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Prince of Peace (Advent 2023)Wars in Ukraine and Gaza top the headlines internationally; national politics approach an election year plagued with division; after the pandemic has passed, we have returned to complex lives of busyness and striving to meet impossible standards. As Jesus observes on the Mount of Olives: we do not know what will bring us peace, and it is because we do not recognize our visitation by the Prince of Peace.
This Advent series will show us the paths to Peace that Jesus lays out. |
January 7, 2024 (Epiphany): "Behold; Toward"
"Behold: the Magi recognize that their lives would not be lived toward the worldly trappings of power, their gifts would not be given towards worldly positions of power. They behold divine glory in a humble manger, divine power in lowly child. And they will direct their lives toward him, give what they have toward this new Kingdom."
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December 24, 2023 (Christmas Eve): "The Prince of Peace"
"But the trick of faith…or the faculty that a specifically Christian faith encourages us to develop and to cultivate and to train up in ourselves by the power of the Spirit…is the spiritual sense that the cosmic resides in the lowly, the ordinary houses the holy, and the momentary provides an entrée for eternity."
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December 24, 2023 (Morning--Advent 4): "Emmanuel"
"Advent trains us to wait on the Lord—waiting through discomfort. Holding steady, sitting in reality when every bone in our body wants to avoid it by getting really busy, changing the subject, being angry and blaming, harboring bitterness and resentment, taking control and trying to fix everything. None of these will contribute to the Shalom project."
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December 17, 2023: "The Unesteemed Path to Peace"
"The Cross is what happens when the Prince of Peace runs into the peacekeeping scrambling of traumatized Jews and the peacekeeping structures of imperial Rome. It was OUR sin that put Jesus to death. AND it isJesus’ passion/death that can expose, disarm, and begin to create new possibilities for SHALOM."
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December 10, 2023: "Shalom and the Peaceable Kingdom"
"The Life of Christ goes even beyond a peaceable kingdom to a peaceable King, who is able to forgive ancient hostilities, have compassion on brutal enemies, and welcome forgotten exiles."
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December 3, 2023: "Unknown Peace, Unrecognized Prince"
"When we talk about peace biblically, we're not talking about just a feeling or something that just happens. To recognize Jesus is to see the way of life, the practices, the postures that will bring about a true Shalom, a deep and lasting Peace in us and in the world."
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