Christmas Eve Service Times
Wednesday, December 24: 4, 6 & 11p candlelight service
Childcare available for infant through age 5 at all but the 11p service.

Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.  ISAIAH 42:1-2

“Dad, she hit me.”
“Well, he said I was stupid.”
“You are!”
“Shut-up!”
“Hold it! Both of you. That’s enough!”

I’m not sure when I entered into that particular conversation. I’m not sure which brother-sister or brother-brother combination it involved, specifically (I have two sons and a daughter). I’m not sure who started it. I’m not sure how it got resolved. I’m not sure what any of the innumerable times I’ve had this exact conversation really involved: broken toys, obscured television viewing angles, disrespect. Who knows?

People, it turns out, are magnetically attracted to conflict. A lot of it is superfluous. Usually, it’s born out of moodiness or hunger. Or, moodiness born out of hunger. Some of the time it’s merely one person’s attempt to gain attention. Other times, it involves a mildly insidious and intentional undervaluing of other people. But, there’s always conflict. Always.

When my kids are in conflict, they ask me to step in and help them find a resolution they can’t bring about by their own effort. Though, this is sometimes not the best choice for helping to resolve anything ( I’m also a magnet for conflict. It’s not uncommon for me to exacerbate squabbles between any of my kids by an overreaction that later necessitates my own apology.) The world is a place where grown adults have a hard time acting like responsibly trained kindergarten graduates: calmly displaying understanding, sharing feelings, and seeking resolution. No, the world is crying out too: “Dad!? Help!”

Four times in the writings of Isaiah, someone named “the servant” is featured in extended passages. Some theorize that this servant is a collection of righteous people — faithful Israelites in the midst of exile. Others say that the servant is a reference to a Hebrew prophet like Jeremiah or Isaiah, for example. But, Christians see those servant passages as pointing to one person, Jesus. The way God has chosen to deal with His creation-in-conflict is in a person who comes, not armed with divine weapons wielded in displays of intimidation, but as a “servant.”

That servant came into the world as a baby. In short, the arrival of this long awaited servant in a tiny package is Christmas. Christmas (Jesus) is God’s plan to restore our world. Jesus the one thing we need but can’t give to ourselves. So, this coming week we’ll acknowledge that Christmas isn’t only a time to give gifts, get dressed up, sit with our family, and eat too much (virtually repeating the Thanksgiving table of one month prior). No, we’ll acknowledge (hopefully) that we need Jesus and that He’s the most scandalous and surprising of all things: a servant-savior called “Lord.”

This Sunday, in final preparation for Christmas, Doug Fields will talk about Joy. It will be a great time to rightly orient our own hearts at Jesus this Christmas. Mark your calendars for Christmas eve services: one service where you can lend a hand (there are limited opportunities on the 23rd and more on the 24th) and another that you can plan on attending with invited friends. Merry Christmas.

See you Sunday,
Jeff

Volunteer at our Christmas Eve services and help us bring Christmas to our community! Click here to find out about all of the volunteer opportunities available.

I will sing for joy in God, explode in praise from deep in my soul! He dressed me up in a suit of salvation, he outfitted me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom who puts on a tuxedo and a bride a jeweled tiara. For as the earth bursts with spring wildflowers, and as a garden cascades with blossoms, so the Master, God, brings righteousness into full bloom and puts praise on display before the nations. – ISAIAH 61:10-11 (MSG)

We have a massive advent calendar. It’s wall-sized — no less than eight feet square. It’s the artful combination of a silk-screened Christmas tree on a cotton sheet from IKEA with homemade pocketed enhancements courtesy of Pinterest (the “craft-cult”). Each morning, as you might expect, there are little treats in the calendar pockets and a Bible verse detailing a part of the Christmas story. Yesterday, I had to navigate through this most awkward of all Christmas verses: “But [Joseph] did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son…” I read it quickly so as not to welcome any questions about the significance of what Joseph didn’t do from my eight year old daughter. Rather, mostly out of fearful parenting, I admit, I put the emphasis on what Joseph did do: “And he gave him the name Jesus.”

The name “Jesus” means, roughly, “God rescues.” People at the time of Jesus’ birth were longing for a rescue. They had known captivity and pain. Their parents had known it. Along with their parents’ parents’ parents and so on…  They had felt the sting of cruel and selfish dictators. They were trapped. In exile, God’s people cried out for a time when God’s rescue would arrive. They were certain when God did show up, it would look like a cosmic display of military power. At the outset of God’s rescue, the whole world would be forcibly and rightly reset — the way God intended it. They waited and waited. They were the people of the first advent. Finally, God’s rescue did arrive, but in a surprisingly unmilitary, unsophisticated, gradeurless package — a baby.

But, in all fairness, maybe it (God’s rescue plan) didn’t work. The world isn’t exactly a shining example of peace and harmony, after all. It’s as if God, through Jesus, started a project He decided not to finish. Surely, there have been great things that have happened:  addictions have been broken, greed can mysteriously become generosity, anger curiously can become compassion, backbiting can morph into affirmation, and all the “-isms” that divide people are occasionally overcome in Jesus. But, the world is still the world — often cruel and heartless.

So, we wait. We’ve been waiting. In waiting, we’re no different than the people longing for God’s rescue operation to begin in Jesus. We’re in a different kind of exile. But, we’re longing nonetheless. We’re advent people, advent for the second time. We’re waiting for the day when God completes the work He started as He “brings righteousness into full bloom.” That day will come. It will come when Jesus returns to complete the work He started.

So, how do people-in-waiting live? We live, as one scholar puts it, “in anticipation of God’s intended future.” We get to proclaim God’s good (unfinished) work by living in the reality that will one day be. We are the people of God’s future-world now: compassionate, joyful, selfless, courageous, righteous, peaceful, and clothed in love. That’s how we wait during the season of Advent.

This Sunday, we’ll take a look at the single most important definer of Jesus’ mission on earth in our current message series, “CHRISTMAS IS _________.” We’ll talk about the most compelling feature of Jesus’ ministry. If you’ve been thinking about bringing friends to church, this Sunday, will be ideal. I can’t wait to meet the friends and neighbors you bring.

See you Sunday,
Jeff

Viejo Elementary Christmas Store
Saturday, December 13, 10-1p, Children’s Theater at MCMV
In our continued partnership with Viejo Elementary, we’ll be hosting a Christmas store for families in need. Come serve with us as a store volunteer or in our other stations: gift wrapping, Santa Claus, snacks & crafts.

Find out more at celebratedifferently.org Questions? Contact Maher.

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me…”  MALACHI 3:1 (NIV)

On Friday, immediately after I reset our house from Thanksgiving chaos, folding up card tables, taking out bags of trash, reassembling our sectional, and vacuuming whatever bits of food our labradoodle missed in his efforts to join his family in giving thanks, Amanda asked me to “take down the Christmas stuff from the garage.” Very few things in my life somehow manage to remove joy faster for me than that phrase. I don’t really know why. Maybe it has something to do with standing atop a teetering ladder and reaching into the allergen laced dusty confines of the loft space above the car. Maybe it has something to do with untangling the seemingly unending and impossibly entangled strands of Christmas lights. Maybe it has to do with the discovery that because I broke a bunch of ornaments, glass figurines, or snowflakes either in the previous year’s taking down or in the putting-back-up process, we’ll need to buy more Christmas stuff (Yes, this is about spending money. Yes, I know this is the principal issue facing Ebenezer Scrooge. Bah.).

Christmas takes so much preparation. The exterior of our house is a modest homage to Clark Griswold. We have inflatable eight foot tall figures in our backyard so that we (read: Amanda) can enjoy the lights from inside our house. Along the bannister is a series of homemade construction paper holly leaves and paper chains counting the days until Christmas. Our house is prepared. I’m not sure I am. But, our house is ready to “receive her king.” I have not yet found a way to celebrate. Christmas, thus far, is mostly about more work around the house. Bah.

I need something to get me started at leaning toward celebrating Jesus. The Bible talks about people getting ready for God’s message. I think Amanda and our kids are there. But, I need something that might help me to “prepare him room.” I need the joy that is evidenced in our eight foot Christmas tree (that I insisted be purchased at Costco — it’s the cheapest there is) in all its illuminated regalia. Maybe my heart leading up to Christmas really is “two sizes too small.”

Celebration may be hard for me to come by, but it is what I need. I know it. So, I’m going big. This Sunday night, Mariners MV will host our church’s annual tree lighting in such a contagious and unambiguously joyful way, that my heart (and many others like mine) might be rightly aimed at Christmas — at Jesus. Every year, this event marks the beginning of Christmas for me, personally. It prepares me. I’m not sure whether it’s the ten tons of real snow, the potluck-style chili bar (please contact Kim Alexander if you’d like to contribute your own crock-pot), the live music, our version of the 12-Days of Christmas, or in meeting all the people you’ve invited. But, each year, without fail, my own heart is jump-started into a Jesus-oriented Christmas. I won’t miss it. I need it. I’ll be there on the patio at 5p, chili in hand, getting ready for Christmas.

See you Sunday,
Jeff

Festivities and family fun begins on the patio with a sled run, chili bar, hot cocoa, photo booth, and more. Program in the Worship Center. Bring your favorite pot of homemade chili, help with the photo booth, snow play, or fill in where needed and make this event all it can be for our community. More info, here.

Sun, Dec 7, Festivities begin at 5p
Program at 6p, Mission Viejo Campus, free

Contact Kim to volunteer and to let her know if you’ll be bringing chili.

For a special treat you won’t want to miss download WHAM CITY LIGHTS from the app store before you come!