Musings about Faith

Please note - this sermon text is from 2015 - My Christmas sermon in 2018 took inspiration from this sermon text but was a completely different sermon, but as it was an oral event this is as close as I can come. Blessings... The text for this sermon is Luke 2 - the Christmas story - read it here. What a joyful story this Christmas story is! Angels announcing the birth of the Christ child to a group of shepherds – shepherds, who in 1 st  century Palestine were treated as untouchables, who were despised and excluded, who were dirty and smelly, but who still are the ones to whom God announces the birth of the child.  And it is these shepherds who then run off to... where? Let’s see the text says about that: Well all it says is that Jesus is to be found laying in a manger – that is a feeding trough.  And feeding trough are to be found where there are animals; and animals, actually goats to be exact, were usually secured inside of some homes or in the many...

Reflections from the Pastor: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.   The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it… And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.   (John 1:1-5, 14) We have come to another Advent and Christmas.   Soon the lights will be up and the carols will be sounding forth.   Each year lately there always seems to be an ongoing to debate about what this season is really about, and while I do not think there is any kind of organized campaign to undermine Christmas, the fact is that I do think that the general society has lost a sense of exactly what Chri...