Rev. Zach

Luke 2:1-20 Tonight is a night of proclamation and hope! Tonight is truly a night of expectation and wonder! Tonight is the night that we experience the pure and unadulterated joy of celebrating the birth of Jesus. And all of us have received the same profound gift. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This phrase took on new meaning for me a few years ago when I saw the play, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” I heard these words in a new way when the young girl playing the angel – who had a star shaved into the side of her head – pointed a fairy wand into the crowd and said repeatedly, “Unto you!” She did it with such urgency and sincerity that I realized that this message was for me as much as it was for her. It mattered for me to receive it, and it mattered for her to say it. She said it for the whole audience, as much as she said it to each of us. I’d like to unpack the gift of those words a little tonight. I know it’s early f...

Isaiah 9:2-7      Titus 2:11-14      Luke 2:1-20 As we bask in the glow of Christmas Eve and the relative peace of this night, I’d like to share one of my family traditions with you. I’ve asked my family to help me out tonight by putting together one of our nativity sets. My grandmother made this one for my family when I was a boy, and she left two of the animals for me to paint. I was very young, and being trusted with something so special made me feel very special, too. The pieces of this little scene have brought me so much joy through the years. I used to always place the baby first and set the scene around him. Later in life, I would set the scene for his arrival but wait until Christmas to place him there. When I realized that the wise men did not even get there until after Christmas I started waiting on those guys, too. There are a couple of characters that I’ve always loved that aren’t really in the story. One is this guy who ...