the weekly sermon podcast of The Grove Church – a diverse Presbyterian community in the heart of the Hickory Grove neighborhood in Charlotte, North Carolina
Tonight we gather to worship on Christmas Eve, the most sacred night of the year, to rejoice in the marginless nature of God’s love and salvation. Come and hear. Rejoice in the good news: our God has come to bring us boundless love, forgiveness, peace, and joy.
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Scripture: Luke 1:26-38
This Sunday we light the fourth Advent candle for love and turn to the story at the heart of this season. I know everyone focuses on the babe in the manger, the shepherds, and angels and all the glorious details of the birth, but hidden in the quiet months of waiting before the birth there was a conversation that changed everything. Scholars, artists, and poets call that moment the annunciation–the time an angel of the Lord appeared to an ordinary young girl and told her who she was in the eyes of the Lord and asked her to yield her life, her very flesh, to the Holy Spirit and bear the Christ child into the world.
Before there was the birth, there was a moment when God asked a question and waited for an answer and the story of salvation hinged on her reply.
This is a story we return to year after year, because it is not just Mary’s story. Because the story of every believer includes an annunciation. God comes to each of us–man, woman and child–to tell us who we are in the eyes of the Lord and to invite us to yield our whole selves to the power of the Holy Spirit so that we too can bear Christ into the world. Jesus is still born among us when we say yes to the impossible invitation of incarnation.
I hope you will join me as we listen deeply to Mary’s annunciation in order to hear our own.
Peace,
Pastor Kate
Want to chat about what you have heard? Click here: https://www.thegrovecharlotte.org/connect-with-us
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Scripture: Zephaniah 3:17
Dear Church,
This Sunday we light the candle for Joy on the Advent wreath–and we will hear the words the prophet Zephaniah speaks over us:
The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.
Come and hear the song of comfort and love God is singing over you, over us, this Sunday. I hope you will join me for our Christmas Cantata. There will be singing and dancing, scripture and psalm and so, so–so–much joy.
Peace,
Pastor Kate
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Scripture: Matthew 3:1-12 & Matthew 12:15-24
Dear Church,
The prophet Isaiah foretold the coming of the messiah and described to the people the one they were waiting for:
he will proclaim justice to the nations.
He will not quarrel or cry out;
No one will hear his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he has brought justice through to victory.
In his name the nations will put their hope
There is a lot about Jesus that confuses and offends us. He refuses to meet our expectations. He consistently does the very opposite of what we expect. Instead of saving us by erasing what is weak and imperfect, instead of tearing out bruised reeds and smashing smoldering wicks, instead of destroying our enemies, Jesus saves…tenderly.
It is the tenderness of Jesus that redeems us. It is in the tenderness of Jesus that we have hope.
Peace,
Pastor Kate
Want to chat about what you have heard? Click here:
https://www.thegrovecharlotte.org/connect-with-us
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