God makes us pure saints by planting us back in the earth we imagined we needed to escape.
Salvation is not merely to be put in “safety” but to be put into Christ.
Bringing your family to church to receive “the one thing needful” (Luke 10:42) in Word and Sacrament honors and pleases God.

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The Lord did for Hannah what he loves to do: he shifted everything into reverse, making the bottom the top and the top the bottom.
However knowledgeable you may become by reading Buddha or compassionate after following Gandhi, you will never find forgiveness in anyone else other than Christ alone.
The world rushes forward, lighting up screens and decking out storefronts in a mad sprint toward the next thing, but Advent pulls us back.
In Scripture, laments are raw expressions of grief, but they always point to hope. What if our culture’s obsession with holiday lights is an unconscious way of crying out, “We need good news, and we need it now”?
Below is an excerpt from the personal devotional included in this year’s 1517 Advent Resources.
In the Bible, we meet the God who also does not prance around naked as a jaybird.
When you see the year ending, thank the Lord, because he had led you into this cycle of years.
Christ’s birth, he shows us, is entangled with human pride and sin, which is overcome by God’s love.
Basil the Great (330-379) gives a brief meditation on the Incarnation
What’s the big deal about Jesus’ name?
I didn’t see Christmas as a gift given to me to enjoy, I saw Christmas as a long list of expectations I needed to hold up to love those around me.
Can you imagine Christmas from creation’s point of view?