Listen in as we welcome Rev. Samuel Caraballo, who shares his heart on how gloriously God meets us in our journeys, just as God did for those who sought out Jesus from far away so long ago.
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The Glorious Impossible // Christmas: Holiness Invading the Ordinary // Kate Murphy
Mary—a young, poor virgin of no particular importance or pedigree—is selected by God to give birth to the messiah. And when this messiah comes, he doesn’t come through any of the expected channels. He is not born to wealth or a family the country would perceive as honorable or important.
And, yet, in spite of the unlikeliness and sheer impossibility, Mary says yes to the glory.
But she isn’t responsible for accomplishing anything. She is simply given the gift of allowing God to keep his promises within her flesh.
In this, our hearts can learn that our role isn’t to execute the glorious impossible; our role is simply to look for it, opening our lives to God manifesting his glory in us.
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The Glorious Impossible // Advent: Believing in Things That Can’t Be Stopped // Kate Murphy
Our Advent theme this year is The Glorious Impossible because that is what comes with the birth of Jesus—a hope, a peace, a joy, and love that we believed weren’t possible. This impossible goodness is the glory of God—and it is for us, not against us. We don’t have to earn it or make it, God is already lavishly pouring out his presence into our lives. But we do have the power to reject it. That’s the choice Zechariah made…you can read about it here.
God sent an angel to announce the glorious and impossible thing He was about to do in Zechariah’s life. His response?
“No way.”
He simply couldn’t accept that God would be that good to him. I hope you’ll listen in and find out what stopped—and what couldn’t be stopped—after Zechariah said no to God’s Glorious Impossible. We need to know, because God is still alive and manifesting gloriously impossible things in the world.
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The Glorious Impossible // Advent: Refusing to Settle for What’s Easy to Understand // Kate Murphy
Years ago, artist and author Madeleine L’Engle coined a beautiful phrase that describes the incarnation. “The birth of Jesus,” she writes, “is a glorious impossible. It cannot be explained, it can only be rejoiced in.”
So the question for us becomes how do we embrace and celebrate the glorious impossible? How do we reconcile impossibility come by the glory of Christ’s birth? How do we believe in the truth that God promises the impossible and that it is a good and glorious impossible?
The prophet Isaiah’s prophecy declared that there would come a messiah—a righteous king who would rule with justice and power and goodness. He prophesied that under this new king reality would shift. That, “the lion and lamb would lay together”—all so impossible and glorious that it cannot be explained. It can only be rejoiced in.
Listen in to the message from this Sunday as we celebrate Advent—this season that invites us to relive the anticipation and wait for the birth of our savior. We rejoice in the glorious truth that Jesus’ coming far exceeds our understanding of what is possible.
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