Pastor Tom's Journal

  Malachi 3:16-4:6 Then those who revered the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord took note and listened, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who revered the Lord and thought on his name. They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, my special possession on the day when I act, and I will spare them as parents spare their children who serve them. Then once more you shall see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says ...

I had a terrible night of dreaming. I can usually resolve my dreams to some extent, as I dream them, and then wake up with some sort of peace. It was time to get up and all I felt was a sense of longing to get it resolved. As it turned out, that sense of longing was the missing piece to bring what I thought was my well -prepared sermon together this morning. That sense of longing was unifying them. The first Sunday of Advent. There will be signs, All of our Christian holidays and calendars were created by human beings who were longing for God, for meaning, for community, and for some sort of order in their thinking. They are based upon the Bible and written revelation, but they are not mandated, and they are not essential to the faith. You can practice them, disagree about how to practice them, experiment with them, or ignore them completely and still be a Christian, but they are useful tools for meditating on meaning , for gathering as community, , for ordering our thoughts and teach...