This Advent, I’m using the book, The Christmas Letters, by Magrey DeVega. Throughout this series, we are looking at what some of the earliest Christian writings had to say about the incarnation and the significance of Jesus coming to earth to dwell among us.

What mattered most to these early Christian communities before the gospel narratives and the nativity stories we know so well today and how might those teachings draw us back to the heart of Advent, Christmas, and the Christian life?

This week - Philippians 2:1-11 - How the Incarnation shows us what it means to be fully human.

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Podcast Intro recorded by Ariana Sefa

This Advent, I’m using the book, The Christmas Letters, by Magrey DeVega. Throughout this series, we are looking at what some of the earliest Christian writings had to say about the incarnation and the significance of Jesus coming to earth to dwell among us.

What mattered most to these early Christian communities before the gospel narratives and the nativity stories we know so well today and how might those teachings draw us back to the heart of Advent, Christmas, and the Christian life?

This week - 1 John 1:1-10 - Christ as the Beginning, the light that was spoken into darkness, the eternal Word of God.

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Podcast Intro recorded by Ariana Sefa

This Advent I’ll be using the book, The Christmas Letters, by Magrey DeVega. Throughout this series, we will be looking at what some of the earliest Christian writings had to say about the incarnation and the significance of Jesus coming to earth to dwell among us.

What mattered most to these early Christian communities before the gospel narratives and the nativity stories we know so well today and how might those teachings draw us back to the heart of Advent, Christmas, and the Christian life?

This week - Romans 1:1-7 - Jesus as the hope the people had been waiting for.

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Podcast Intro recorded by Ariana Sefa

Jesus wept over Jerusalem saying: “If only you knew the things that made for peace.”

Which raises the question for us: What do we know about peace? This week we reflect on our national obsession with peace through power and strength in contrast to Jesus’ way of peace through unconditional love, mercy, and mutual care.

Take some time to reflect on where you find peace, or the absence of peace, in your life, and what Jesus might want to speak into your present reality.

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Podcast Intro recorded by Ariana Sefa

In our last episode we explored the mystery of death. Now we turn to the mystery of life? How do we live now in light of eternity?

It is far to easy to go through life with very little thought of how we are actually living and what we are living for. This week’s message is an invitation to slow down and live with God and one another and cherish every moment of this beautiful life we’ve been given.

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Podcast Intro recorded by Ariana Sefa

As we celebrate this All Saints Day, we remember those who have gone before us. We mourn for the loss of those whom we loved who have now passed throught he veil of death.

And yet, even in our grief, we have hope: hope that death is not the end, but merely a door through which we walk with Christ. People say a lot of things about death. Most are merely speculation or fantasy, and many are not nearly as helfpful or comforting as we intend.

This week we are reflecting on the important role of grief and hope as we wrestle with our own mortality and the loss of those we love.

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Podcast Intro recorded by Ariana Sefa

After 40 years, the Israelites finally reach the promised land. But as they cross the Jordan, they stop to do something that to us may seem unusual… gather stones from the river to setup both at their camp and in the middle of the river itself, never knowing when the wall of water would come crashing down.

It’s a reminder that though we are all walking into an unknown future, looking back and remembering how God has been with us on the journey to this point is a vital part of strengthening out trust in God for whatever lies ahead.

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Podcast Intro recorded by Ariana Sefa

As God’s people prepare to enter into the promised land, roughly 1 year after leaving Egypt, they are delayed another 39 years by one thing… fear.

Their fear leads them to conclude that despite God’s promise, they cannot enter the land. And so they wander in the wilderness until an entire generation dies off.

What promises from God does our own fear keep us from inheriting?

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Podcast Intro recorded by Ariana Sefa