Christmastide

Before we move on from Christmas, we want to intentionally celebrate the incarnation of Christ. In the historical church calendar, the short season for this observance is called Christmastide, running from Christmas Day on December 25 till January 5.

 

Highlands: Love for a Self-Centered World

Our world is weary. We’re weary from the pain of a pandemic. We’re weary from the divisions that have ripped through our society and our relationships. We’ve been weary since the fall of man and we feel weariness on this particular day. The season of Advent (the four weeks leading up to Christmas) creates a space to be honest about this weariness. To feel the dissonance. To sit in the tension. But it doesn’t leave us there. Advent is also a time when we look to Jesus as the one who took on flesh in this weary world to secure the promise of a better future: a future where the disillusioned can have hope, where the divided can find peace, where the suffering can experience joy, and where the self-centered and outraged can know love.

 

Highlands: Joy for a Suffering World

Our world is weary. We’re weary from the pain of a pandemic. We’re weary from the divisions that have ripped through our society and our relationships. We’ve been weary since the fall of man and we feel weariness on this particular day. The season of Advent (the four weeks leading up to Christmas) creates a space to be honest about this weariness. To feel the dissonance. To sit in the tension. But it doesn’t leave us there. Advent is also a time when we look to Jesus as the one who took on flesh in this weary world to secure the promise of a better future: a future where the disillusioned can have hope, where the divided can find peace, where the suffering can experience joy, and where the self-centered and outraged can know love.

 

Highlands: Peace in a Divided World

Our world is weary. We’re weary from the pain of a pandemic. We’re weary from the divisions that have ripped through our society and our relationships. We’ve been weary since the fall of man and we feel weariness on this particular day. The season of Advent (the four weeks leading up to Christmas) creates a space to be honest about this weariness. To feel the dissonance. To sit in the tension. But it doesn’t leave us there. Advent is also a time when we look to Jesus as the one who took on flesh in this weary world to secure the promise of a better future: a future where the disillusioned can have hope, where the divided can find peace, where the suffering can experience joy, and where the self-centered and outraged can know love.

 

Highlands: Hope in a Disillusioned World

Our world is weary. We’re weary from the pain of a pandemic. We’re weary from the divisions that have ripped through our society and our relationships. We’ve been weary since the fall of man and we feel weariness on this particular day. The season of Advent (the four weeks leading up to Christmas) creates a space to be honest about this weariness. To feel the dissonance. To sit in the tension. But it doesn’t leave us there. Advent is also a time when we look to Jesus as the one who took on flesh in this weary world to secure the promise of a better future: a future where the disillusioned can have hope, where the divided can find peace, where the suffering can experience joy, and where the self-centered and outraged can know love.

 

Highlands: Matthew 12:24–43—Weeds, Mustard, Leaven

We are in Part IV of our ongoing series in the book of Matthew. In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus is inviting us into a whole new way of life with a new set of values and a new type of community. Really, it’s a whole new Kingdom that is being established right here and right now in the middle of this world. And compared to some of the prevailing values of our culture, it’s a bit of an “upside down Kingdom.” It’s a Kingdom where the outcasts are welcomed, the humble are honored, enemies are loved, the poor are esteemed, strangers are befriended, and the guilty are forgiven. It’s a Kingdom where the King is enthroned on a cross, His victory comes through His death, and His death gives life to the world.

 

Highlands: Matthew 13:1–23—The Sower & the Seeds

We are in Part IV of our ongoing series in the book of Matthew. In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus is inviting us into a whole new way of life with a new set of values and a new type of community. Really, it’s a whole new Kingdom that is being established right here and right now in the middle of this world. And compared to some of the prevailing values of our culture, it’s a bit of an “upside down Kingdom.” It’s a Kingdom where the outcasts are welcomed, the humble are honored, enemies are loved, the poor are esteemed, strangers are befriended, and the guilty are forgiven. It’s a Kingdom where the King is enthroned on a cross, His victory comes through His death, and His death gives life to the world.