Epiphany Begins Today!

Hello friends! 

I am excited to see you all and start meeting again. Here is the game plan:

1. We are going to continue meeting on Wednesday nights this semester at 7:45. 

2. I'd like to start ASAP, so this week! That'll be January 11. 

3. This semester we cover a lot of awesome stuff: Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Pentecost, Ordinary Time. Buckle up!

We will talk about this much more extensively, but I wanted to give a short introduction to the season of Epiphany. The Feast of Epiphany is today (January 6th). This kicks off a 4-9 week season of Epiphany; the length fluctuates based on the date of Easter, which determines the date of Ash Wednesday, which determines the length of Epiphany. 

The season of Epiphany focuses on the Manifestation of Christ. In other words, it focuses on 1) Christ's manifestation of his identity and mission in the Gospels, and on 2) our manifestation of Christ in the world through witness. 

The four primary texts for this season are 1) the visit of the wise men, 2) the baptism of Jesus, 3) the wedding in Cana, and 4) the Transfiguration.

Christ is the light of the world. We are stars shining in the world, testifying to the light. 

This year, we will have four or five small groups during Epiphany, and I am working on what I want to talk about. But one thing is for sure: It will be Jesus (Gospels) focused with implications for how we manifest Christ in the world. 

In Advent we waited. 

In Christmas he came.

In Epiphany he works; and we tell about him!

Here are some ways that you could prepare for our discussions:

1) read the Epiphany chapter in the Bobby Gross book

2) read through a Gospel account

3) prayerfully consider in a new way what it means to be a witness

I'll see you all in less than a week!

Captivating My Thoughts

One of my new years resolutions kind of snuck up on me. There has been a variety of ways God communicated my need to captivate my thoughts. It began as just something I heard as a sermon, then something I read in my devotions, and finally with a few opportunities that arose to put my learning into practice.

Sin never sleeps. Sin is looking for someone to devour. It is obvious in our world that sin is hungry and won't stop consuming those who let it. Yet, we must learn to take off our wallpaper in our minds of lies that we find ourselves enslaved in and learn how to wallpaper new walls of truth. This is war for our souls. The war has begun, and I have seen plenty of opportunities in my own life. Yet, we know he has won the war already. We know we have hope in Christ who will always protect and love us.

I have been encouraged through opportunities that have presented themselves to captivate my thoughts of lies and replace them with truth. I'm trying to figure out a productive way to do this well but those are where my thoughts are heading for this year.