week’s test does not look any better. We feel sick and know something is wrong, but the doctors keep telling us that we are fine.

Yet Jesus speaks to us of peace in the midst of everything going on around us. This is one of those things that make us wonder (but would never admit to) if He remembers what life here on earth is like, because maybe He has been in heaven long enough that He sees everything through “rose colored glasses”.

But we must not forget that Jesus spoke these words while He was on earth. Before He was crucified, knowing what was coming. Jesus knew the pain, agony and death that was coming and He still spoke of peace. He spoke of a heavenly peace. A peace that we cannot understand. A peace that we would have in the midst of all the painful and frustrating experiences of this life. A peace that would make life not just bearable, but something we can enjoy.

The scriptures above are from the Revised Common Lectionary copyright ©1992 Consultation on Common Texts for Year B, the Fourth Sunday in Advent.

3rd Sunday of Advent - Joy

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

Psalm 126  or  Luke 1:47-55

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Many people try to put joy and happiness in the same camp.  They think that they are just different ways to say the same thing or convey an idea.  However, that is not the case.  Unlike happiness, joy has nothing to do with circumstances, joy comes from hope.

It is hard to talk about joy without talking about hope.  As Christians our joy flows out of the hope we have in Jesus Christ.  Many who have no hope live lives of utter desperation without happiness, joy or satisfaction.

We we have hope because Jesus Christ has saved us from our sins.  But, that hope only comes when we know what we are saved from.  We are saved from the eternal consequences of our sins:  separation from God.  This hope brings us joy.

We have a hope that we will spend eternity with God, in a place where, as Isaiah tells us,  ‘sorrow and sighing will flee away’ where ‘the lame will leap like a dear and the mute tongue shout for joy.’  The hope that this brings gives this life meaning and purpose.  It makes this life bearable and it brings to our hearts joy.

The scriptures above are from the Revised Common Lectionary copyright ©1992 Consultation on Common Texts for Year B, the Third Sunday in Advent.

2nd Sunday of Advent - Love

Isaiah 40:1-11

Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13

2 Peter 3:8-15a

Mark 1:1-8

In one of the most familiar passages of scripture we are told why God sent Jesus to this earth.  “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever should believe in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

It was because of love.  The word “love” in our society today does not have the same power or meaning it used to.  We love our car, we love TV show, we love the new video game, and we love our family.  If one was not paying careful attention we may see our family put on the same level as the car, TV, video game or something else.

However, this does not seem like the kind of love that would cause God to send His Son to die on a cross for the salvation of humanity.    Even Jesus commanded us to “love one another”.  But what does this really mean?

Jesus tells us that “greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”  This is what love is.  This is what we should mean when we use the word love.

The scriptures above are from the Revised Common Lectionary copyright ©1992 Consultation on Common Texts for Year B, the Second Sunday in Advent.