Who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this? Esther 4:14 (NIV) In a time of such unprecedented crisis and cataclysmic change, everything looks unclear. Things we were so sure of last week – our schedules, our methods, our finances – have suddenly been thrown into a […]
Tag: church
Sudden crises have a way of clarifying long-running debates. The essential nature of whatever is at stake tends to become obvious when we are forced to confront it without the haze of extraneous distractions or details. This moment in time is no different. As the current outbreak of the COVID-19 virus sweeps across the country, […]
A church here in our community (not pictured above) advertises “Ashes To-Go,” a drive-thru exercise in minimalism when it comes to approaching Lent. I am not criticizing our neighbors in the least, they are observing the season according to their own custom. I just won’t be emulating them. Lent is an ancient tradition observed throughout […]
As a part of our current message series on “Life with Family”, we’ve acknowledged that families come in many different shapes and sizes. They are continuously changing as seasons of life unfold. Even nuclear families change as kids get older, go off to college, and, eventually, leave the nest to start their own families. Increasingly, […]
We are fast approaching the end of January, the time of year when the new resolutions and routines we started are beginning to seem just a little bit tedious. Maybe you just started noticing a little dust on the new exercise bike you got for Christmas or your wallet is feeling a little lighter even […]
We just started a new series for this new year about something that shapes a huge portion of our behavior and identity – though we don’t always know it. Our habits operate below the surface, quietly automating our lives, sometimes unbeknownst to us. It’s an especially timely series, given the multitude of resolutions we make […]
This week brings the decade to a close, and that brings reflection on what has passed. Such reflection is especially worthwhile for us at Nativity because this has been such a consequential period. While I could easily fill many lists with the important reasons for such unprecedented health and growth at our parish, here are […]
This year marks our 15th celebration of Christmas Eve at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. Each year has looked a little different but, over time, a true tradition has emerged from what was once an audacious experiment. A tradition that many of our parishioners have grown to cherish. There are many dedicated devotees out there who […]
This week we begin one of my very favorite seasons of the year. To mark the season we are launching a new message series called “Light,” all about … light, which will also be the theme of our Christmas Eve celebration this year. As an Advent gift to our parishioners, we are distributing a little […]
Let us come before the LORD with thanksgiving. Psalm 95 This week we celebrated Stewardship Sunday, reflecting on the blessing our parish is to our members and in the life of the community. As part of the celebration, we invited members and “regulars” to make a financial commitment to the parish for 2020. And I […]
