The Christian Calendar on Expectations

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Dear Lord, We come to you this evening
Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.
Keywords
Scripture

Isaiah 9:2, John 1:4-5, Luke 2:8-14, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Corinthians 13:13, Luke 19:1-10, Philippians 1:6, Matthew 6:33, Luke 10:38-42, Luke 2:11, Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 2:1-12
Dear Lord, We come to you this evening with great expectations. Expectations that your Son Jesus has been born, and that his life is a light for us and all people. We come with expectations that He c...
Quote
Author

Augustine of Hippo
Keywords
Scripture

Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 2:1-12, Luke 1:14, Revelation 22:12, Hebrews 13:8, Galatians 4:4-5, Micah 5:2
Christmas is fast approaching. And now that Christ has aroused our seasonal expectations, he’ll soon fulfill them all!
illustration

Lamont Butler or Bubba Watson?
Author

Dave Peterson
Keywords
Scripture

1 Peter 1:3, Luke 24:1-12, Mark 16:1-8, Matthew 28:1-10, John 11:25-26, John 20:1-18, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 1 Corinthians 15:54-55
Is Easter a Lamont Butler kind of day or a Bubba Watson sort of day? On April 1, 2023, Lamont Butler buried the miracle buzzer-beater that advanced San Diego State to the NCAA national championship g...
liturgy

Almighty God, you have surprised us
Author

Scott B. Bullock
Keywords
Scripture

Isaiah 55:8-9, Matthew 13:44, Lamentations 3:22-23, Psalm 139:7-10, 1 John 1:9, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Luke 2:1-20, John 4:7-26, John 21:1-14, Luke 24:13-35, Matthew 17:1-8, Luke 2:25-38, Luke 1:35-38, Hebrews 13:2, Isaiah 43:19
Almighty God, you have surprised us with your presence in unexpected ways. In the expectations of our routine, we have missed the treasure that you place before us. We come to worship you in community...
Quote
Author

Matthew L. Skinner
Keywords
- Pentecost
- Dreams
Pentecost is an invitation to dream. For when a community of faith quits dreaming dreams, it has little to offer either its members or the wider world. These dreams involve adopting a new perspective ...
liturgy

Lord—we’re so anxious we can’t
Author

Richard Herman
Keywords
Scripture

Isaiah 40:31, Psalm 27:14, Romans 12:2, Matthew 1:23, John 11:25-26, Hebrews 13:3
Lord—we’re so anxious we can’t wait! Some of us can’t wait for Christmas to come, while (honestly) some others of us can’t wait for it to be over. We’re not proud of it—but that’s just the way it is ...
blog

6 Palm Sunday Service Ideas: Processions and Interactive Liturgies
Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.
Keywords
The Sunday before Easter is Palm Sunday, commemorating Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and beginning Holy Week. Even less-liturgical churches often dip a toe into the liturgical waters, distributing palms...
blog

Holy Wednesday | John 13:21-32 | We Are All Judas
Author

Scott B. Bullock
Keywords
Scripture

John 13:21-31
Reflection “I took the money, I spiked your drink, you miss too much these days if you stop to think… waves of regret and waves of joy, I reached out for the one I tried to destroy,” sings Bono of Ju...
Quote
Author

Eugene H. Peterson
Keywords
- Advent
- Past, Present and Future
Scripture

Matthew 1:1
The birth of Jesus Christ is the nerve center of history, a kind of ganglion that connects all the fibers of mankind’s nervous system. His birth brings the past experiences (summarized in Matthew 1:1–...
Quote
Author

Clement of Alexandria
Keywords
Scripture

Hebrews 11:8-10, Luke 1:38, Matthew 21:22 , Isaiah 40:31, Philippians 1:6, James 1:2-4
Faith is a voluntary anticipation.
illustration

Anticipation Lifts the Heart
Author

Luci Shaw
Keywords
Anticipation lifts the heart. Desire is created to be fulfilled – perhaps not all at once, more likely in slow stages. Isaiah uttered his prophetic words about the renewal of the natural Creation into...
Quote
Author

Philip F. Reinders
Keywords
- Advent
Scripture

Romans 8:22-25, Revelation 21:1-4, Psalm 37:7
Advent is a season of expectant waiting, tapping into the sense we have that all is not well, the longing for the world to be made right again. It’s a season for restless hearts and people weary of a ...
Quote
Author

John R. Brokhoff
Keywords
- Advent
Before the hero enters, people anticipate his coming…Who’s coming? What’s his name? What’ll he be like? What’s he going to do?…So kindled are many emotions that good hearts break into song both in hea...
Quote
Author

Will Willimon
Keywords
- Advent
- Eschatology (End Times)
Our lives are eschatologically stretched between the sneak preview of the new world being born among us in the church, and the old world where the principalities and powers are reluctant to give way. ...
Quote
Author

C. S. Lewis and Charles Williams
Keywords
Judgment is at hand, promise of judgment and threat of judgment.... It is the same sort of ambivalence which Christians have been taught to recognize in the season of Advent.
illustration

The Greatest Promise in History
Author

Nancy Guthrie
Keywords
Scripture

Genesis 3:15, Genesis 22:18, 2 Samuel 7:12-13, Isaiah 9:6-7, Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5:2, Habakkuk 2:3, Isaiah 40:31
When someone promises us something wonderful, we can hardly wait for that promise to be fulfilled. If the promise is something good, we want it now! We really don’t like to wait. And yet the very best...
blog

A New Experience of Advent: Thoughts from the Founder's Desk
Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.
Keywords
- Advent
Scripture

Romans 8:28, Philippians 1:6
As I was trying to think of something to write for this weekly email, I began to wonder if living in this season of life actually prepares us to better experience the Advent season. We live in a time...
Quote
Author

Walter Brueggemann
Keywords
- Advent
In our secret yearnings we wait for your coming, and in our grinding despair we doubt that you will. And in this privileged place we are surrounded by witnesses who yearn more than do we and by those ...
Quote
Author

Michelle Blake
Keywords
- Advent
- Waiting
Scripture

John 14:16-17, Matthew 1:23, Isaiah 40:31
One of the essential paradoxes of Advent: that while we wait for God, we are with God all along, that while we need to be reassured of God’s arrival, or the arrival of our homecoming, we are already a...
Quote
Author

Henri J. M. Nouwen
Keywords
- Advent
- Anticipation
The church set aside this four-week pre-Christmas season as a time of spiritual preparation for Christ’s coming. It is a time of quiet anticipation. If Christ is going to come again into our hearts, t...
Quote
Author

Frank Kermode
Keywords
Scripture

Ephesians 1:9-10, Romans 13:11-12, Matthew 13:39-43, Revelation 22:6-7, Luke 21:24-28, 1 Corinthians 10:11, Psalm 98:7-9
Early Christian writing has the ends of the world upon it, hence its emphasis on fulfillment, fullness of time: the shape of the world-plot can now be seen.
Quote
Author

Bernard of Clairvaux
Keywords
Hell is full of good intentions or desires.
blog

A Blessed Christmas to All
Author

The Pastor's Workshop
Keywords
- Christmas Eve
An End to Waiting Advent is all about waiting. But the waiting is almost over. Christmas is almost here. The church is decorated, the songs have been picked, and the prayers selected. The sermon is ...
Quote
Author

Michael Card
Keywords
All we could ever imagine, could ever hope for, He is... He is the Prince of Peace whose first coming has already transformed society but whose second coming will forever establish justice and righteo...
liturgy

In this season of Advent, may you go forth
Author

Austin D. Hill
Keywords
Scripture

Revelation 21:5
In this season of Advent, may you go forth as a person of hope. May your waiting be active, that you might discover the presence of the God who is making all things new. And may the love of God, the ...
liturgy

For those who first went out into the
Author

Ann Siddall
Keywords
- Easter
Scripture

1 Peter 1:3, Luke 24:1-12, Mark 16:1-8, Matthew 28:1-10, John 11:25-26, John 20:1-18, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
For those who first went out into the early dawn, when the sky was grey, taking spices to the tomb, there was terror, and surprise. For us, resisting the impulse to sleep in as part of a long weekend,...
liturgy

Leader: God of HOPE, Your message calls us to let go of our fears
Author

Trinity Lutheran Church, Lisle, Illinois
Keywords
Scripture

Luke 2:1-20, John 1:1-14, Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:18-25, Isaiah 11:1-10
Leader : God of HOPE, Your message calls us to let go of our fears and place our trust in You. Sustain us in Your hope as we await Your coming. We ask for hearts to worship You fully, not only i...
Quote
Author

Asheritah Ciuciu
Keywords
- Advent
- Jesus' Second Coming
Scripture

Isaiah 9:6-7, Matthew 28:18-20, Revelation 1:7
Advent means “coming,” from the Latin word adventus, and demarks a season of expectantly preparing to celebrate the first coming of Jesus, while eagerly awaiting His second coming to establish His kin...
Quote
Author

N. T. Wright
Keywords
- Easter
Easter was when Hope in person surprised the whole world by coming forward from the future into the present.
Quote
Author

Malcom Guite
Keywords
Most of us are under pressure, external and internal, to do everything, be good at everything, be accountable to everyone for everything! It is not so. In the divine economy each of us has a particula...