First Baptist Church of White Plains
  • Home
  • About
    • Our Faith Community
    • Our Staff
    • Friends & Partners
    • Contact & Directions
  • Media
    • Publications
    • Photo Galleries
    • Facebook Page
  • Visit
    • Welcome to First Baptist
    • Recent Sermons
    • Weddings
    • Rentals
  • Ministries
    • Mustard SEEDS Collective
    • Food Co-op
    • David Manierre Scholarship Fund
  • Pastor's Blog

Pastor's Blog

The Dawning of Hope ...

11/25/2015

0 Comments

 
The season of Thanksgiving is now upon us and Advent is just around the corner! Can you believe it? It’s taken me by surprise! I was recently walking through a mall and I saw a sign in a window that said, “Give thanks with style.” This is meant to conjure up images of glorious Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, fond words of lovingly shared with family and friends, as we gather with our stylish gifts, accessories, and now mobile devices. Perhaps it’s more likely that the reality is a mad chaos as we rush to get it all done, forgetting something, frustration spilling over as we wait in long lines, doing our best to keep it together as we dread having to talk politics with those “once a year” relatives. Perhaps this is a lonely time as you long for loved ones. Maybe you’re a little on edge this year or know someone who is. This can be a confusing time as our reality of the holiday’s conflict with the commercial ideal.
 
As we draw near to this Thanksgiving and the new Advent season of waiting in holy anticipation; can we join with the angels, shepherds, and wise men, bearing the sights and sounds of hope? One righteous and devout elder of Jerusalem, Simeon, took baby Jesus in his arms, when he was only a week old and proclaimed boldly, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory of your people Israel.” (Luke 2:29-32) This is a minority, yet grand idea held within the voices of the greatest prophets proclaiming that it wasn’t enough that God only loved the Hebrew people, but through Yahweh’s Covenant people, was creating the dawn of a light for all nations. The birth of Jesus is the both the culmination of this light and the dawn of new hope for the world. God’s reality conflicted with the popular Messianic style and ideal of the times. God is constantly confusing and subverting our worldly expectations! My deepest prayer, this time of year, is that we would be a people (church) that will allow God to interrupt our confusing consumer ideals and let the hope of Christ’s birth dawn anew in our lives and relationships. May you know real and abiding hope, peace, joy, and love this Thanksgiving and Christmas time.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    About Tim

    I'm a follower of Christ, husband, father, friend, pastor, story teller, asker of questions, inspired by biblical narratives, social justice advocate, sports enthusiast, drinker of over priced coffee and general seeker of God's redemptive possibilities. Yeah, that about covers it. (If you discover something else, let me know!)

    Archives

    May 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    April 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    October 2019
    November 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

​First Baptist Church of White Plains
456 North Street
White Plains, NY 10605
​Phone: 914.949.5207
Fax: 914.949.5208
Email:
fbcwp@optimum.net
  • Home
  • About
    • Our Faith Community
    • Our Staff
    • Friends & Partners
    • Contact & Directions
  • Media
    • Publications
    • Photo Galleries
    • Facebook Page
  • Visit
    • Welcome to First Baptist
    • Recent Sermons
    • Weddings
    • Rentals
  • Ministries
    • Mustard SEEDS Collective
    • Food Co-op
    • David Manierre Scholarship Fund
  • Pastor's Blog