A Note From Pastor Andrew
Merry Christmas, FLC!
The Christmas season is upon us once again! No matter how we find ourselves, the season to here. We begin Advent as the beginning of the new liturgical year, Year C, where we will journey through the Gospel of Luke. This gospel is perhaps the most narrative-driven of the four gospels – the opening verse indicates this by stating Luke’s intention to give a “well-ordered account” of the Jesus story. In exploring the narrative that Luke tells, I encourage you to think about your own life story. How does the narrative of Christ intersect with our own?
During the season of Advent, we will have a midweek service from 6:30-7:15 where we will explore this connection, as well as our regular Sunday service. Our theme for the season will be exploring Holy Darkness, using Mary, the mother of our Lord, as an example. In Luke 2:19 Mary is visited by the shepherds who have heard from the messengers of God that Jesus has been born as the savior of the world. They visit the Christ-child and tell Mary what they have heard and the text states that Mary “pondered” these things in her heart. Today, we tend to think of “ponder” as to give some deeper consideration to something. But in the Greek of the Bible, this term has a stronger emotional connection than what we think of today. For Mary, this pondering was more of bewilderment at how God had brought together this story of salvation within her own life of (likely) poverty.
During this Advent season, we too will “ponder” this story of salvation, this clash of God’s coming into our world – hope found in darkness.
May the peace of Christ guard your hearts,
Pr. Andrew
Read more from the December newsletter and previous newsletters. Also visit the Calendar page to know more about Faith Lutheran Church in Columbus, Wisconsin.