Pastor Mike Yager leads us in the continued celebration of Christmas, inviting us to consider what the Incarnation and Jesus’ encounter with Mary and Martha tell us about our call to presence and participation. As we enter the new year, what rhythms will help us be with the God who has taken on flesh to be with us?
Text
1 John 1: 1-3
Ephesians 2: 14
Romans 5: 8
Luke 10: 38-42
“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”
“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.
“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”
“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”
“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
-Margery Williams - The Velveteen Rabbit
Reflection & Practice
As an invitation to presence; how will you commit to new or renewed rhythms of time spent listening to God in the coming year?
To whom are you meant to be an instrument of God’s love this week? Take some time to quiet your heart in prayer and ask God to place the name of a family member, neighbor, or coworker on your heart. How will you respond, and how might that become a regular rhythm for you in 2019?
Worship Set
Hail To The Lord’s Anointed
Psalm 66 (You Are Great)
Nothing But The Blood
Come As You Are
Come And Listen
Come Light Our Hearts