Baptism celebrates the unique God given gifts in each of us, meant for the blessing of the world.

The wonderful thing, the Good News is that when God leads us, when we follow Jesus, it’s not just that we’re sent; we’re invited.

As Anna and Simeon greet the baby Jesus, we too can be watching for God in our midst– since God is with us.

God is telling a very different story than than people who are preaching hate, fear and greed. You play an important part in the story. To get your part right it helps to get the story right: it’s a story of grace, reconciliation and hope.

We long or Christ to come into the world and change it. The way we prepare for that is to allow Christ to come into ourselves and change us. Repentance is not hard or unpleasant: it’s simply allowing the holy child to grow within us.

God is not done creating. God has hope for the future. God’s hope reveals itself in your own hopes and longings. Be still and pay attention to signs of God’s promises.

Pilate couldn’t imagine Jesus as a king– and neither can we, as long as we buy the culture’s image of power and glory. Christ is not a conqueror, but a lover, and an outcast–but there is huge power hidden in that.

A story: a poor widow discovers generosity is a power that overcomes the fear that binds her.