This may come as a surprise to you, but when the boys are with their dad, the house is empty, and it’s just me and the dogs, I love to cook.  For me, there is nothing like whipping up a mean bowl of raisin bran crunch or special K chocolaty delight.   Nothing beats a hot bag of popcorn I don’t have to share, or as was the case this particular night, a hearty bowl of maple and brown sugar quick oats.  Cereal after all, is a complete meal.  Popcorn is an appetizer, main course, and desert all in one.  Oatmeal is, well, oatmeal.  It’s called comfort food.  Food that fills me up, reminds me of simple pleasures, helps me feel better, soothes the emotional chaos inside, and seems to settle the dust of the moment.  

I wonder what your comfort food is?  I wonder what would be comfort food for the soul?  What would fill the emptiness inside you?  What would warm our hearts when the world around us seems cold and indifferent?  What might soothe our hurt places, light up the shadowy places, and offer hope when we are weary or frustrated.  The prophet Isaiah has the answer 

We can’t get much better, more fulfilling, or hope-filled words than Isaiah 9:2, 3-7; these words of proclamation warm your heart when the world is fractured.  They soothe our hurt places, shed light upon the shadows, and offer hope in the midst of confusion and despair.  

The prophet Isaiah lived in the southern part of Israel, during a time when the northern part was being chewed up and forced to live under Assyrian rule.  It was a scary, uncertain, and dark time in Israel's history.  God needed someone to speak a word of hope.  The people of God needed someone to remind them of who was there for them from beginning to end and everywhere in between.  What was the name given to the one who loved Israel beyond measure even when they wrestled against that love?  Who stuck by Israel’s side through the wild places; through trauma, uncertainty, persecution, famine, illness, oppression, and defeat?  God, the Everlasting Father.  

The people of God were living in chaotic times and needed something they could count on; someone they could depend on to guide them.  A father figure if you will.  God in Jesus became that figure and more.   How can the one to come - the child to be born be a father?   Jesus carried on the father figure image.  He was the connecting link between God and God’s people.  As he grew, he cared for people.  He nurtured the sick.  He prayed for people.  He was there for all people, even the ones no one wanted or cared about.  He was wise in counsel, mighty in love, and modeled how we are to live with and for others. 

As we take another step toward the manger, may we find comfort, hope, and peace knowing who it is we will meet there.  From everlasting to everlasting.  Amen.  
​
Pastor Jenothy Irvine

​In ancient Israel we learn how a new king was to strive to protect the people in battle, and was called to ensure success in the realm of the economy; this person was to promote justice and righteousness, especially toward those who were on the margins or from different countries. Such a ruler was to deliver victory, not just as part of a military campaign but as part of God’s greater work for good – a reminder that this person was always dependent on God and God’s purposes (vv.18-19).

Indeed, the adjective “mighty” refers to such power, or to the ways the king will execute it on behalf of God and the people, meaning that if the king were acting only for himself, or only thinking about protecting or promoting his own self-interests, he would face God’s wrath or God’s judgement. Such a leader is not a leader in the biblical sense. 

Rather, when we think of leadership with respect to the Bible, or to the kind of “power and might” Jesus will demonstrate during his ministry, we face a “power and might” that goes the very heart of God – or to the very identity of the kind of Messiah Jesus will be. More often than not, such “power and might” will run counter to what the “Romes” or “Assyrias” of the world consider as powerful and mighty.

Jesus’ “might” is not a “might” that comes out of manipulation or violence. No, the power Jesus will display is a power over sin and death itself, as he engages these powers, not on their terms but on his terms – which means out of the power of love and grace. Jesus will subvert the powers of this world by imploding them from within, revealing that they are nothing. In Jesus’ kingdom, there is a reversal of power, where the weak are strong, and strong serve others. The first are last, and the last are first. The proud go away hungry, while the hungry eat. The naked receive clothing, and those in prison released. Forgiveness comes to us from a cross, while life comes out of a grave. It all seems so backwards!

How might we receive such power and might today? What does it mean for us to worship and serve such a "mighty God"? Let us pray that during Advent we will learn what this means? 

​Pastor Andy Kinsey

“What is it you want?”  What would make you happy?  Not what would make things easier or make the hard stuff go away, but what do you want that would make you happy - bring you joy?  What would bring you that deep down center of your soul kind of happy?  The kind of happy that gives you a sense of being centered / grounded, no matter what comes your way. 

In the midst of what has become our “new normal” what do you seek?  With frustrations mounting, disappointment being a regular thing, patience growing thin, the pressure to do what is best, changes and updates happening every day, numbers, stats and projections swirling around like winter wind, what do you want?  In the midst of keeping kids on track with school, making yet another adjustment to holiday plans and travel, juggling what is, what isn’t and what might be, canceling this and avoiding that, wondering if you have been exposed yet again, and living in the tension between being safe, cautious, and responsible and just not caring anymore, what do you want?  

Afterall, that is the question of the season now upon us.  You have probably been asked or have asked someone else, “what do you want for Christmas?”  If not and if you have young kids or teenagers in your life, you have probably been given the annual Christmas wish list.

What about you?  What do you want?  How about the assurance that life over the last eight months will be worth it for the joy that awaits you?  How about the promise that in the midst of every sigh, disappointment, heartbreak, argument, election speech, or medical report, there is something bigger?  How about the absolute that despite the anger, blame, fear, or uncertainty, love will prevail?  I am talking about the undeniable hope that comes at the sound of the greatest proclamation ever penned or spoken; ever put to music or ever recorded.   It is nothing less than the assurance that God is up to something far greater than any of us could imagine, expect, or anticipate:  “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light ; those who lived in  aland of deep darkness - on them light has shined.  For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom.  He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forward and for evermore.  The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” - Isaiah 9:2, 6-7  

These words have been spoken, sung, put to music, and proclaimed since the 8th century BCE, when the prophet Isaiah uttered them.  They were often used to announce the birth of a royal prince in Jerusalem or the coronation of a new king.  Words of a leader that would far surpass every expectation and make good on every promise.  

The title of Wonderful Counselor refers to the exercise of governance, the capacity to administer, to plan, and to execute policy.  In this text, Isahah praises God for assigning in a new human king who is expected to devise plans and policies for the benefit of the entire realm (not just the wealthy and powerful).  The term wonderful suggests that the new king will not only have extraordinary wisdom and foresight about planning but that the royal plans and policies will be of exceptional quality, a big surprise that goes beyond all the usual conventions of political power and practice. 

In other words the new king will have wisdom beyond their years and a wisdom that flipped existing systems, standing operating procedures, and traditional expectations end over end.  Luke 2 tells us Jesus was exactly that.  “The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him...and Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.  And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.”   

Jesus did not do things the way people were used to or in the way the Roman authorities had forced upon them.  His teachings contradicted all usual assumptions.  He confounded the authorities; he engaged the powerless crowds, he recognized the value of the marginalized, he bridged the gap between what we call the Old Testament way of the Law and the New Testament way of community. He did not abolish, dismiss or deny the law but rather he fulfilled it in ways no one expected; with love and compassion rather than hatred and violence; with humility and freedom rather than arrogance and oppression.

Jesus, as Wonderful Counselor, articulated a world under alternative governance that did not conform to old patterns of abuse and exploitation.  His was a regime of peace and well being that went on to displace the older order of violence and extortion.  Jesus opened the world to the impossible and gave hope that things could be different; that there was a better way and that way was to live in service to one another, to stand up for and speak out for those who have no voice, to draw strength, courage, and comfort from a faith rooted in the God who loves so much so that God’s own son gave up everything so that all would have something wonderful. 

This Advent season, prepare your hearts to encounter God in ways you might not expect.  Prepare and be open to the possibilities God places before you even now.  Prepare your heart to be transformed in ways you

​Pastor Jenothy Irvine