JR. Forasteros - December 25, 2016
Go Tell it on the Mountain
Why do we sing at Christmas? Because song is the natural way we celebrate God becoming one of us. On Christmas we sing because the battle has been one and God is making all things new!
From Series: "Pure Imagination"
In a world increasingly divided and hopeless, even something as simple as respectful disagreement seems impossible. But the prophets who taught Israel how to long for the birth of the Messiah made bold promises: weapons formed into gardening tools; wolves and sheep living in harmony; deserts blooming. Such promises seem impossible - like pure imaginative fiction. But God's promises aren't fiction. They're a future God is bringing into existence. Jesus birth proves God is with us, that God is working. We can have purified imaginations, see the world as it will be, and begin to work for that world now. What does it mean to be a people of Advent? Advent means the impossible has been made possible!
More From "Pure Imagination"
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Cultivating ConflictJR. Forasteros - November 27, 2016 |
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Wolves and LambsDecember 4, 2016 |
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Get a Grip!December 11, 2016 |
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The Sign for the TimesDecember 18, 2016 |
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Go Tell it on the MountainDecember 25, 2016 |
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Anyone else ever have awkward family reunions? Growing up, my dad’s family got together every Thanksgiving at my grandpa’s church. We’d feast around 11 am, all my grandpa’s brothers and sisters and their descendants – usually some 150 of us. Sometime in the afternoon, a pickup football game would start outside and run basically until it was time for dinner around 5.
By the time I was in college, the reunion had shrunk (as reunions tend to). But my aunts and uncles and cousins all still gathered. And though the football game was a lot smaller, we still played. By the time I was in college, my little brother wasn’t so little anymore. He was a three-sport athlete in high school, including football. And it’s possible I was feeling a little self-conscious playing against him during this particular football game.
So when I tackled him to stop a touchdown one play, it’s possible I might have celebrated a little too hard.
My dad (who was also on the other team), told me to calm down, and when I refused, he decided to teach me a lesson on the next play. But he missed the tackle, I scored on him, and I doubled down on the trash talk and bad sportsmanship.
It was one of those moments when everyone could feel the tone of the game shift. It wasn’t about family having fun anymore. Suddenly, it was about two big egos both trying to be the biggest man on the field.
Needless to say, the game dissolved pretty quickly after that, and dinner was way more awkward than usual. At least for me.
That moment was emblematic for my dad and me because the real problem was how stubborn we both are. And it’s not just him and me. My brother is the same way, and so is my father’s father. In fact, if you look back through our family tree, it’s pretty clear there’s some kind of gene for hard-headedness that runs in the men in my family. And it’s caused plenty of problems a lot more severe than just a ruined football game.
Let’s talk about the sins we inherit from our families. The deep patterns of pain and brokenness we sometimes can’t even see because they just look normal to us.
