"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14
In the incarnation - God becoming human and dwelling among us - God made it possible that through the Word, Jesus, we would be able to see His glory. Colossians tells us that Jesus is "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). Hebrews tells us "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being..." (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus reveals God's glory.
The word glory is used in the Bible to denote the visible manifestation of God's presence. It is the sum of all His attributes and perfection. In the Old Testament God's glory dwelt in the tabernacle. In the New Testament God's glory dwells among His people embodied in the person of Jesus. His presence is always with us. He is the glory of God!
At His birth the angels sang,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:14
Glory to God in the highest, Glory to God evermore
Good news, great joy for all
Melody breaks through the silence
Christ, the Savior is born!
Jesus, the love song of God!
Christ Tomlin - Midnight Clear (Love Song)
Grace and peace,
Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation
"It was thousands of years ago and thousands of miles away, but it is a visit that for all our madness and cynicism and indifference and despair we have never quite forgotten. The oxen in their stalls. The smell of hay. The shepherds standing around. That child and that place are somehow the closest of all close encounters, the one we are closest to, the one that brings us closest to something that cannot be told in any other way. This story that faith tells in the fairytale language of faith is not just that God is, which God knows is a lot to swallow in itself much of the time, but that God comes. Comes here. 'In great humility.' There is nothing much humbler than being born: naked, totally helpless, not much bigger than a loaf of bread. But with righteousness and faithfulness the girdle of his loins. And to us came. For us came. Is it true—not just the way fairytales are true but as the truest of all truths? Almighty God, are you true?
When you are standing up to your neck in darkness, how do you say yes to that question? You say yes, I suppose, the only way faith can ever say it if it is honest with itself. You say yes with your fingers crossed. You say it with your heart in your mouth. Maybe that way we can say yes. He visited us.
The world has never been quite the same since. It is still a very dark world, in some ways darker than ever before, but the darkness is different because he keeps getting born into it. The threat of holocaust. The threat of poisoning the earth and sea and air. The threat of our own deaths. The broken marriage. The child in pain. The lost chance. Anyone who has ever known him has known him perhaps better in the dark than anywhere else because it is in the dark where he seems to visit most often."
Frederick Buechner The Clown in the Belfry
God is. God comes here.
Grace and peace,
Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation
…wealth and cleverness were nothing to God — no one is too unimportant to be His friend.
Dorothy Sayers from The Man Born to be King
No one can celebrate a genuine Christmas without being truly poor. The self-sufficient, the proud, those who, because they have everything, look down on others, those who have no need even of God – for them there will be no Christmas.
Only the poor, the hungry, those who need someone to come on their behalf, will have that someone. That someone is God, Emmanuel, God-with-us. Without poverty of spirit there can be no abundance of God.
Oscar Romero
No one wants to admit to being needy. It is, after all, allowing someone else to have strength and power to deliver what one is desperate for.
Relinquishing that control is painful but it is more painful to be so poor that one is hungry without food, thirsty without drink, ill without medicine, cold without shelter, alone without God.
When we are well fed and hydrated, healed, clothed and safe in our homes, it is difficult to be considered “needy”. Yet most of us are ultimately bereft and spiritually impoverished; we need God even when we can’t admit our emptiness, or we turn away when He offers Himself up to us.
Despite the wealth with which we surround ourselves every day, our need is still overwhelmingly great; in Advent, we stand empty and ready to be filled with his abundant and lavish gift of Himself.
Grace and peace,
Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation
Advent historically splits our vision into two focal points in time: the first coming of Christ in the manger and His second coming in glory. For some reason, this dual vision unsettles me. And, it’s probably supposed to, in the wisdom of our forbearers who established the liturgical calendar for the church. We are not allowed to only rejoice in the tiny baby in the manger, but we must grapple with the reality that this is also the one who died and rose again and will come again to judge both the quick and the dead. Here are some implications I’ve been thinking of for our daily life:
– Focusing on both comings of Christ makes everything significant.
– Focusing on both comings of Christ means that humility and glory are held tightly together.
– Lastly, focusing on both comings of Christ gives hope in our waiting.
As we wait in between the times, during this Advent, may we feel the pressure of Christ’s humility at our backs, crushing our resistance to washing feet, serving others, loving when we are exhausted. And here, too, as we face forward, we believe in the glory of Christ to come and we believe that imitating Christ in his suffering will be worth it in view of an “eternal weight of glory.” We are hemmed in by humility and glory.
Grace and peace,
Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation
This week, the Christian Church celebrates "Christ the King" or "Reign of Christ" Sunday. It's a hinge week between the liturgical seasons of Ordinary Time and Advent, when we pause to reflect on the meaning of Christ's kingship before we delve into the mysteries of light and darkness, hope and lament, prophecy and Incarnation. Our king is a crucified God, a broken man on a cross who gave up all power and glory to live among us and die an inglorious, undeserved death. A king who brought the reign of the kingdom of God to earth. Forever.
We remember that over every hope, larger than every fear, underneath each true desire is Jesus, the true king of our heart, the true king of the world. May we joyfully surrender to God's rule over us.
A POEM FOR THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING
See how this infant boy
lifted himself down
into his humble crèche
and laid his tender glove of skin
against splintered wood—
found refuge in a rack
of straw—home
that chilly dawn,
in sweetest silage,
those shriven stalks.
This outcast king lifted
himself high upon his savage cross,
extended the regal banner
of his bones, draping himself
upon his throne—his battered feet,
his wounded hands not fastened
there by nails but sewn
by the strictest thorn of love.
Pamela Cranston © 2019. Searching for Nova Albion
Grace and peace,
Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation
Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what's best --
As above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
You're in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You're ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.
(The Message)
Grace and peace,
Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation
I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the One Nietzsche ridiculed as 'God on the cross.' In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of the Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time after a while I have had to turn away. And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in Godforsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of his. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross that symbolizes divine suffering. John Stott
"All world religions are not 'basically alike.' Only we worship a God with scars of love."--Fulton J. Sheen
Thanks be to God for being this kind of God!
Grace and peace,
Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation
Today, November 1st is All Saints Day, the day set aside in the church calendar to remember all the faithful followers of Jesus (saints) who have died. In English, the traditional name for All Saints’ Day was All Hallows Day. The vigil or eve of the feast, October 31, is still commonly known as All Hallows Eve, or Halloween
The testimony of the faith of those who are now in heaven is an encouragement to us and spurs us on! The day was established originally to honor the many martyrs who died for their faith but has also come to be an opportunity to call to mind the heroes of Christian history, those whose example has been inspiring, who form our “internal chorus” or “cloud of witnesses” whose lives, or teachings or example has influenced our faith.
Which beloved ones can you give thanks for today? Whose lives told of God’s unfailing love and grace? These saints speak from the past and are whispering at this moment…
"God is faithful."
"The Lord is good. Trust Him."
"His grace was sufficient for me in my trials and is sufficient for you today."
So many beautiful friends of Jesus have formed my faith and influenced my life with God. I say their names to God today in gratitude for their obedience, sincerity and authenticity of faith: Randy, Beth, Phil, Doug, Mike, Julie, Robert, Pete, Steve, Erik, Allene and Elmer, Nancy and Warren, Ellen, Roland…
Grace and peace,
Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation
We keep company with Jesus by making space for him through a spiritual discipline. Our part is to offer ourselves lovingly and obediently to God. God then works within us doing what he alone can do. Our desires don't obligate the holy One. God is free to come to us in spiritual disciplines as he wills, not as we demand. But unless we open ourselves to him through spiritual practices, we may miss his coming altogether. —Adele Ahlberg Calhoun
Anyone who wants to go deeper in their life with Jesus, or find renewal, or healing, or fresh insight is encouraged to practice the variety of ways that God grows our lives, from prayer (Lord’s Prayer this sermon series), worship, meditation and Scripture study. We are all on an individual and communal journey to be transformed by Christ!
I came across Calhoun’s Spiritual Disciplines Handbook several years ago and after reading through the disciplines that most interested me--contemplation, meditation, rest, silence, solitude--I began to branch out into some I was not as keen to read on---submission, compassion, humility, surrender, sacrifice. These disciplines/practices take us ‘further up and further in’ to intimacy with God, and as we lean in, we are transformed by the Spirit. There are also many more contemporary disciplines such as mentoring, journaling, unplugging, attentiveness and becoming accountability partners.
There are MANY ways to draw close to God, to know His heart, His mission and participate in His Kingdom. You may have loved the Lord for many years and long to find new ways to pursue Him, alone or with spiritual friends. Perhaps you are ready for a Growth Group that will encourage your faithfulness, or want to learn more about how to pray or just need someone else to listen to your spiritual story of faith. Share your longings with someone in your life, make an appointment with any one of the pastors at PasCov, or invite someone else to join with you in a fresh commitment to offer yourselves lovingly and obediently to God.
And watch to see how He shows up.
Grace and peace,
Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation