REMINDER: Today is the eleventh day in our journey through the 12 days of Christmas (December 25 – January 5). The wise men are getting closer to their destination, even on our entertainment center where they have remained distant throughout the month of December and early January. But now, with just a couple of days until Epiphany, they are drawing close to the child whose birth they desire to honor.
Scripture: Matthew 2:8-9
Then King Herod sent them [the wise men from the East] to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was.
Thought for the Day: Diligently – with diligence; in a diligent manner; characterized by steady and earnest effort. That might be how we would define the word in English, but the Greek word we translate as diligently is Akribos, and along with meaning diligently, it can mean accurately or even circumspectly. The word carries this sense of exploring the extremes, the outermost regions. It assumes a risk, even danger. When we take up the task of searching diligently for the living Christ in our midst today, most of us would think of it as an arduous task of spiritual exploration. It is this, but let us not forget that seeking and following the Christ also carries with it a risk even today. Old ways will be altered; lifestyles will be modified; checkbooks will be challenged; prejudices will be permanently changed. Are you ready to seek the child with diligence?
Prayer: Be with me, O Gracious God, as I explore this marvelous gift that has come into the world…a gift of hope and peace that will, at the end of the day, confront a lot of what I previously thought was acceptable. Be with me, I pray! Amen.
Big Sunday
One Service Only
10:30am
Camel parade begins at 10:00am
Catch a ride to Meyer Park starting at 9:30am
(in the driveway between church and the library)
And then stay for lunch after church…
