Appointed Times, Christmas, Holidays, Gospel, F-SP, Eden, Creation
Charles Blair
Messy Christmas: Stepping into God’s Story

The Christmas story is often wrapped in sentimentality—soft lights, serene nativity scenes, and cozy traditions. Yet, the reality of the first Christmas is strikingly different. It’s messy, disruptive, and deeply transformative. From Mary’s scandalous “yes” to God, to the chaos of a birth in a stable, the story invites us to step into the unfolding work of redemption.

Mary’s encounter with the angel Gabriel was not a moment of comfort but a call to trust and surrender amidst uncertainty. Her obedience echoes the creation story, where God brought order out of chaos, and reminds us that redemption often unfolds in the messiness of life.

This Christmas, as we reflect on Mary’s faith, may we recognize that God is still working through the chaos of our lives. Like Mary, we’re invited to say “yes” to God’s story—a story that transforms mess into meaning, bringing light and life to a broken world.

Messy Christmas: Stepping into God’s Story
Appointed Times, The Lord's Feasts, Tradition
Charles Blair
Jesus @ Hanukkah

"As Christmas and Hanukkah align this year, explore their profound connection. Discover how Hanukkah's Festival of Lights commemorates God's faithfulness and how Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus, the Light of the World. Together, they shine a powerful message of hope, redemption, and divine light breaking through darkness."

Jesus @ Hanukkah
Apocalypse, Bible Study, Calendar, Time, The Lord's Feasts, Moedim, Tradition
Charles Blair
Tradition: The Struggle Between the Old and the ...

Teshuvah: A 40-day journey of self-examination and repentance, preparing hearts for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Tradition: The Struggle Between the Old and the New, and an Invitation to Rediscover Teshuvah
Bible Study, Apocalypse, Old Testament, Purpose, Imago Dei, God's Plan, Tabernacle, Eden
Charles Blair
Making Man - The Purpose of the Image of God

The Genesis account is often read as an origins story. And that it is. As an origins story, it retells the ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian myths couched in the god stories of the ancients. It corrects those accounts and reveals the One God who has always been the primal cause but whose priority has been let to drift in the memory of His creation. His creation had written its own counterfeit stories. Even yet, these myth stories had echoes of truth that God would now re-reveal to His Israelite prodigies on their way to inherit a promise He had set for them from the beginning.

Making Man - The Purpose of the Image of God
Apocalypse, Calendar
Charles Blair
Time: The Apocalyptic Fall Feasts

In the annual progression of the Feasts, we observe a dramatic pause between the first three feasts and Pentecost. This interlude heightens the significance of the first four Feasts, which collectively commemorate Israel's miraculous redemption from Egyptian bondage by God's unmerited grace. They also foretell of a time when this same redemption would be offered to all the nations of the earth when the Lamb of God will reveal the meaning of the first Passover's lamb.

Time: The Apocalyptic Fall Feasts

Holidays

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Messy Christmas: Stepping into God’s Story

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Messy Christmas: Stepping into God’s Story

The Christmas story is often wrapped in sentimentality—soft lights, serene nativity scenes, and cozy traditions. Yet, the reality of the first Christmas is strikingly different. It’s messy, disruptive, and deeply transformative. From Mary’s scandalous “yes” to God, to the chaos of a birth in a stable, the story invites us to step into the unfolding work of redemption.

Mary’s encounter with the angel Gabriel was not a moment of comfort but a call to trust and surrender amidst uncertainty. Her obedience echoes the creation story, where God brought order out of chaos, and reminds us that redemption often unfolds in the messiness of life.

This Christmas, as we reflect on Mary’s faith, may we recognize that God is still working through the chaos of our lives. Like Mary, we’re invited to say “yes” to God’s story—a story that transforms mess into meaning, bringing light and life to a broken world.

 
 

LOOKING AT scripture from a first-sentence perspective.