• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Flemington United Methodist Church logo

Come as you are

Header Right

 

Donate
  • About Us
    • About Flemington United Methodist Church
    • Our Staff
    • What We Believe
    • Our History
    • Weddings & Other Events
    • Donate
    • Contact Us
  • I’m New
    • What You Can Expect
    • Ask Pastor Chris
  • Worship With Us
    • Sunday Morning Experience
    • Sunday School
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer
  • FUMC Blog
  • Calendar
  • Events
  • About Us
    • About Flemington United Methodist Church
    • Our Staff
    • What We Believe
    • Our History
    • Weddings & Other Events
    • Donate
    • Contact Us
  • I’m New
    • What You Can Expect
    • Ask Pastor Chris
  • Worship With Us
    • Sunday Morning Experience
    • Sunday School
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer
  • FUMC Blog
  • Calendar
  • Events
gift wrap

Hope We Can See

“With all my heart I glorify the Lord!
    In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.
He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant.
    Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored
        because the mighty one has done great things for me.
Holy is his name.
    He shows mercy to everyone,
        from one generation to the next,
        who honors him as God.
He has shown strength with his arm.
    He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.
    He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones
        and lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things
    and sent the rich away empty-handed.
He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,
        remembering his mercy,
    just as he promised to our ancestors,
        to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.” 

Luke 1:46-55

 

Why do we anticipate the coming of Christ each year? Haven’t we heard these stories over and over again? Is anything left unexplored in these texts to expand our understanding? I believe each year is a new opportunity to open our hearts and minds to what these events tell us about the God we worship.

This excerpt from Luke’s gospel comes months before Jesus’s birth. Mary’s good gift from God remained safely wrapped within her womb. She traveled to her cousin Elizabeth with this hidden joy, and Elizabeth “blurted out ‘God has blessed you above all women, and he has blessed the child you carry. Why do I have this honor, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:42-43) Can you picture it? Elizabeth, carrying her own improbable child, involuntarily proclaiming Mary’s secret – and naming the child to come a blessing?

Many prepared people have been wrapping gifts for weeks now… some are midnight-before-Christmas types scrambling to get things under the tree before sunrise. Whenever we present our gifts to each other, there is a breathless moment of expectation: did I do well this year? Will my gift be a dud to be passed on to someone else? Do I even know what this person wants? And then the moment of truth comes, a smile and a thank you, and relief for us.

Mary may have been frightened on her way to Elizabeth’s. Could she believe her own memories? Would she be received with love or with rebuke? Would she be believed? Imagine her joy when her fears and doubts were set aside in an instant.

We are invited once more into remembering the joy of Christmas. The Lord we love and long to meet was born in our midst, lived with us, and filled us with hope we can see. Today we offer that hope to one another every time we show up and proclaim the truth that God is love and longs to be in relationship with each of us to a world of individuals in need of community. How are you offering hope we can see this season?

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Ben

Previous Post: «candles Celebrate the Season with Us
Next Post: The Beauty of Offering a Welcome to All A ramp to the front door»

Primary Sidebar

Search

Recent posts

  • Bicentennial Church Tour: March 25th @ 1-3pm
  • Ash Wednesday Service
  • Christmas Eve Candle Light Service
  • Christmas at the Movies
  • Whitehouse Wind Symphony Concert

Categories

  • Events
  • Main Blog
  • Sunday Sermon
  • Uncategorized

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • February 2018

Footer

Services: Sundays at 10:30am
Flemington United Methodist Church
116 Main Street, Flemington, NJ 08822
908.782.1070


Get in Touch

Get in Touch

Copyright © 2023 · Mai Lifestyle Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in