...How our Shame Hinders our Engagement in God's Mission Part of my own story includes a lifelong battle with shame. Ask my Mom and she'll tell you I came out of the womb fearful. I was an insecure kid who played it safe for the most part. Ask a theologian and she'll tell you that shame is a Garden-grown existential reality. It's a part of the Family story. As the old story goes, Adam and Eve hid from God. And as Brennan Manning writes, "We all, in one way or another, have used them as role models. Why? Because we do not like what ...

Sandra McCracken, along with husband Derek Webb, will be our musical guest this Sunday. A songwriter whose work is described by Paste magazine as "graceful and dramatic...exploring spiritual matters with wide-eyed inquisitiveness", she'll be sharing some of her hymns with us at our Sutter St location. Sandra led worship for our City Church retreat last year, and we're happy to have her back with us this week.

Daily Reading Matthew 2:1-12 > When you live in a city, with all of its street lights, you can forget to look at the stars. The ancient world, innocent of streetlights, never forgot the night sky. Many people, particularly to the east of Palestine, had developed the study of the stars and the planets to a fine art. Any remarkable event among the stars would mean a remarkable event on earth. While scholars have sought to explain what was happening astronomically on that night, Matthew wants us to see what was happening politically and ...

Daily Reading Luke 2:8-20 > When the angel of the Lord came to announce the birth of Jesus, people were terrified. And perhaps, we are, too. When the supernatural breaks into the natural, it is terrifying. When God impedes on our plans and projects, it strikes fear in us. And sometimes, we'd like to tell Him to get lost - we've got life under control. But the Christmas story is not merely about a snuggly baby and a makeshift manger and an inn with a "No Vacancy" sign. It's about God Himself coming into the world, interrupting our ...

Daily Reading Luke 2:1-7 > Luke tells the familiar story of the birth of this baby that was promised from the beginning. Odd, isn't it, that at this very point in history something so seemingly ordinary as a baby born to a young woman happens at a certain time and in a specific place while life around goes on as usual: There's a specific emperor, there's a trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and this is where this baby is to be born. Any birth is special for the one giving birth. But this one ... this one is extraordinary. This is ...

Daily Reading Matthew 1:22-25 > Maybe there's a reason Matthew's account of the birth of Jesus is normally (around Christmas anyway) overlooked in favor of the account recorded in the Gospel of Luke: it's much less fun. Mostly, Matthew presents a rather dry, matter-of-fact explanation of how an out-of-wedlock pregnancy was still able to be kosher. In fact, more is said here about Joseph than Jesus. But in this brief passage, a confluence of facts about this baby Jesus frames the entire reason we observe Advent and the coming ...

Daily Reading Matthew 2:1-12 > One sign, a star...two responses. Upon seeing the star, the Magi set out in search of what they had long awaited. the King of Jews. Upon hearing the news, King Herod is filled with fear and begins to strategize. The contrast between the two are stark. One responds in humility, the other pride. The truth of who this child was was not debated. However, both thought differently about their need for this King. Advent is a season of highlighting our needs, our longings that can only be met by someone outside ...

Daily Reading Psalm 117 > Once upon a time... words inviting us into a world teeming with possibilities and the promise of true love. Children gravitate to these stories as their beliefs allow for the essential elements of these stories: good vs. evil, happy endings and forever after. As adults, we tend to veer away as life has taught us is that "happy ever after" eludes us in our suffering and pain. If we know anything, it is that we must keep our expectations low and our hearts guarded. Yet, the Advent season calls us to acknowledge ...

Daily Reading Matthew 1:18-21 > One of the great privileges of parenting begins before the child is born, as they (often) agonize for months on what to name their child. If they find out the gender, they can narrow down their choices, but still the burden can feel overwhelming. But as the time draws near, a preferable name is chosen, and from then on, all references to the baby will now have a name attached. A time honored Jewish tradition was to give children special names that pointed well beyond personal preference, but to hopes, ...

Daily Reading Luke 1:46-56 > Previous to this text, Mary hears from an angel that she will conceive without the participation of a man, that this is the fulfillment of God's promise to his people to provide a Redeemer Messiah. The angel also tells her that her relative Elizabeth—well beyond the age of childbearing—is six months pregnant. Mary travels quickly to visit Elizabeth. Clearly these two women, a virgin and a woman who has despaired of having a child, have something in common! Something magnificent has happened. Unable to ...

Daily Reading Luke 1:39-45 > There are times, perhaps in moments of prayer, worship, or solitude, in which we anticipate and sense the presence of the Lord. In Luke 1:39-45, Elizabeth, upon the arrival of her pregnant cousin Mary, senses God's presence as her child (John the Baptist) leaps in the womb. Six months before this, Elizabeth had learned of her surprise pregnancy. What had she been doing in the meantime, prior to Mary's arrival? She had spent the time in seclusion, in solitude with God. Luke says she was "filled with the ...

Daily Reading Luke 1:26-38 > Has God ever surprised you? This is where Mary finds herself. An angel appears to her. She's told she will bear a son. Her son will sit on David's throne. Did Mary fully comprehend what this message meant that her son would be the Messiah, the Savior of the Jewish people? How overwhelmed she must have been! When Mary asks the angel how this can be since she is a virgin, she receives yet another answer that is beyond comprehension. Even though she has more questions than answers, she embraces the ...

Daily Reading John 1:14-18 > The mystery of Christ is ever present in this passage. God becomes man, the being whom he created. To become that which one creates is a baffling concept, but God's reasons for doing this become clear. In John 1: 14-18, Christ's "dwelling" among us is similar to God's "tabernacling" with the Israelites in the wilderness (the tabernacle was the portable dwelling place of God in the Old Testament). In the same way, Christ came to dwell with us that we may know God and experience Him. Christ came as a human, ...

Daily Reading John 1:6-13 > John the Baptist was sent into the world "so that through [John] all might believe." John points the way to Jesus, inspiring people towards greater faith. God did not send Jesus alone to bear witness to Himself. God sent John the Baptist beforehand to tell the truth about Jesus' redemption and to lead people to faith in Him. Through this text we are shown that community is essential to the Christian faith—Christianity is greater than the sum of each of our individual faith alone. God has designed us to be ...

Daily Reading Mark 1:1-8 > God's people are a wilderness people. It has always been so. We're called aliens and strangers, sojourners and pilgrims. Our journey is construed as a wilderness journey, through rough terrain and amidst terrifying realities. Yet, so much of our lives are lived to avoid the wilderness. Not content to trust that God will show with what we need, we create wilderness security devices, things that will quench our thirst and fill our hunger. We find security in our gadgets and our jobs, our networks and our ...

Daily Reading Luke 1:57-66 > When John the Baptist was born, everyone expected him to be given a family name. After all, that was the tradition in first-century Judaism. A child would take on a name which had some family significance and meaning. Elizabeth, however, vetoed the traditional naming process. As a first-century Jewish woman, she spoke up, defying custom, and pronounced that her son's name would not be Zechariah like his father, but John. And, more than that – Zechariah supported her! People were astonished then, and we ...

Daily Reading Luke 1:18–23 > God interrupts. He interrupts us, our plans, to bring new life. Sometimes God interrupts us when we least expect it, and His interruptions don’t always seem to make sense. This is what happens to Zacharias when he’s told his infertile wife will have a son. Most people would be surprised, if not skeptical.. Being a priest, Zacharias should have known and this exposes his unbelief. God gives a sign. Zacharias becomes mute until the birth of his son. What part of your life do you believe is ...

Daily Reading Luke 1:5-17 > One of the great opportunities we have in Advent is to see the big picture, to discover that our stories are actually caught up in a larger Story God is writing. It's often tough, because much has happened in our lives to lead us into cynicism, resignation, and hopelessness. Like Elizabeth, perhaps we feel as if our lives are a barren wasteland. But what we learn from the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth is that God always stands ready to birth new life out of barrenness. At Advent, we look with ...

Daily Reading Isaiah 53:1-5 > This passage from Isaiah seems a rather odd place to look for Advent devotion. There are no miraculous visitations from angelic host, no exotic gifts of gold or myrrh; there's not even mention of a manger or swaddling clothes, much less that of a baby or a silent night. What we find instead are contradictions, wounds, punishment, suffering, and a whole lot of sorrow. When the Bible mentions the "arm of the Lord," it's usually a figurative way of talking about the manifestation of God's strength and ...

Daily Reading Isaiah 42:5-9 > and Luke 4:16-19 > The Prophet Isaiah speaks of a future kingdom; a kingdom of healing and freedom that will come through a Servant sent by God. To a people experiencing great suffering and oppression, Isaiah's words ring of hope and renewal. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus reads these very words in the synagogue, proclaiming to the Jews that He is the fulfillment of Isaiah's foretold Kingdom. Healing, liberation and hope are found in Him. Jesus is the "Good News"! How does the good news of Jesus translate ...