Passage: Psalms 148 & Luke 2:41-52    

  Description: Celia Penman was our guest worship leader and preacher.

Passage: Philippians 2:1-5    

  Description: Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Tomorrow is the night when we celebrate the coming of Jesus, God’s beloved child. Isn’t that amazing? Isn’t that incredible? More than 2,000 years after the birth of this child, Jesus, we still pause every year to celebrate the gift of his birth. There are many babies who have been born this year, whose births and lives will be celebrated by family and friends, but 2,000 years later – just imagine that. What kind of person does it take to be remembered so significantly for so long? What kind of person does it take to continue to shape lives and mend hearts, 2,000 years after he lived? Well, it takes Jesus. I am constantly in awe that a tiny baby, whose family was from the peasant class, has had such an impact on the world. Jesus defied all odds. Nothing in his life set him up to be such a well-known person. He wasn’t born in a palace. There was no social media to immediately send the news of his birth around the world. He lived quietly in Nazareth as a carpenter for 30 years, attended no special schools or training camps. His ministry lasted only 3 years before his untimely death at the hands of the Romans. None of this points to a person who would have such a lasting impact. But this was Jesus! There was something more about this person, something that those around him named as divine.

Passage: Isaiah 55:1-13    

  Description: On the one hand, I think that Isaiah is compelling us think about how we spend our loonies and toonies. I would hope we make wise choices that nourish our lives—that we eat well and stay away from junk food and other less nourishing distractions. That’s one way of thinking about this. But on the other hand, I think we need to understand that this passage is about working with God’s currency and living in God’s economy. That’s where we take a turn away from the sale on flannel shirts and delve into the actual transactions that serve to nourish our soul and the heart of the community. In other words, there is a strong case here to spend our money on that which fosters God’s love, sustains an intentional community and, provides resources for right relationships and wellness throughout our neighbourhoods. Our money invested in God’s economy ensures that all those who hunger and thirst are satisfied regardless of their status, lack of status or whatever. Ho! proclaims Isaiah—pay attention to this. This is food and drink for the soul. Giving to this congregation is a statement about investing in mission and ministry as defined by God’s economy—it is a decision we make because Isaiah is quite adamant that investing in God’s economy is money well spent. Why? Because it means life to a people. Spending money is a waste if it somehow doesn’t return to God. You end up with just a shirt. God’s economy becomes stuck. And honestly, there’s no real lasting joy in that. Right? What is the ancillary product line of God’s economy? I believe it is joy. Isaiah proclaims you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song…” And pay attention, friends—instead of thorns, the soil will produce the cypress—a glorious tree whose wood is known by musicians for its sonority and its Biblical symbolism associated with death and healing, life and resurrection. And instead of the brier, the soil will produce myrtle—a shrub that symbolizes life, fertility and love especially in the context of marriage. And together that should be enough to convince us all that this is the legacy, a memorial, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. That is, God will never allow our relationship, our covenant with God to be severed. God will always be with us. And that’s the essence of Advent and its message leading to Christmas where the tradition remembers the birth of God in the child called Emmanuel… which means God with us. Deep, deep joy.

Passage: John 15:8-12    

  Description: David and Susan have a conversation about joy. Joining in the conversation is one of our Grade 9 students, Maya. How do we know joy?

Passage: Numbers 22:21-31    

  Description: The Bible is this amazing, wonderful, & fascinatingly diverse collection of sayings, stories, genealogies, poems, proverbs, historical writings, parables, and more. It’s not a book – it’s a library. It contains the most comforting words: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” And the most poetically beautiful words: “They shall rise up on wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not be faint.” And the wisest words: “Love your enemies; do not repay evil for evil.” And the strangest stories.... When we choose to follow the Way of Jesus, then we choose this book as our guide and our wisdom, and that includes all the strange and weird parts, as well as all the beautiful, wise and wonderful parts. It includes all the imperfect, stumbling, bumbling characters, as well as the compassionate, wise ones. Then, there are the many Christians who declare that the Bible must be seen as inerrant, infallible, and it must be taken literally. They resist asking any questions about why things might be contradictory in scripture or why the Bible says things that science and life experience might tell us are no longer accurate. In a way, they are trying to protect the Bible, to build a fence around it so it doesn’t get trampled down. Perhaps, underneath, they are afraid that the Bible will be dismissed as irrelevant, and so they protect it with words such as literal, inerrant & infallible. But the Bible doesn’t need protecting. In fact, the more it is protected from questions, debates, and wrestling, the less relevant it does become. So, what is the Bible? How would I describe it and my relationship to it? I believe the Bible is a collection of writings from dozens, if not hundreds of people. I believe, as David preached from 2nd Timothy last week, that the Bible is inspired by God. Yet, that inspiration was given to fallible people, people who can misunderstand and make errors, people who were shaped by their own cultural understandings, even as they tried to express their experience of God.