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Matthew 2:13–23
Sermon
Today the magic is over. Today is the first day of the real holidays at this time of year. There will be thousands, even millions of people across Canada rushing to worship at the altars of Wal Mart, Zellers, The Bay, Sears and more.
All that magic at Christmas, is as easily returned as a faulty watch or an unwanted pair of socks. Boxing Day, or Week, or whatever the tag line is, is a sobering reminder about how quickly the world forgets yesterday and moves on to what is more important today.
And the reality is, being out shopping seems a lot more normal than what we are doing here. In fact, we haven’t done anything in step with the rest of the world for quite a few weeks now.
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Matthew 1:18-25
Sermon
Nelly had volunteered to direct the Christmas pageant at her church, or rather she was only one who hadn’t immediately said no when asked by the church council. Nelly was busy enough this Christmas, but she decided that if she was going to do it, she would do the pageant right.
On the day of the first practice, she only had half the number of people she hoped for. But she decided to make due.
To the men she gave the roles of shepherds and magi. The women would be the angels. The little kids would be the animals. But for Mary and Joseph she only had one option for each. There was gangly teenage boy named Josh who simply didn’t seem like a magi or shepherd and quiet teenage girl named Grace who was dressed like a goth punk and who could not look more out of place and uncomfortable in a church.
“This will not do at all” Nelly told herself. “Maybe I can find a better looking Mary and Joseph before next week”. For that first day however, Nelly dressed up these two out of place teens, and put them next to the manger. Josh could hardly see his lines because his hair was in his eyes, and Grace’s black eyeliner was so distracting, that the angels and shepherds giggled and whispered with each other every time she spoke.
At the end of the practice, Nelly was determined that she was not going to let these unsuitable kids ruin her pageant.
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Matthew 11:2-11
Sermon
“Are you the One? Or are we to wait for another?”
The Globe and Mail published an article on Friday with the headline: Canada Marching away from religion to secularization. The article states that 40 years ago, 1 percent of Canadians labeled themselves as non-religious. Today, that number is 23 precent. Nearly, one in four people. Even more sombre a statistic. Only 22 percent of young adults, aged 15-29 consider themselves religious. That means about 1 in 5 young adults. Yet strangely, 80 percent of Canadians believe in God.
The article also points to the fact that religious literacy is decreasing. Many young Canadians simply have no idea what Christianity, faith, or God is about. Their parents stopped attending church, and therefore raised children who have no idea what church really is.
Read the whole thing …(Sermons Archive)
Our Christmas services this year will be:
Christmas Eve 7PM Sunday School, 9PM Holy Communion
Christmas Day 10:30AM Holy Communion
December 26th 10:30AM Lessons and Carols
St. Matthew’s in Spruce Grove will be hosting a soup supper and Evening Prayer every Wednesday in Advent starting a 6PM. All are welcome. Remaining Wednesdays are December 8th, 15th, and 22nd.
Matthew 3:1-12
Sermon
We are living in an Advent time. Each one of us here at St. John, Lutherans in Alberta, Christians in Canada, the world wide Church. We are all living in an Advent moment. We have been in an Advent moment for years now. It is a moment of restlessness, a moment of questions, a moment of uncertainty. Christianity in the western world undergoing an enormous change. How things will turn out and what the future will look like is unclear.
With congregations shrinking, and more and more people choosing other places to be than church on Sunday morning, we who are left, wonder where this is all going? We ask ourselves if society has lost its moral compass? We wonder what will make people care about us? We look for some new program or idea to be what will turn a sinking ship around. Christians are asking themselves a question that we didn’t dare think about even 10 years ago. How long can we last?
The people of Israel were living in an Advent moment too. They were restless for change, and they were searching for answers. By the droves, people went out to John to see what he would have to say. They were hoping for something. Something that would give them hope and something that would change their life circumstance.
And what they found in the wilderness was John the Baptist. Away from the temple, away from the towns, away from the markets, away from everything, they found John preaching at the river. John preached about repentance and baptized those who were seeking life changes. John warned his listeners of what was to come, of judgement and danger.
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