Category: Advent

Embodiment of Faith

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nativity
By Georges de La Tour – Sammyday (2010-10-23), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18953221

Writing to new Christians, in what today is southern Turkey, the Apostle Paul summed up the central miracle and mystery which began with Jesus’ birth: “In him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.”( Colossians 1:19) For the duration of his earthly life, Jesus was God with us.( Matthew 1:23) Through faith we can still experience him as such, but this relationship is difficult for those who have never encountered anyone sincerely seeking to embody Christ’s teachings in daily life. It is our calling to help make the Christmas miracle real for them.

I have a magnetic cling which reads “Keep Christ in Christmas.” I keep it on my refrigerator where it serves as a reminder to myself rather than an admonishment to others. If Christ is to remain in Christmas – or indeed become a part of Christmas for those who have not encountered him – then he must be born again and again in the hearts of his followers. The fullness of God may not dwell in us, but it must flow through us collectively as Christ’s Church. I am reminded of the words of St. Theresa of Avila:

“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”

St. Theresa of Avila

With the passing of years, I am ever more convinced that the essence of Christmas lies within each of us. It is not to be found in the exchange of gifts, the sounds of carols, or the hanging of lights and greens, but rather in the quiet birth of God’s Spirit into each of our hearts. It is this which gives joy and peace, this embodiment of God’s Word which births hope into the world.

O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born to us today
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell
O come to us, abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel

Wishing you and your loved ones a blessed Advent, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy, Healthy New Year.

New Things

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Van Hornthorst, Adoration of the Children (1620)

“Behold, I make all things new.” (Revelation 21:5)

We worship a God who is not only a Savior but also a Creator, a God who not only preserves but also one who transforms and renews. To worship this God is to embrace change as well as continuity. Perhaps no other span of the church year demonstrates this more clearly than the six weeks between the start of Advent and the Feast of Epiphany.

The season’s Bible passages reveal not only how Jesus’ birth fulfilled longstanding prophecy, but also how it marked a profound shift in God’s relationship with humanity. Most startling to pious worshippers of Jesus’ day was the idea that God would choose to become one of us – a human being. As the author of Hebrews says, “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son … (who is) … the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being…” (1:1-3). And, once the Son of God got here, he soon broke with popular expectation. Christ came not to be served but to serve, not to reward the righteous, but rather to redeem the unrighteous.

Yet with the benefit of hindsight, 1st Century Christians soon perceived continuity between Jesus’ example and preaching and God’s action in the past. A good portion of the New Testament consists of authors trying to convey to their readers how Jesus’ ministry fulfilled prophecy and divine law. Matthew quotes Jesus as saying “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” When Jesus names the greatest commandments as love of God and love of neighbor, he is quoting Deuteronomy 6:4, 5 and Leviticus 19:18. Though he didn’t fit popular conceptions of what the Messiah would be, Christ stands firmly within a Jewish tradition which insisted that true worship of God must be expressed in righteous action toward others.

As we enter a new church year, a new calendar year, and contemplate worship in a renewed sanctuary, it is good to remind ourselves of these things. If our relationship with God is secure, we can move confidently through change trusting that God and the essentials of our faith remain constant.

  • Where two or more gather in Jesus’ name,
  • Where there is unconditional love,
  • Where persons carry each other’s’ sorrows and celebrate each other’s joys, there God is.

Merry Christmas and Wishes for a Blessed and Healthy New Year.

Please plan to be present for the Sanctuary rededication service on Sunday, January 20, 2019, when we will have ONE WORSHIP SERVICE ONLY at 10:30 am followed by our church council meeting.

Christmas Poinsettias for 2018 Available Now

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East Hills Moravian Church is offering poinsettias for purchase to beautify the Sanctuary for Christmas Eve services. They may be taken home after the last service Christmas Eve.

Poinsettias are $9 each and orders must be placed by December 2nd. Order forms are in each Sunday’s bulletin, or you can download a Christmas Poinsettias order form here. (a new window will open when you click the link)
christmas poinsettias

What Does God Want For You This Christmas?

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Do a web search or open any study Bible and it is pretty clear what Christians believe God wants from you, but what is it that God wants for you? Jesus provides an answer in his parable of the good shepherd: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” That Jesus is speaking of spiritual rather than material realities should be clear when we consider the evidence of his own life.

nativity

Gerard van Honthorst, “Adoration of the Shepherds”

For the One born in a manger, abundant life “does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Neither does it consist of a multitude of friends, social prominence or freedom from affliction. From birth, our Savior was intended to be “a suffering servant,” a “man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” Just eight days into Jesus’ life the “righteous and devout” Simeon revealed to Mary that “a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

So what then is this “abundant life” of which Jesus speaks? Abundant life is authentic life; it is living into the promise of God’s creation of humanity in God’s own image. It is sharing in the copious blessings of God’s own life. God became human so that those who follow Christ “… may become participants of the divine nature.” In his writings on 2 Peter Irenaeus (c. AD 130-220) wrote: God “became what we are in order to make us what God is.” Abundant life, authentic life, eternal life is ours when we accept God’s “…precious and very great promises …” embodied in the birth of our Savior.

That is what God wants for each of us – not only at Christmas – but every day of our lives.

The great Advent and Christmas hymns of Western Christian tradition celebrate the birth of Jesus by focusing on that from which Christ saves us. “He comes to break oppression, to set the captive free.” He brings the light of redemption into the world, releasing us “from our fears and sins” that “the powers of hell may vanish as the darkness clears away.” Few of our familiar hymns meditate on that destiny for which God saves us.

Will you accept God’s Christmas gift to you?

Will you embrace God’s desire for your life in the coming year?

-Pastor Derek French

Bible quotes referenced from John 10:10; Luke 12:15; Isaiah 53; Luke 2:35; Genesis 1:27; 2 Peter 1:4.

Order 2016 Christmas Poinsettias

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It’s time to order your Poinsettias to decorate the EHMC sanctuary for our Christmas Eve services.
christmas poinsettias

Plants are $9 and you’re free to take yours home after the last service on Christmas Eve (we also have a service Christmas Day).

Please use the order form below or the order forms which appear in each Sunday’s worship program. Deadline to order Poinsettias is December 10.

More info: Jim or Anna Kohler: 484 256 5697 or nyaapa@aol.com

Christmas poinsettias order form.

 

Fresh Starts

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“See, I am making all things new … I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.” (Revelation 5:5-6)

For many persons the tradition of making New Year’s resolutions is an incentive to change some aspect of their lives or achieve some goal – an opportunity for a fresh start. Perhaps now is the time for you to consider growing in your relationship with God – to open yourself to God’s offer to drink deeply from the spring of the water of life and allow God to include you in Christ’s new creation.

What does a life in Christ look like? You may wish to consider the following:

  • How willing are you to provide God with the space and time needed for transformation?
  • As you read or hear the Christmas story from the second chapter of Luke, you might reflect on whether there is “room in the inn” of your life for Jesus.
  • Mary offered God her whole self so that Christ might come into the world. At baptism each of us shares in her privilege of bearing/carrying Christ into the world. Are you allowing Christ to live in you?
  • How do others encounter Christ in you?
  • What does God most desire for you, God’s beloved child?
  • What in your life brings God joy? This is your gift to God, more precious than the gold, frankincense and myrrh of the wise men.

We do well to remember that God is continually in the process of “making all things new.” Every moment of every day is a potential new beginning. We need not succumb to discouragement or resign ourselves to the status quo if we become distracted or find the going tough. God will work through us and through all who have open and willing hearts.

When it comes to resolutions in general, some persons will obtain their objectives in the coming year; many more will not. Commitment and will-power play their part but the outcome often depends upon whether one continues to believe the resolution is achievable.
What do you believe is possible with God?

  • Pastor Derek French

Order Your Christmas Poinsettias For 2015

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poinsettiasIt’s time once again to order Christmas Poinsettias to brighten the East Hills Moravian Church sanctuary for Christmas Eve. This is a wonderful way of remembering those we love or for blessings received in 2015.

The Poinsettias you purchase may be taken home after the last service Christmas Eve.

Plants are $9 each and your order must be received by Thursday, December 6th, 2015. Order forms are in each Sunday’s bulletin, and below.

EHMC POINSETTIAS ORDER FORM 2015. (download the Word document to your desktop when the window opens).

For more information contact Jim or Anna Koehler at nyaapa@aol.com or 484-256-5697.

 

 

Birthing Christ Within Our Soul: The Essence of Christmas and Christian Faith

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Had Christ a thousand times,

Been born in Bethlehem,

But not in you, your sin

Would still your soul condemn.

– Angelus Silesius

christmas advent

Matthias Stomer, Adoration of the Christ Child, circa 1660.

One should not mistake decorating for the holidays as preparing oneself for Christmas.

Living in the “Christmas City”, it’s sometimes easy to confuse the two. Bethlehem does a great job decorating for the holidays and marketing itself as the American destination for Christmas merrymaking. Since mid-October, city work crews have installed trees with lights on all the lamp posts. They have strategically positioned oversized Advent wreaths at major intersections around town. Local shops – even grocery stores – flood us with cheery tunes about family, fellowship, snow, and celebration. Meanwhile we decorate, shop for gifts for friends and loved ones, and anticipate our favorite personal holiday traditions. We are ready for the holidays – but are we prepared for Christmas?

If you would learn the true meaning of Christmas, do not look to society with its holiday glitter. You will not find the Christ-child there. There is no room for him in crowded malls and streets filled with frenetic holiday shoppers. Nor can Christ be found online in the midst of special holiday offers. To prepare for Christmas, seek the birth of the Christ-child within yourself.

The highest worship is like unto God to grow,
Christlike to be in life, in habit, and love’s glow.
– Angelus Silesius

Christmas comes the day Jesus’ Spirit is born within us.

O Holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!
– Phillips Brooks

Have a Blessed Christmas,

– Pastor Derek French