Our God is not a god of decrees, documents, or the paranoid violence of Herod. Instead, God comes to us as a child of refugees: Alone, uncertain, in flight. Emmanuel: God with us,

The sign that God is with us is often not found in the things we desire. But much more in the simple, beautiful relationships. May we today celebrate each other and the profound and beautiful gift of friendships and community.

Like Mary and Elizabeth, we don’t have to do it alone. Though each of us carries different burdens and plans, through love (the same love that John and Jesus preached about), we can help soothe each other's guilt and fears.

Change is life. Stagnation is death. If you don't change, you die. It's that simple. It's that scary.”

When we find ourselves in the messy middle, we may not know how it all will work out or what it will look like when we get there, but I can have faith that it will work itself out.

... life often comes to us in extremes. It is how we live between those extremes that show the fruits we bear.

The difference between Scrooge and us is that we do not need ghosts to show us how to be more equitable.

There may be times when it seems we are constantly searching for stability. However, it is often in these moments that something good can be nurtured, even when it feels impossible to recognize.

The person that you are, be at peace with. Know who you are and be proud, like John, and if questioned, answer those questions with the confidence that you are the child of the most high God.

Many of us know what it feels like when we get through something we thought would break us or was impossible.

Sometimes the strength is in the remembering. There’s a phrase, “You’ve survived 100% of your worst days.”

I have become more and more confident that the disorienting moments of our faith journey can actually be great catalysts in forming who our spiritually and our understanding of God. Because of this, I see and understand faith differently.

“God’s justice is forgiveness.” God’s justice isn’t revenge or retribution but forgiveness.

Hope isn’t a transcendental, out-of-this-world word. It is tangible. One-way hope is tangible is through the word agency.

The Shepherds knowing that though the story has only just begun this news means God is closer than ever and peace is among them.

peace is found in unexpected ways and places. Moments and spaces we would never think it would flood in, peace reigns supreme.

As he looked around the room and saw everyone who had journeyed with him to this point, he felt a divine presence. Amid the deep pain they

We find Jesus in the midst of all our emotions crying with us while at the same time saying to them and to us, “it will be alright.”

We move so fast, we have been conditioned to hear what we want, that we rarely just sit and listen to a story.

Ever since I was a teenager Mark chapter 1 has deeply shaped my experience of Jesus. Here is this man with leprosy who has lost...