January 22, 2025 • 41 mins
What if the season of Advent is more than just a countdown to Christmas? Join us on this enriching journey through hope, love, peace, and joy, as we explore how these profound themes can transform us. Through our discussions, we'll unpack the beauty of waiting and uncover the quiet miracles that unfold around us every day. Discover the sacredness of darkness as a space where the Spirit hovers, offering comfort and assurance that we are never alone, even amidst life's challenges.
As we reflect on the transformative power of love, we challenge our perceptions of divine intervention. The quiet acceptance of Mary and the imagery in Luke’s Gospel remind us that true transformation often comes through humble, everyday moments. We'll share insights on how to cultivate a posture of awareness, finding fulfillment in the miraculous nature of spiritual growth. This Advent, embrace the kingdom of God by nurturing relationships and creating meaningful connections with those around you.
Finally, we explore the tension between personal gain and the satisfaction found in love and service. Through metaphors of darkness and light, and stories like that of Lazarus, we'll delve into the divine possibilities that await when we open our hearts to love’s freedom. In moments of solitude and wilderness, be encouraged by prayers for hope, as we tend to it like gardeners allowing it to grow wild. May this Advent season lead you to the table of love, where the promise of renewal and a complex joy born from suffering can guide you toward new hope.
This podcast is made possible, thanks to the generosity of our donors. If you would like to support the ongoing work of First Love Church you can donate at https://www.firstlovechurch.org/giving
In the service of LOVE,
Pastors Dennis and Heather Drake
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the First Love Church podcast.
This is a collection of Sundayteachings inspired by the
Revised Common Lectionary andrecorded weekly in Ocala,
florida.
For us to slow, for us to wait,for us to hear the Advent of
the Spirit.
I love about Advent it is apatience, it is a practice and
it invites us into waiting.
(00:22):
But the good news is not thatyou are great at waiting.
The good news is that God isfaithful in coming.
That's the good news of Adventthat God is faithful in God's
coming for us and we're sograteful for the hope, for the
revelation that is hope ingiving to us in Advent and in
(00:44):
this new year.
I want to read to us fromchapter Isaiah Isaiah, chapter 9
.
For unto us a child is born, tous a son is given and the
government will be upon hisshoulders and he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, mighty God,everlasting Father, prince of
(01:04):
Peace.
This was something the peoplein ancient Israel knew and
understood, but this is the hopefor all of us.
Advent is a practice in waitingin the past and also waiting
for the future.
This beautiful now and not yet.
We wait with the ancients andwe wait for the future.
And this the hope of advent andwe're so glad that you're here
(01:26):
with us this advent season.
We want to say thank you somuch to those of you who helped
us participate in our outreachand in the handing out of
groceries and and food that wegave an entire thanksgiving
dinner away, and we're sograteful for all of your help
with that well we we were ableto give 50 Thanksgiving dinners.
(01:46):
Yes, yes, so that was beautifuland thank you for everyone who
carried those turkeys.
They were, yes, they were notlight, but we are grateful for
all of that hope.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Amen.
Speaking of hope, isn't thattoday?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
It is, but we have a reading first and we're working
on those other things.
Carly, will you?
Speaker 3 (02:07):
do a reading for us, please this morning.
I do not know what theseshadows ask of you, what they
might hold.
That means you good or ill.
It is not for me to reckonwhether you should linger or you
should leave, but this is whatI can ask for you that in the
darkness there be a blessing.
That in the darkness there be ablessing.
That in the shadows there be awelcome.
(02:29):
That in the night you beencompassed by the love that
knows your name.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Thank you In the dark .
May you be encompassed.
Thank you for reading In thedark.
May you be encompassed by thelove that knows your name In the
dark, may you be reminded, mayyou understand, may you have
hope that you are not alone,that God is with you, that God
(03:01):
is always with you and that youwill never, ever be alone.
It's our joy to celebrate thefirst Sunday of Advent with you,
and we get four weeks of Advent, and that's four weeks of
practice in waiting.
It's four weeks of practice inpaying attention to your own
darkness, and the darkness inyou might be a difficult health
(03:23):
diagnosis.
The darkness that you'reexperiencing might be a
difficult health diagnosis.
The darkness that you'reexperiencing might be a
difficult relationship.
The darkness in you might be anunanswered prayer or something
that you struggle with and thinkthat it will never change.
The darkness in you and in meand in the world may be many
things, but Advent reminds us.
(03:47):
World may be many things, butAdvent reminds us, re-centers us
and teaches us that even in thedarkness, god is with us.
I remind you too, sometimes, aspeople of an American culture.
We have this idea that light isgood and that darkness is bad,
and I want to tell you that isnot how God created it, it is
not how it it should be thatthere is something holy in the
dark.
(04:07):
A dark is the womb place, aplace where the Spirit hovers,
and so don't dismiss thoseplaces, as I want to see only.
I think that we love summer andwe love long days and we love
lots of light, but there is aholy invitation into the
darkness, into winter, intosettling, into waiting for all
(04:31):
of the goodness that God hasplaced in the earth to be
unveiled in us.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
You know, as I'm getting older, I like a lot of
light.
I mean, I need surgery lightwhen I'm doing my projects
around the house or whatever.
And uh, you know my uh, as I'mgetting older, my, my increasing
need for that light is so thatI can see, uh, but in the
(04:59):
darkness I have to depend on Godto lead.
And so I don't wish darkness formyself or you, I don't wish
those struggles, but I do remindyou that in them God has not
misplaced you and God is drawingus even in that.
(05:20):
And so I hope that during thisseason we're gonna light a
candle here in a moment, andeach one of these candles
represent a theme, and hopefullythe songs that we sang even
outlined that theme At leastthat was the intention and so
that, even though maybe you setin darkness, we're reminded that
(05:46):
we have love, that there ishope for us, there is peace and
there is joy, and so maybe thisweek we'll kind of meditate on
that theme for the week.
As we remember, this candle'slit, and though that candle
doesn't illuminate this wholeroom, it does begin to dispel
(06:12):
darkness in that area.
Amen.
And so I think that for us, wecan realize that these gifts
that God has given us right inthe middle of struggle is
something that will bringillumination.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
We remind ourselves together that we are a people of
resurrection.
We are a people who are notafraid of death, we are not
afraid of the grave.
We understand that love iseternal and that God is able,
that love is able to resurrectall things, all things being
made new in the light and in thehope of Jesus Christ.
(06:46):
So today, pastor Dennisreminded us and this is what
we'll do together is we willlight the hope candle and Thomas
is usually here to do it andhe's good at lighting things and
we might have to find anotherone.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
We're going to work on that.
Somebody, some smoker?
No, we're not going to.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
They're going to work something else out and we will
light together.
We have the thing and this isthe hope of all of us that
sometimes, if you have somethingand you cannot light your own
light, you need someone else tobring a light for you.
And I remind you, this is truealso of hope.
Sometimes you cannot carry yourown hope.
Maybe enough of what hashappened for you has made you
(07:29):
cynical or made you hopeless.
And let the community cometogether and hold hope for you
so we can see and wait for thearrival of the coming King.
Amen.
I read to you this morning, notfrom the Psalms.
There's three readings in thisAdvent time and I want to read
(07:51):
first to you.
You're going to give me just asecond.
Sure, thank you for yourgenerosity.
I appreciate that From Jeremiahthe day will come, says the
Lord.
Thank you for your generosity.
I appreciate that From Jeremiahthe day will come, says the
Lord, when I will do for Israeland Judah all the good things I
have promised them.
(08:11):
In those days and at that timeI will rise up.
Raise up a righteous descendantfrom King David's line and he
will do what is just and rightthroughout the land, and in that
day Judah will be saved andJerusalem will live in safety,
and this will be its name.
(08:32):
The Lord is our righteousness.
And then I read to you from thebook of Thessalonians
Thessalonians is, for those ofyou who care about these things,
the oldest book that we have inthe Second Testament.
In fact, thessalonians waswritten from an apostle to the
church in Thessalonica about 15years after Jesus's resurrection
(08:56):
, long before the Gospels werewritten.
And Paul was writing to apeople who were really
disappointed because they hadbeen waiting for Jesus' return
for 15 years and some of themhad died and some of them had
said hey, I thought you saidJesus was coming back and I
thought you said that our liveswere going to be different.
And so he writes the entireletter to remind them have joy,
(09:20):
joy, unspeakable joy, becausethere is a better story that is
being told.
We go to the letter here inchapter 3, for what thanksgiving
can we return to God for you,for all of the joy that we feel
for your sake before our God,and as we pray most earnestly,
night and day, we pray that wemay see you face to face and
(09:44):
supply what is lacking in yourfaith.
Now may our God and Fatherhimself and our Lord Jesus
direct our way to you, and maythe Lord make you increase and
abound in love for one anotherand for all, as we do for you,
so that he may establish yourhearts blameless in holiness
(10:05):
before God, our Father, at thecoming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
with all his saints.
The part of the scripture thatis so alive to us during this
time of Advent is may the Lordmake you increase and abound in
love for one another and for all, as we do for you.
This is the invitation into alife that has seen, that has
(10:28):
experienced a resurrected Christ, a Christ coming with us.
One of the beautiful thingsabout Advent is it reminds us
that God comes low for us.
A lot of times, when we haveideas about how a answer will
come or how a prayer will beanswered or how it'll happen
(10:49):
when the God's kingdom come, wehave ideas of grandeur and
greatness, and we see in thisbeautiful story, we see in this
rehearsal, that God comes low,that God comes humbly, that love
comes to us in meekness, andthat love offers unto us a new
(11:10):
way.
May the Lord make you increaseand abound in love for one
another and in all, and thatlove offers unto us a new way.
May the Lord make you increaseand abound in love for one
another and in all as we do foryou.
This is our prayer for you thismorning May God himself make
you increase and abound in lovefor one another and for all, so
that he may establish yourhearts, blameless in holiness
(11:32):
before our God and Father, atthe coming of our Lord Jesus
with all of his saints.
What a beautiful invitation.
And then we go to Luke's Gospeland you'll see here how the
writers of the liturgy and howthe people in Advent want us to
look at this very apocalyptictype of scene.
And in the next few weeks we'lllisten to the witness of John
(11:54):
the Baptist and we'll listen toElizabeth and we'll listen to
Mary and we'll look at theposture of those people who are
able to say let it be unto meaccording to your word.
I can't imagine and maybe youcan, but I can't that Mary had
any idea of what was going tohappen when she said yes.
And maybe the same is true foryou when you said yes to
(12:17):
following Jesus, when you saidyes to following love.
Maybe you had no idea what itwas going to look like.
But this invitation is to anapocalypse and maybe you find
yourself in your life right nowand you're like there is an
apocalypse.
Find yourself in your liferight now and you're like there
is an apocalypse, and I want toremind you that that word
actually just means an unveiling.
Perhaps a new perspective,perhaps a practice in waiting
(12:40):
can reveal to you, can unveilyou.
Perhaps the advent, the arrival, is something that would stir
you.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
You know, I think that a lot of us would like god
to show up in the lightning andwe want the, the armies of
heaven, to move and uh, and yet,over and over, we see in
scripture it's like in thatstill small place, in the quiet,
you know, and and we wantvictory to to be certain and our
(13:10):
enemies to be crushed when godbrings this unveiling and this
transformation through love.
And it's a path that is less,maybe, exciting, and I think
that what we've been duped intoas human beings is we want magic
, and God doesn't do magic.
(13:35):
God does miracles, and magicwould be sleight of hand and it
would be impressive.
Boom, look, look what I did.
That's impressive and that'smagic.
But a miracle is that throughlove and my surrender that I
(13:56):
will be transformed.
So I would encourage you to notdo when we read scripture,
sometimes we're like I can'tbelieve those people had Jesus
right there and they missed it.
Well, I wonder where I haveJesus Right here and miss him,
and so maybe I was looking formagic.
(14:19):
But God is so ready and willingand doing miracles.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
If we are awakened to see the miracles and to watch
for them.
There's a miracle in a seedbeloved that we put in a very
dark place and out of it,without our help, comes an
enormous tree.
There are things in our lifethat when we wait for, when we
have anticipation for the advent, the arrival of new and better
(14:54):
things, there is a hope.
There are other words that wecan use in advent aware, alive,
attentive, alert, awake.
They're all appropriate.
Advent is, above all, a call tofull consciousness and a
forewarning about the high priceof being aware, of being awake,
of being alive, of payingattention to the workings of the
(15:17):
Spirit and to this invitationinto the miraculous Beloved.
Love is a miracle and it is atransformative power.
And so when we attend to love,when we attend to the invitation
of the Christ into waiting,waiting for the blessed coming,
(15:40):
waiting for things to berevealed to us, waiting for us
to maybe even have our eyeshealed, so we are able to see
that what we have is alreadyenough.
So we are able to see that whatwe have is already enough.
And there is a grace in thetime of Advent to listen to this
beautiful call I read to usfrom Luke's Gospel, expect to
(16:16):
witness amazing and perplexingsigns throughout the universe,
with the sun and the moon andthe stars, and the raging of the
sea will bring desperation andturmoil to many nations.
Earthquakes will bring panicand disaster, and what men see
coming to the earth will causethe fear of doom to grip their
(16:36):
hearts, for they will even seethe powers of the heavenly realm
shaken.
And at last, when you see howthe Son of man comes, surrounded
with a cloud of great power andmiracles and the radiance of
his splendor and great glory andpraises, it will make you jump
for joy, for the day of yourfull transformation has arrived.
(17:00):
And Jesus gave his disciplesthis parable.
Haven't you observed the figtree, or any tree, that when it
buds and blossoms, you realizethat a season is changing and
that summer is near Again?
Jesus invites all of us to letnature witness to us of the
(17:21):
goodness of God, of the plan oflove, of the hope that is
already here.
In the same way, when you seethese prophetic signs occurring,
you realize the earth isyielding to the fullness of
God's kingdom realm.
And I assure you the end ofthis age will not come until I
(17:42):
have spoken, until all I havespoken comes to pass, the earth
and the sky will wear out andfade away before one word I
speak loses its power or failsto accomplish its purpose.
Be careful that you never allowyour hearts to grow cold.
Remain passionate and free fromanxiety and the worries of this
(18:07):
life, and then you will not becaught off guard by what happens
.
Don't let me come and find youdrunk or careless in living like
everyone else, for the day willcome as a shocking surprise to
all, like a downpour thatdrenches everyone, catching many
unaware and unprepared.
Keep a constant watch over yoursoul and pray for the courage
(18:30):
and the grace to prevail overthese things that are destined
to occur, that you might standbefore the presence of the son
of man with a clear conscience.
What an incredible invitation.
And Jesus gives this veryapocalyptic parable and he's
asking us to look at trees andthe very fact that there's going
to be signs in the heavens andall around us, and then says
(18:53):
this is the coming.
This is going to be the kingdomthat is coming.
And I remind you, beloved, thekingdom of love may not look
like you thought it did.
The kingdom of love that is soexpansive, that looks like what
is done in heaven is done hereon the earth.
This is an invitation for allof us to stay alert, to stay
(19:17):
awake and to pay attention tothe miracles that are all around
us you know it's, it's amazingwhen you look at the, the stars,
and how you see the vastnessand the arrangement.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
And for those of us that are believers, you know we
see God's handiwork and thatencourages me to see that he's
made those arrangements in theuniverse and he will make those
arrangements and adjustmentsthat need to be in me.
You know, and it talked aboutthe sun, and you know it's a
(19:54):
little chilly today, but youknow you're going to go out in
the noonday and be warmed by aburning star that is just the
right distance between you so asnot to burn you up or that
you'd go freeze to death outside.
I see handiwork.
You know scientists areperplexed at our moon, that it's
(20:15):
precisely in the spot that itis and the size that it is and
how it affects our tides, and ifit were any distance and of
course I'm no scientist, butthey themselves are looking at
this going the mathematicalequation for this to be a
coincidence is so large that thecurrent belief is that aliens
towed it in place.
(20:35):
And it makes perfect sense tosomeone who doesn't believe that
there had to be some kind ofoutside intervention to come in
or we could, as believers saywell you believers say well, you
know, he made the moon andstars, you know.
(20:56):
And so for us that we look atthat evidence and we can be
amazed at God's handiwork or wecan miss what's right in front
of us.
You know, and choosing tobelieve, what does that do for
me?
To choose to trust god, thatthat in that, uh, in the
(21:17):
vastness of this universe, thatthere is some order there, and
that I believe that, in all ofthe disorder that I feel
sometimes, that that there is aGod who cares.
And my experience has been, asI trust, that God brings peace
to me.
That's my evidence, Because welook both of us look at the moon
(21:42):
tonight.
We all do, but we come up withdifferent idea of what it means
and why it's there and how itgot there, and some can bring
you great peace and some do not.
Amen.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
We pause here for a moment to thank you for joining
us today.
If you're finding this episodemeaningful, would you take a
moment to share it with a friend?
This podcast is made possiblethanks to the generosity of
people just like you.
If you would like to supportthe ongoing work of First Love
Church and the continued work ofour podcast, visit us online at
(22:26):
firstlovechurchorg, remindingyou to like, follow and
subscribe.
I was thinking about what youjust said and reading someone
who had this particular thought.
During the time of Advent, weremember and pay attention to
the virgin birth, which ispreposterous I mean, it's just
(22:49):
absurd really and we look atthat.
But then we also look at peoplewho believe that there is a
virgin cosmos, that there is nocreator, and so the invitation
is choose your miracle.
If you're going to believe that, then we can go.
It's all a miracle.
It really really is and theinvitation is that we could be
people who practice and who seethe miracles that are around us.
In this beautiful invitationthat we have a loving creator
(23:12):
that, by God's own spirit, isgiven to us, that will allow
love to be formed in us, theidea that love would rule and
reign, the idea that there wouldbe peace on earth, the idea
that there would be abundancethat no one would have lack
Beloved, that is the kingdom ofGod.
Abundance that no one wouldhave lack Beloved, that is the
(23:34):
kingdom of God.
And the invitation is to allowthe spirit to ignite our holy
imagination, for us to imaginewhat it would be like for there
to be just a oneness between allpeople, for everyone to see
everyone as a loving brother, asa loving sister, for us to be
able to see that image of God ineach person that is before us,
(23:57):
in their diversity, in theiruniqueness, in their beauty and
their splendor, as God made them.
And there is an invitation intoa deeper love.
And that is, I think, thebeauty of Advent.
The other beauty of Advent it isfull of hope.
And in the Talmud it tells usabout God and about angels, and
(24:19):
it says that every blade ofgrass has an angel that bends
over it and says grow, grow,Grow.
I love that image, that thereis so much care from a loving
creator that every blade ofgrass has someone whispering
lovingly grow, grow, grow.
And what I see in Advent is theloving presence that says to us
(24:42):
hope, hope, hope, when the restof the world says it will never
change.
Things are going downhill,everything is bad.
Listen to the sound of Adventthat offers us a hope.
A hope in the idea and in theunderstanding that love is
(25:02):
eternal, that God is with usalways, and there will never be
a time that we are alone.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
And there will never be a time that we are alone.
You know, we can spend so muchof our energy trying to get ours
, you know, and get recognizedor get approval, or get one-up
on somebody, or get our wealthor whatever it is, and I can
(25:34):
tell you, at 57, every attemptthat I have made in that
direction has not satisfied me.
I've been so full I couldn'tneed another bite.
But I've never been satisfiedlike I am in the moments that I
(25:55):
allow love to reign in my life,that I allow kindness and
service to be the driving forcein my life, and I wish that it
were a consistent path that Ialways walk on.
But it seems that I drift in andout of it, and maybe many of
(26:17):
you find that same thing, whereoccasionally, we're wakened by
the Spirit, but it's in thatplace that we connect with God
and we find our fulfillment, andso we keep looking somewhere
else, as if that will ever bringyou and I the joy that we seek,
(26:38):
the satisfaction that we longfor, you know, the fulfillment,
and so I want to remind you thatit is in these disciplines and
these practices that we talkabout, and, though they're not
magic, they're miraculous.
And and in the how is it thatin me, uh, applying these
(27:01):
principles of of deciding I'mjust going to live a life of
service, of love, how is thatgoing to bring joy?
It seems to make more sensethat I should spend that energy
to just get all I can and storeit up for myself.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
One of the practices that Advent brings to us is the
practice of waiting in the dark,and we invite you over this
next month to practice with usand we will be up early in the
dark.
And we invite you over thisnext month to practice with us
and we will be up early in themorning and before the sun comes
up.
And the practice is and youdecide how much time you're
willing to wait.
I mean, if the sun comes up at7.01, perhaps you're up at 6.58.
(27:45):
I am not a judge of that.
However, you want to do that.
But wait in the dark and lighta candle and wait for the sun,
and sometimes that practicealone is so holy for us Waiting
in the darkness for a light thatis coming.
Dennis and I were talking thisweek about the story of Lazarus,
(28:06):
the account of Lazarus beingcalled out of the grave and his
dear sister, who loves him, whenJesus comes, says to him you're
late.
Had you been here sooner, mybrother would not have died.
And somehow we on this side ofhistory can look at that and go.
(28:30):
She should have known.
Should she have Brothers die,beloved, and we put them in the
ground and that is the last timewe see them.
It is not unbelievable that shehad no framework for the
miraculous, that she had noframework for what we know now
was an invitation into thesupernatural.
And perhaps for you maybe inthe narration and in the point
(28:52):
you are in your life was aninvitation into the supernatural
.
And perhaps for you maybe inthe narration and in the point
you are in your life you areangry at God.
If you would have done this,then we wouldn't have suffered.
If you would have come, then Iwouldn't be in this pain.
I remind you what Jesus doesnext he goes to the tomb of
(29:16):
Lazarus and he weeps beloved.
Advent welcomes our weeping.
Advent welcomes ouracknowledgement that things are
not the way that they should be.
We live in a world where lovedoes not reign, greed and
intolerance and power and angerand strife reign.
But beloved.
That is not how it is supposedto be.
(29:38):
And the invitation of Jesus isthe same today as it was when he
came and offered Allow God'sgood kingdom to come into your
mind, into your heart, and allowthat spirit to be ignited in
you.
And then, after Jesus wept, hesaid God, I know that you hear
me when I pray.
(29:58):
And he went over to that tomband he said Lazarus, come out.
And Lazarus came forth and thenJesus said to the people around
him take off his grave clothesand let him free.
This is the invitation ofAdvent for all of us that we
(30:22):
would be people so marked bylove's freedom that, when we saw
someone who was still marked bydeath, we would be able to help
them take their grave clothesoff.
Come and be a part of thefreedom and the light that love
invites us to.
Come and be a part of allowingJesus to reframe our narration
(30:43):
of how our life has gone.
Beloved, all things will passaway, but Jesus is saying to us
all things will be made new.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
You know, I think about that idea of Lazarus and
his sister said you know, jesus,you're late and she lives in
this world of time, butforgetting that god is outside
of time.
And maybe that's hard for youand I'd figure, but you know,
(31:17):
really, in her judgment, it wasright to say he was late,
because he was right, you know,if we live under that, that
restraint of time, uh, but jesusdidn't have to be bound to that
, did he?
No?
And I want you to think aboutthat, because you, so, much of
(31:39):
the time we live in, so wrappedup in I gotta get somewhere, uh,
or we're wrapped up in whathappened before that's
preventing me from going where Iwould like to go, and so we get
so caught up in that.
But if God lives on the insideof you, I've heard it said that
the timeless one lives on theinside of us, and I recognize,
(32:01):
as Heather said a moment ago,that this world is driven by
greed, driven by hate and anger,and horrible things happen and
I can look at that.
And do you know what I'venoticed about my 57 years being
on the planet?
For me it's been about half ofevery president that got elected
(32:21):
was somebody I voted for abouthalf of the time.
That means half of the time theother one got and people in my
party said well, if they getelected, that's going to be the
end and I've heard it both sides, democrat or Republican it's
(32:42):
going to be the end if the otherone gets in.
But it turns out, no matter whogets in the office, christ is
still on the throne.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Our allegiance is to Jesus and to the beautiful
kingdom.
Christ is still on the throne.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
Our allegiance is to Jesus, and so I want you to
think about this that we can getcaught up in oh, now things are
going to go bad, or oh, nowthings are going to go good, and
what we're putting our faithand hope in is a system that is
fundamentally flawed becauseit's outside of God, and so I
can live in that restraint oftime and distracted by all that,
(33:15):
or I can realize, you knowwhere God is Not in the past and
not even in the future.
God's right now, and you knowwhat can reign right now in you
and I is love, is peace.
Yes, we don't have to becontrolled by the fear of what
might happen based on thispolitician being in or out, or
(33:39):
or this thing happening, or, orwhat if my, my kids said this or
my parents did that, and we?
We live in that place of fearand turmoil versus the gift that
God has given us of thispresent moment where we choose
what reigns.
And I want you to try toimagine if you could let a few
(34:05):
of those moments string togetherwhere joy just gets to be no
matter what, because I have somebills and if I start thinking
about them, I don't really knowexactly how I'm going to pay
them, and I can get freaked out,or I can stop and just listen
to my children giggle and go.
Well, that stuff, it may or maynot happen tomorrow, but right
(34:30):
now, joy can reign in the middleof what appears to be dark,
amen.
And so I want you to imaginethat if you began to surrender
to God those momentsoccasionally, in practice, maybe
, do like I do.
I'm not a morning person, soI'm going to get up, set my
(34:52):
alarm right before daylight,light the candle and then go
back to bed.
I beat the system, but I still,in those moments, can practice
that.
And if I string those momentstogether, I can live outside of
the control of this world and Ican live under the kingdom of
(35:19):
heaven that God said you and Iare a part of.
But it's our choice and I'mgoing to tell you it's a
practice.
I'm not saying that you're badand you're not choosing, and I'm
saying that you're probablylike I am.
You're under trained in apractice, but I hear and feel
(35:41):
God offering this to me and as Ilean into it, I experience
something that is maybe doesn'talways make sense.
You might look at me.
Something that is maybe doesn'talways make sense, you know,
you might look at me.
Well, that guy's just crazy.
But I'm crazy in love, I'mcrazy in peace, because I found
(36:05):
the Spirit of God and it's rightnow, it's not later, it's not
if you do more Amen.
I might just preach a littletoday.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
If you will allow me, I would like to pray over us
and then we will receive holycommunion, perhaps the most
sacred thing that we will dotogether.
Enter the mystery, allowourselves to be fed at love's
table, but I pray that God andGod's nearness would be evident
to you and would be a strengthfor you.
(36:40):
I pray for comfort for you.
I pray for a friend who knowsand a friend who will sit in
your sorrow without fear, and afriend who will not try to jolly
you up.
I pray for endurance in yourheart and in your mind and in
your soul and in your strength,and I pray for perseverance
(37:01):
beyond what you think that youcan bear.
I pray that you will not besomeone who gives up, but
continues to take up the spacesthat you need.
I pray that you will know howto ask for what you want, and I
pray for you to be entwined in acommunity that will meet you
where you are at.
(37:21):
I pray for comfort.
I pray for candles and goodbooks and movies and long walks
in the darkness, and may yourvoice crack with tears when you
sing your own song this yearthat there will be a thrill of
hope for a weary world.
May you fall asleep hummingsongs of hope.
(37:46):
I pray for courage.
No one ever told us how muchcourage it takes to have a
broken heart, and no one told ushow brave we would have to be
simply to carry on every singleday.
And yet here you are.
I pray for your courage to riseup in you so that you would get
out of bed another day and dowhat you need to do.
(38:09):
I pray that you'll be good toyour own self in the midst of
this season.
I pray for your hands to findwork and enjoy doing, and
creativity to give you respite,and I pray for you to find
intimacy with the Holy Spirit.
It is in the wilderness, often,and in dark places and in
(38:33):
loneliness that we find God'sspirit drawing us near.
I pray for the presence ofdivine mystery to be so close to
you in ways that you cannotname or explain or understand,
but I pray for dreams that willgive you comfort in the hours of
sleep that you are given and Ipray for God to be near you in
(38:57):
ways that you would have neverexpected, and I pray this will
give birth in you to a greatcompassion and a love for our
suffering world like you havenever known.
You are in the company of allthe people with unanswered
prayers, and together we holdhope and grief together, and I
(39:20):
pray for your hope to riseunbidden and unforced, like a
flower breaking through thecement in a parking lot.
I pray for you to tend to hopelike a gardener and I pray that
your hope will grow wild.
I pray that you'll haveopportunities to serve other
(39:40):
people in your life and I prayfor eyes to see the company of
the broken-hearted people aroundyou, that you will become a
place of rest for each other,and I pray that you will find
something or someone to love inthese days.
(40:00):
I pray for the love and the joyand the peace and the hope of
Advent to be yours.
May you hear the whole worldbending low and speaking to you,
offering hope, hope, hope.
May this Advent be ones thatyou are reminded of that this
(40:25):
season is for those who areafraid, for those who are
wandering, for those who wonderfor refugees and broken-hearted
ones.
You, as you are right now, werewritten into the story from the
very beginning and you, as youare right now, have a place here
(40:45):
and you belong in this house,at love's table, in the good
kingdom of God.
Today I pray joy for you.
I pray that all the moments thatyou sow in grief you will reap
in joy.
It may be a different sort ofjoy than the one that you knew.
(41:09):
Maybe it was an uncomplicatedjoy, but maybe yours is
complicated because you'vesuffered and joy that is from
suffering is so much greater.
May the light of Jesus Christand of love break through all of
(41:31):
the darkness and warm you andbirth in you a new hope, and may
love guide you and bring you tothe table.
We hope you've enjoyed thisweek's sermon.
If you would like moreinformation about us,
Welcome to the First Love Church podcast.
This is a collection of Sundayteachings inspired by the
Revised Common Lectionary andrecorded weekly in Ocala,
florida.
For us to slow, for us to wait,for us to hear the Advent of
the Spirit.
I love about Advent it is apatience, it is a practice and
it invites us into waiting.
(00:22):
But the good news is not thatyou are great at waiting.
The good news is that God isfaithful in coming.
That's the good news of Adventthat God is faithful in God's
coming for us and we're sograteful for the hope, for the
revelation that is hope ingiving to us in Advent and in
(00:44):
this new year.
I want to read to us fromchapter Isaiah Isaiah, chapter 9
.
For unto us a child is born, tous a son is given and the
government will be upon hisshoulders and he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, mighty God,everlasting Father, prince of
(01:04):
Peace.
This was something the peoplein ancient Israel knew and
understood, but this is the hopefor all of us.
Advent is a practice in waitingin the past and also waiting
for the future.
This beautiful now and not yet.
We wait with the ancients andwe wait for the future.
And this the hope of advent andwe're so glad that you're here
(01:26):
with us this advent season.
We want to say thank you somuch to those of you who helped
us participate in our outreachand in the handing out of
groceries and and food that wegave an entire thanksgiving
dinner away, and we're sograteful for all of your help
with that well we we were ableto give 50 Thanksgiving dinners.
(01:46):
Yes, yes, so that was beautifuland thank you for everyone who
carried those turkeys.
They were, yes, they were notlight, but we are grateful for
all of that hope.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Amen.
Speaking of hope, isn't thattoday?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
It is, but we have a reading first and we're working
on those other things.
Carly, will you?
Speaker 3 (02:07):
do a reading for us, please this morning.
I do not know what theseshadows ask of you, what they
might hold.
That means you good or ill.
It is not for me to reckonwhether you should linger or you
should leave, but this is whatI can ask for you that in the
darkness there be a blessing.
That in the darkness there be ablessing.
That in the shadows there be awelcome.
(02:29):
That in the night you beencompassed by the love that
knows your name.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Thank you In the dark .
May you be encompassed.
Thank you for reading In thedark.
May you be encompassed by thelove that knows your name In the
dark, may you be reminded, mayyou understand, may you have
hope that you are not alone,that God is with you, that God
(03:01):
is always with you and that youwill never, ever be alone.
It's our joy to celebrate thefirst Sunday of Advent with you,
and we get four weeks of Advent, and that's four weeks of
practice in waiting.
It's four weeks of practice inpaying attention to your own
darkness, and the darkness inyou might be a difficult health
(03:23):
diagnosis.
The darkness that you'reexperiencing might be a
difficult health diagnosis.
The darkness that you'reexperiencing might be a
difficult relationship.
The darkness in you might be anunanswered prayer or something
that you struggle with and thinkthat it will never change.
The darkness in you and in meand in the world may be many
things, but Advent reminds us.
(03:47):
World may be many things, butAdvent reminds us, re-centers us
and teaches us that even in thedarkness, god is with us.
I remind you too, sometimes, aspeople of an American culture.
We have this idea that light isgood and that darkness is bad,
and I want to tell you that isnot how God created it, it is
not how it it should be thatthere is something holy in the
dark.
(04:07):
A dark is the womb place, aplace where the Spirit hovers,
and so don't dismiss thoseplaces, as I want to see only.
I think that we love summer andwe love long days and we love
lots of light, but there is aholy invitation into the
darkness, into winter, intosettling, into waiting for all
(04:31):
of the goodness that God hasplaced in the earth to be
unveiled in us.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
You know, as I'm getting older, I like a lot of
light.
I mean, I need surgery lightwhen I'm doing my projects
around the house or whatever.
And uh, you know my uh, as I'mgetting older, my, my increasing
need for that light is so thatI can see, uh, but in the
(04:59):
darkness I have to depend on Godto lead.
And so I don't wish darkness formyself or you, I don't wish
those struggles, but I do remindyou that in them God has not
misplaced you and God is drawingus even in that.
(05:20):
And so I hope that during thisseason we're gonna light a
candle here in a moment, andeach one of these candles
represent a theme, and hopefullythe songs that we sang even
outlined that theme At leastthat was the intention and so
that, even though maybe you setin darkness, we're reminded that
(05:46):
we have love, that there ishope for us, there is peace and
there is joy, and so maybe thisweek we'll kind of meditate on
that theme for the week.
As we remember, this candle'slit, and though that candle
doesn't illuminate this wholeroom, it does begin to dispel
(06:12):
darkness in that area.
Amen.
And so I think that for us, wecan realize that these gifts
that God has given us right inthe middle of struggle is
something that will bringillumination.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
We remind ourselves together that we are a people of
resurrection.
We are a people who are notafraid of death, we are not
afraid of the grave.
We understand that love iseternal and that God is able,
that love is able to resurrectall things, all things being
made new in the light and in thehope of Jesus Christ.
(06:46):
So today, pastor Dennisreminded us and this is what
we'll do together is we willlight the hope candle and Thomas
is usually here to do it andhe's good at lighting things and
we might have to find anotherone.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
We're going to work on that.
Somebody, some smoker?
No, we're not going to.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
They're going to work something else out and we will
light together.
We have the thing and this isthe hope of all of us that
sometimes, if you have somethingand you cannot light your own
light, you need someone else tobring a light for you.
And I remind you, this is truealso of hope.
Sometimes you cannot carry yourown hope.
Maybe enough of what hashappened for you has made you
(07:29):
cynical or made you hopeless.
And let the community cometogether and hold hope for you
so we can see and wait for thearrival of the coming King.
Amen.
I read to you this morning, notfrom the Psalms.
There's three readings in thisAdvent time and I want to read
(07:51):
first to you.
You're going to give me just asecond.
Sure, thank you for yourgenerosity.
I appreciate that From Jeremiahthe day will come, says the
Lord.
Thank you for your generosity.
I appreciate that From Jeremiahthe day will come, says the
Lord, when I will do for Israeland Judah all the good things I
have promised them.
(08:11):
In those days and at that timeI will rise up.
Raise up a righteous descendantfrom King David's line and he
will do what is just and rightthroughout the land, and in that
day Judah will be saved andJerusalem will live in safety,
and this will be its name.
(08:32):
The Lord is our righteousness.
And then I read to you from thebook of Thessalonians
Thessalonians is, for those ofyou who care about these things,
the oldest book that we have inthe Second Testament.
In fact, thessalonians waswritten from an apostle to the
church in Thessalonica about 15years after Jesus's resurrection
(08:56):
, long before the Gospels werewritten.
And Paul was writing to apeople who were really
disappointed because they hadbeen waiting for Jesus' return
for 15 years and some of themhad died and some of them had
said hey, I thought you saidJesus was coming back and I
thought you said that our liveswere going to be different.
And so he writes the entireletter to remind them have joy,
(09:20):
joy, unspeakable joy, becausethere is a better story that is
being told.
We go to the letter here inchapter 3, for what thanksgiving
can we return to God for you,for all of the joy that we feel
for your sake before our God,and as we pray most earnestly,
night and day, we pray that wemay see you face to face and
(09:44):
supply what is lacking in yourfaith.
Now may our God and Fatherhimself and our Lord Jesus
direct our way to you, and maythe Lord make you increase and
abound in love for one anotherand for all, as we do for you,
so that he may establish yourhearts blameless in holiness
(10:05):
before God, our Father, at thecoming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
with all his saints.
The part of the scripture thatis so alive to us during this
time of Advent is may the Lordmake you increase and abound in
love for one another and for all, as we do for you.
This is the invitation into alife that has seen, that has
(10:28):
experienced a resurrected Christ, a Christ coming with us.
One of the beautiful thingsabout Advent is it reminds us
that God comes low for us.
A lot of times, when we haveideas about how a answer will
come or how a prayer will beanswered or how it'll happen
(10:49):
when the God's kingdom come, wehave ideas of grandeur and
greatness, and we see in thisbeautiful story, we see in this
rehearsal, that God comes low,that God comes humbly, that love
comes to us in meekness, andthat love offers unto us a new
(11:10):
way.
May the Lord make you increaseand abound in love for one
another and in all, and thatlove offers unto us a new way.
May the Lord make you increaseand abound in love for one
another and in all as we do foryou.
This is our prayer for you thismorning May God himself make
you increase and abound in lovefor one another and for all, so
that he may establish yourhearts, blameless in holiness
(11:32):
before our God and Father, atthe coming of our Lord Jesus
with all of his saints.
What a beautiful invitation.
And then we go to Luke's Gospeland you'll see here how the
writers of the liturgy and howthe people in Advent want us to
look at this very apocalyptictype of scene.
And in the next few weeks we'lllisten to the witness of John
(11:54):
the Baptist and we'll listen toElizabeth and we'll listen to
Mary and we'll look at theposture of those people who are
able to say let it be unto meaccording to your word.
I can't imagine and maybe youcan, but I can't that Mary had
any idea of what was going tohappen when she said yes.
And maybe the same is true foryou when you said yes to
(12:17):
following Jesus, when you saidyes to following love.
Maybe you had no idea what itwas going to look like.
But this invitation is to anapocalypse and maybe you find
yourself in your life right nowand you're like there is an
apocalypse.
Find yourself in your liferight now and you're like there
is an apocalypse, and I want toremind you that that word
actually just means an unveiling.
Perhaps a new perspective,perhaps a practice in waiting
(12:40):
can reveal to you, can unveilyou.
Perhaps the advent, the arrival, is something that would stir
you.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
You know, I think that a lot of us would like god
to show up in the lightning andwe want the, the armies of
heaven, to move and uh, and yet,over and over, we see in
scripture it's like in thatstill small place, in the quiet,
you know, and and we wantvictory to to be certain and our
(13:10):
enemies to be crushed when godbrings this unveiling and this
transformation through love.
And it's a path that is less,maybe, exciting, and I think
that what we've been duped intoas human beings is we want magic
, and God doesn't do magic.
(13:35):
God does miracles, and magicwould be sleight of hand and it
would be impressive.
Boom, look, look what I did.
That's impressive and that'smagic.
But a miracle is that throughlove and my surrender that I
(13:56):
will be transformed.
So I would encourage you to notdo when we read scripture,
sometimes we're like I can'tbelieve those people had Jesus
right there and they missed it.
Well, I wonder where I haveJesus Right here and miss him,
and so maybe I was looking formagic.
(14:19):
But God is so ready and willingand doing miracles.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
If we are awakened to see the miracles and to watch
for them.
There's a miracle in a seedbeloved that we put in a very
dark place and out of it,without our help, comes an
enormous tree.
There are things in our lifethat when we wait for, when we
have anticipation for the advent, the arrival of new and better
(14:54):
things, there is a hope.
There are other words that wecan use in advent aware, alive,
attentive, alert, awake.
They're all appropriate.
Advent is, above all, a call tofull consciousness and a
forewarning about the high priceof being aware, of being awake,
of being alive, of payingattention to the workings of the
(15:17):
Spirit and to this invitationinto the miraculous Beloved.
Love is a miracle and it is atransformative power.
And so when we attend to love,when we attend to the invitation
of the Christ into waiting,waiting for the blessed coming,
(15:40):
waiting for things to berevealed to us, waiting for us
to maybe even have our eyeshealed, so we are able to see
that what we have is alreadyenough.
So we are able to see that whatwe have is already enough.
And there is a grace in thetime of Advent to listen to this
beautiful call I read to usfrom Luke's Gospel, expect to
(16:16):
witness amazing and perplexingsigns throughout the universe,
with the sun and the moon andthe stars, and the raging of the
sea will bring desperation andturmoil to many nations.
Earthquakes will bring panicand disaster, and what men see
coming to the earth will causethe fear of doom to grip their
(16:36):
hearts, for they will even seethe powers of the heavenly realm
shaken.
And at last, when you see howthe Son of man comes, surrounded
with a cloud of great power andmiracles and the radiance of
his splendor and great glory andpraises, it will make you jump
for joy, for the day of yourfull transformation has arrived.
(17:00):
And Jesus gave his disciplesthis parable.
Haven't you observed the figtree, or any tree, that when it
buds and blossoms, you realizethat a season is changing and
that summer is near Again?
Jesus invites all of us to letnature witness to us of the
(17:21):
goodness of God, of the plan oflove, of the hope that is
already here.
In the same way, when you seethese prophetic signs occurring,
you realize the earth isyielding to the fullness of
God's kingdom realm.
And I assure you the end ofthis age will not come until I
(17:42):
have spoken, until all I havespoken comes to pass, the earth
and the sky will wear out andfade away before one word I
speak loses its power or failsto accomplish its purpose.
Be careful that you never allowyour hearts to grow cold.
Remain passionate and free fromanxiety and the worries of this
(18:07):
life, and then you will not becaught off guard by what happens
.
Don't let me come and find youdrunk or careless in living like
everyone else, for the day willcome as a shocking surprise to
all, like a downpour thatdrenches everyone, catching many
unaware and unprepared.
Keep a constant watch over yoursoul and pray for the courage
(18:30):
and the grace to prevail overthese things that are destined
to occur, that you might standbefore the presence of the son
of man with a clear conscience.
What an incredible invitation.
And Jesus gives this veryapocalyptic parable and he's
asking us to look at trees andthe very fact that there's going
to be signs in the heavens andall around us, and then says
(18:53):
this is the coming.
This is going to be the kingdomthat is coming.
And I remind you, beloved, thekingdom of love may not look
like you thought it did.
The kingdom of love that is soexpansive, that looks like what
is done in heaven is done hereon the earth.
This is an invitation for allof us to stay alert, to stay
(19:17):
awake and to pay attention tothe miracles that are all around
us you know it's, it's amazingwhen you look at the, the stars,
and how you see the vastnessand the arrangement.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
And for those of us that are believers, you know we
see God's handiwork and thatencourages me to see that he's
made those arrangements in theuniverse and he will make those
arrangements and adjustmentsthat need to be in me.
You know, and it talked aboutthe sun, and you know it's a
(19:54):
little chilly today, but youknow you're going to go out in
the noonday and be warmed by aburning star that is just the
right distance between you so asnot to burn you up or that
you'd go freeze to death outside.
I see handiwork.
You know scientists areperplexed at our moon, that it's
(20:15):
precisely in the spot that itis and the size that it is and
how it affects our tides, and ifit were any distance and of
course I'm no scientist, butthey themselves are looking at
this going the mathematicalequation for this to be a
coincidence is so large that thecurrent belief is that aliens
towed it in place.
(20:35):
And it makes perfect sense tosomeone who doesn't believe that
there had to be some kind ofoutside intervention to come in
or we could, as believers saywell you believers say well, you
know, he made the moon andstars, you know.
(20:56):
And so for us that we look atthat evidence and we can be
amazed at God's handiwork or wecan miss what's right in front
of us.
You know, and choosing tobelieve, what does that do for
me?
To choose to trust god, thatthat in that, uh, in the
(21:17):
vastness of this universe, thatthere is some order there, and
that I believe that, in all ofthe disorder that I feel
sometimes, that that there is aGod who cares.
And my experience has been, asI trust, that God brings peace
to me.
That's my evidence, Because welook both of us look at the moon
(21:42):
tonight.
We all do, but we come up withdifferent idea of what it means
and why it's there and how itgot there, and some can bring
you great peace and some do not.
Amen.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
We pause here for a moment to thank you for joining
us today.
If you're finding this episodemeaningful, would you take a
moment to share it with a friend?
This podcast is made possiblethanks to the generosity of
people just like you.
If you would like to supportthe ongoing work of First Love
Church and the continued work ofour podcast, visit us online at
(22:26):
firstlovechurchorg, remindingyou to like, follow and
subscribe.
I was thinking about what youjust said and reading someone
who had this particular thought.
During the time of Advent, weremember and pay attention to
the virgin birth, which ispreposterous I mean, it's just
(22:49):
absurd really and we look atthat.
But then we also look at peoplewho believe that there is a
virgin cosmos, that there is nocreator, and so the invitation
is choose your miracle.
If you're going to believe that, then we can go.
It's all a miracle.
It really really is and theinvitation is that we could be
people who practice and who seethe miracles that are around us.
In this beautiful invitationthat we have a loving creator
(23:12):
that, by God's own spirit, isgiven to us, that will allow
love to be formed in us, theidea that love would rule and
reign, the idea that there wouldbe peace on earth, the idea
that there would be abundancethat no one would have lack
Beloved, that is the kingdom ofGod.
Abundance that no one wouldhave lack Beloved, that is the
(23:34):
kingdom of God.
And the invitation is to allowthe spirit to ignite our holy
imagination, for us to imaginewhat it would be like for there
to be just a oneness between allpeople, for everyone to see
everyone as a loving brother, asa loving sister, for us to be
able to see that image of God ineach person that is before us,
(23:57):
in their diversity, in theiruniqueness, in their beauty and
their splendor, as God made them.
And there is an invitation intoa deeper love.
And that is, I think, thebeauty of Advent.
The other beauty of Advent it isfull of hope.
And in the Talmud it tells usabout God and about angels, and
(24:19):
it says that every blade ofgrass has an angel that bends
over it and says grow, grow,Grow.
I love that image, that thereis so much care from a loving
creator that every blade ofgrass has someone whispering
lovingly grow, grow, grow.
And what I see in Advent is theloving presence that says to us
(24:42):
hope, hope, hope, when the restof the world says it will never
change.
Things are going downhill,everything is bad.
Listen to the sound of Adventthat offers us a hope.
A hope in the idea and in theunderstanding that love is
(25:02):
eternal, that God is with usalways, and there will never be
a time that we are alone.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
And there will never be a time that we are alone.
You know, we can spend so muchof our energy trying to get ours
, you know, and get recognizedor get approval, or get one-up
on somebody, or get our wealthor whatever it is, and I can
(25:34):
tell you, at 57, every attemptthat I have made in that
direction has not satisfied me.
I've been so full I couldn'tneed another bite.
But I've never been satisfiedlike I am in the moments that I
(25:55):
allow love to reign in my life,that I allow kindness and
service to be the driving forcein my life, and I wish that it
were a consistent path that Ialways walk on.
But it seems that I drift in andout of it, and maybe many of
(26:17):
you find that same thing, whereoccasionally, we're wakened by
the Spirit, but it's in thatplace that we connect with God
and we find our fulfillment, andso we keep looking somewhere
else, as if that will ever bringyou and I the joy that we seek,
(26:38):
the satisfaction that we longfor, you know, the fulfillment,
and so I want to remind you thatit is in these disciplines and
these practices that we talkabout, and, though they're not
magic, they're miraculous.
And and in the how is it thatin me, uh, applying these
(27:01):
principles of of deciding I'mjust going to live a life of
service, of love, how is thatgoing to bring joy?
It seems to make more sensethat I should spend that energy
to just get all I can and storeit up for myself.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
One of the practices that Advent brings to us is the
practice of waiting in the dark,and we invite you over this
next month to practice with usand we will be up early in the
dark.
And we invite you over thisnext month to practice with us
and we will be up early in themorning and before the sun comes
up.
And the practice is and youdecide how much time you're
willing to wait.
I mean, if the sun comes up at7.01, perhaps you're up at 6.58.
(27:45):
I am not a judge of that.
However, you want to do that.
But wait in the dark and lighta candle and wait for the sun,
and sometimes that practicealone is so holy for us Waiting
in the darkness for a light thatis coming.
Dennis and I were talking thisweek about the story of Lazarus,
(28:06):
the account of Lazarus beingcalled out of the grave and his
dear sister, who loves him, whenJesus comes, says to him you're
late.
Had you been here sooner, mybrother would not have died.
And somehow we on this side ofhistory can look at that and go.
(28:30):
She should have known.
Should she have Brothers die,beloved, and we put them in the
ground and that is the last timewe see them.
It is not unbelievable that shehad no framework for the
miraculous, that she had noframework for what we know now
was an invitation into thesupernatural.
And perhaps for you maybe inthe narration and in the point
(28:52):
you are in your life was aninvitation into the supernatural
.
And perhaps for you maybe inthe narration and in the point
you are in your life you areangry at God.
If you would have done this,then we wouldn't have suffered.
If you would have come, then Iwouldn't be in this pain.
I remind you what Jesus doesnext he goes to the tomb of
(29:16):
Lazarus and he weeps beloved.
Advent welcomes our weeping.
Advent welcomes ouracknowledgement that things are
not the way that they should be.
We live in a world where lovedoes not reign, greed and
intolerance and power and angerand strife reign.
But beloved.
That is not how it is supposedto be.
(29:38):
And the invitation of Jesus isthe same today as it was when he
came and offered Allow God'sgood kingdom to come into your
mind, into your heart, and allowthat spirit to be ignited in
you.
And then, after Jesus wept, hesaid God, I know that you hear
me when I pray.
(29:58):
And he went over to that tomband he said Lazarus, come out.
And Lazarus came forth and thenJesus said to the people around
him take off his grave clothesand let him free.
This is the invitation ofAdvent for all of us that we
(30:22):
would be people so marked bylove's freedom that, when we saw
someone who was still marked bydeath, we would be able to help
them take their grave clothesoff.
Come and be a part of thefreedom and the light that love
invites us to.
Come and be a part of allowingJesus to reframe our narration
(30:43):
of how our life has gone.
Beloved, all things will passaway, but Jesus is saying to us
all things will be made new.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
You know, I think about that idea of Lazarus and
his sister said you know, jesus,you're late and she lives in
this world of time, butforgetting that god is outside
of time.
And maybe that's hard for youand I'd figure, but you know,
(31:17):
really, in her judgment, it wasright to say he was late,
because he was right, you know,if we live under that, that
restraint of time, uh, but jesusdidn't have to be bound to that
, did he?
No?
And I want you to think aboutthat, because you, so, much of
(31:39):
the time we live in, so wrappedup in I gotta get somewhere, uh,
or we're wrapped up in whathappened before that's
preventing me from going where Iwould like to go, and so we get
so caught up in that.
But if God lives on the insideof you, I've heard it said that
the timeless one lives on theinside of us, and I recognize,
(32:01):
as Heather said a moment ago,that this world is driven by
greed, driven by hate and anger,and horrible things happen and
I can look at that.
And do you know what I'venoticed about my 57 years being
on the planet?
For me it's been about half ofevery president that got elected
(32:21):
was somebody I voted for abouthalf of the time.
That means half of the time theother one got and people in my
party said well, if they getelected, that's going to be the
end and I've heard it both sides, democrat or Republican it's
(32:42):
going to be the end if the otherone gets in.
But it turns out, no matter whogets in the office, christ is
still on the throne.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Our allegiance is to Jesus and to the beautiful
kingdom.
Christ is still on the throne.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
Our allegiance is to Jesus, and so I want you to
think about this that we can getcaught up in oh, now things are
going to go bad, or oh, nowthings are going to go good, and
what we're putting our faithand hope in is a system that is
fundamentally flawed becauseit's outside of God, and so I
can live in that restraint oftime and distracted by all that,
(33:15):
or I can realize, you knowwhere God is Not in the past and
not even in the future.
God's right now, and you knowwhat can reign right now in you
and I is love, is peace.
Yes, we don't have to becontrolled by the fear of what
might happen based on thispolitician being in or out, or
(33:39):
or this thing happening, or, orwhat if my, my kids said this or
my parents did that, and we?
We live in that place of fearand turmoil versus the gift that
God has given us of thispresent moment where we choose
what reigns.
And I want you to try toimagine if you could let a few
(34:05):
of those moments string togetherwhere joy just gets to be no
matter what, because I have somebills and if I start thinking
about them, I don't really knowexactly how I'm going to pay
them, and I can get freaked out,or I can stop and just listen
to my children giggle and go.
Well, that stuff, it may or maynot happen tomorrow, but right
(34:30):
now, joy can reign in the middleof what appears to be dark,
amen.
And so I want you to imaginethat if you began to surrender
to God those momentsoccasionally, in practice, maybe
, do like I do.
I'm not a morning person, soI'm going to get up, set my
(34:52):
alarm right before daylight,light the candle and then go
back to bed.
I beat the system, but I still,in those moments, can practice
that.
And if I string those momentstogether, I can live outside of
the control of this world and Ican live under the kingdom of
(35:19):
heaven that God said you and Iare a part of.
But it's our choice and I'mgoing to tell you it's a
practice.
I'm not saying that you're badand you're not choosing, and I'm
saying that you're probablylike I am.
You're under trained in apractice, but I hear and feel
(35:41):
God offering this to me and as Ilean into it, I experience
something that is maybe doesn'talways make sense.
You might look at me.
Something that is maybe doesn'talways make sense, you know,
you might look at me.
Well, that guy's just crazy.
But I'm crazy in love, I'mcrazy in peace, because I found
(36:05):
the Spirit of God and it's rightnow, it's not later, it's not
if you do more Amen.
I might just preach a littletoday.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
If you will allow me, I would like to pray over us
and then we will receive holycommunion, perhaps the most
sacred thing that we will dotogether.
Enter the mystery, allowourselves to be fed at love's
table, but I pray that God andGod's nearness would be evident
to you and would be a strengthfor you.
(36:40):
I pray for comfort for you.
I pray for a friend who knowsand a friend who will sit in
your sorrow without fear, and afriend who will not try to jolly
you up.
I pray for endurance in yourheart and in your mind and in
your soul and in your strength,and I pray for perseverance
(37:01):
beyond what you think that youcan bear.
I pray that you will not besomeone who gives up, but
continues to take up the spacesthat you need.
I pray that you will know howto ask for what you want, and I
pray for you to be entwined in acommunity that will meet you
where you are at.
(37:21):
I pray for comfort.
I pray for candles and goodbooks and movies and long walks
in the darkness, and may yourvoice crack with tears when you
sing your own song this yearthat there will be a thrill of
hope for a weary world.
May you fall asleep hummingsongs of hope.
(37:46):
I pray for courage.
No one ever told us how muchcourage it takes to have a
broken heart, and no one told ushow brave we would have to be
simply to carry on every singleday.
And yet here you are.
I pray for your courage to riseup in you so that you would get
out of bed another day and dowhat you need to do.
(38:09):
I pray that you'll be good toyour own self in the midst of
this season.
I pray for your hands to findwork and enjoy doing, and
creativity to give you respite,and I pray for you to find
intimacy with the Holy Spirit.
It is in the wilderness, often,and in dark places and in
(38:33):
loneliness that we find God'sspirit drawing us near.
I pray for the presence ofdivine mystery to be so close to
you in ways that you cannotname or explain or understand,
but I pray for dreams that willgive you comfort in the hours of
sleep that you are given and Ipray for God to be near you in
(38:57):
ways that you would have neverexpected, and I pray this will
give birth in you to a greatcompassion and a love for our
suffering world like you havenever known.
You are in the company of allthe people with unanswered
prayers, and together we holdhope and grief together, and I
(39:20):
pray for your hope to riseunbidden and unforced, like a
flower breaking through thecement in a parking lot.
I pray for you to tend to hopelike a gardener and I pray that
your hope will grow wild.
I pray that you'll haveopportunities to serve other
(39:40):
people in your life and I prayfor eyes to see the company of
the broken-hearted people aroundyou, that you will become a
place of rest for each other,and I pray that you will find
something or someone to love inthese days.
(40:00):
I pray for the love and the joyand the peace and the hope of
Advent to be yours.
May you hear the whole worldbending low and speaking to you,
offering hope, hope, hope.
May this Advent be ones thatyou are reminded of that this
(40:25):
season is for those who areafraid, for those who are
wandering, for those who wonderfor refugees and broken-hearted
ones.
You, as you are right now, werewritten into the story from the
very beginning and you, as youare right now, have a place here
(40:45):
and you belong in this house,at love's table, in the good
kingdom of God.
Today I pray joy for you.
I pray that all the moments thatyou sow in grief you will reap
in joy.
It may be a different sort ofjoy than the one that you knew.
(41:09):
Maybe it was an uncomplicatedjoy, but maybe yours is
complicated because you'vesuffered and joy that is from
suffering is so much greater.
May the light of Jesus Christand of love break through all of
(41:31):
the darkness and warm you andbirth in you a new hope, and may
love guide you and bring you tothe table.
We hope you've enjoyed thisweek's sermon.
If you would like moreinformation about us,
Popular Podcasts
Boysober
Have you ever wondered what life might be like if you stopped worrying about being wanted, and focused on understanding what you actually want? That was the question Hope Woodard asked herself after a string of situationships inspired her to take a break from sex and dating. She went "boysober," a personal concept that sparked a global movement among women looking to prioritize themselves over men. Now, Hope is looking to expand the ways we explore our relationship to relationships. Taking a bold, unfiltered look into modern love, romance, and self-discovery, Boysober will dive into messy stories about dating, sex, love, friendship, and breaking generational patterns—all with humor, vulnerability, and a fresh perspective.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com