Category: Morning Musings

Morning Musing: Luke 2:13-14

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“Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors!'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When are you the most at peace? I’ll give you a hint: It’s probably not when it feels like everything is flying apart in midair on you. We’re generally the most at peace when everything is going well; when it’s all happening according to our plan. Having the ability to make certain things are going according to our plan, though, is not a universal thing. It tends to be a thing directly connected to the amount of resources a person controls. In other words, it’s easy to be at peace when you’re rich. When you’re poor? Well, life’s just harder then. The peace Jesus came bringing with Him, though, is for everyone no matter what their resource level may be.

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Morning Musing: Isaiah 9:6

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“For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

No sermon for you this morning. Yesterday we celebrated Christmas together during our morning worship in lieu of our usual choir cantata. It was different from the norm as is the rule of the day, but it was a wonderful time of worship together. Here’s the link if you’d like to watch it. What we are going to do this morning instead of the usual sermon (we’ll continue our series, All Planned Out, next week) is continue in our Advent journey together. This week, we are talking about peace. What exactly is peace and what does it mean that Jesus is the prince of it? Let’s dig in together.

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Morning Musing: Matthew 1:22-23

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“Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel,’ which is translated ‘God is with us.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

All this week we have been talking about hope; what it is and how we can have it in a way that makes a difference in our lives. At the end of the day…or week…though, there is one thing that matters and stands out above all the rest: Our hope is in Jesus. When Jesus was born, He was the fulfillment of the hopes of the people of Israel. He was all they had been waiting on for centuries. They didn’t understand it at first, but gradually word began to spread and the hope He came bearing with it. And I could take great pains to explain this to you and exhort you to take great stock in it this morning, but sometimes there’s a better way.

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Morning Musing: 1 Peter 1:3-5

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“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

So far this week in our conversation about hope, we have made clear that Biblical hope and the more cultural value of optimism are not the same thing. Optimism is ultimately a fantasy whereas Biblical hope has an entirely more solid foundation. This isn’t to say that being optimistic is wrong. Having a positive outlook on tomorrow is a good thing indeed. But real hope is better in the grand scheme. Today, I want to give you one more reason why this is the case. When it comes to the optimistic, wishful thinking our culture commends to us, it can be hard to maintain such a thing over the long haul–especially when that long haul is difficult. Biblical hope, however, lasts. Why? Because for followers of Jesus, our hope is not some inanimate feeling, it is a living thing.

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Morning Musing: Micah 7:6-8

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“Surely a son considers his father a fool, a daughter opposes her mother, and a daughter-in-law is against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own household. But I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Do not rejoice over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will stand up; though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Do you consider yourself more of an optimist or a pessimist? Do you respond to the circumstances you are in by looking for the best explanation possible, or the worst? Now, this may be the point at which you’re expecting I’ll start explaining why you should be an optimist. Natural pessimists are already gearing up to explain why they’re not really negative, they’re just realistic. But I’m not going there. In fact, you can be optimistic and still wrong. As followers of Jesus, we are not called to be optimists. We are called to be a people of hope. That’s different.

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