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 A collective reflection on Hope, Peace, Joy, and LoveTuesday, December 24, 2024 |
| Good News to Share Luke 2:1-20 Christmas is often an opportunity for us to measure our maturity. Immature children perceive Christmas to be all about what they get. As we grow and our perspectives change, the maturing person recognizes it’s better to give than receive, so we perceive Christmas to be all about what we give. But there’s yet another layer to all this. The most mature among us recognize Christmas as a message of good news we get to share. The good news of Jesus’s birth is shared three times in the Nativity story. The first is when the angels burst onto the scene and terrified the poor shepherds. But when they heard the news and received it, they went and found the child because good news always moves people! And when they found the child, they became the second group to share the message they’d heard – that a child born today was the Savior of the World! The third retelling isn’t as apparent, but it’s there if you know where to look for it. See, the shepherds’ news made Mary’s mind wander. For years, she wondered not just at what they said but how they said it. It was as if God had really blared the announcement across the evening sky. This stayed with her, deep in her spirit, until one day, she sat down with Luke, who had a pen and paper at hand. She told him what amazement came to her heart when the shepherds shared the good news of Jesus with the one who had brought Jesus into the world. Hope comes to each of us as we receive the good news. Sometimes, it takes but a second for us to share it, and other times it takes years. But the good news is a wellspring of hope for all who know that born this day, in the city of David, is a Savior, Christ the Lord! By Dan Jacobsen PRAYER FOR TODAY God, what news! Your promises stand. and your Word is true. Thank you for the ways in which good news has rippled through the world, finding each of our hearts at just the right moment to wake us up to new life. In this season may our lives join the chain of messengers who bring good news to those around us. Amen. DOWNLOAD ECHOES OF HOPE PDF BOOKLET |
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