Pastor Brian's Blog

“2020 Vision” is a new series for the new year.  Life in our society is distorted by racial injustice, religious antagonism, environmental disruption, and economic disparities.  The series will explore the biblical vision that unites us to God and one another.  As a corrective lens, Walter Brueggemann’s book Tenacious Solidarity: Biblical Provocations on Race, Religion, Climate, and Economy (2018) will frame how to see each other with God’s eyes and look for solidarity across differences. January 5 - Epiphany RACIAL SOLIDARITY: In Isaiah 60:1-6 , the prophet proclaims that people of all nations will be drawn to the Lord’s light.  On Epiphany, we celebrate the three kings from foreign lands coming to worship Jesus.  The light of Christ shines for all the nations.  When have you experienced the multiracial fellowship of the church?  January 12 – Baptism of the Lord RELIGIOUS SOLIDARITY: In Matthew 3:13-17 , Jesus comes to John for b...

I chose the image of a snow-covered branch to suggest that God is with us.  We might think of God as the snow, possibly an add-on of beauty or an unnecessary afterthought to the rest of our lives.  But what changes if we see God as the bough and ourselves as the snowflakes?  In the second vision, we might see God as a sturdy support for our fragile lives, as one who catches us when we fall.  We can rest on God whose eternal, evergreen presence endures throughout the fleeting seasons of our lives.  God is with us. At Christmas, our stories and songs about the birth of God’s eternal Son to a mortal woman celebrate the “Incarnation,” the unique joining of both human and divine natures in Jesus Christ.  The notion of God sharing our mortal life is a distinctive Christian belief.  The Gospel of John offers one expression of Jesus’ incarnation: “The Word became flesh and made his home among us” (John 1:14, CEB).  In Jesus Christ, God is with us....