For this Advent and Christmastide, we are deepening into the question of How Does a Weary World Rejoice? You can follow along with daily devotionals on our Facebook and Instagram pages.
Worship this Sunday, January 7, is in Willett Hall, while our Sanctuary is being painted. Please check our website and emails about the status of worship in light of the coming snow storm.
We began this series by acknowledging our weariness and we conclude with trusting our belovedness; ultimately, our joy is rooted in the fact that we belong to God.
In the story of Jesus’ baptism (Luke 3:15-22), the heavens part open and the voice of God wraps Jesus in joy and loving care, saying “You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness.”
Have you ever heard anyone say something like that to you? Or have you said it yourself to one of your beloved? What would it be like for you to hear God saying that to you? How did it make you feel? How does it make you feel to remember it?
The older I get, I realize how essential a deep sense of belovedness is for our self-esteem and claiming our place in the world. Our faith, as taught by Jesus, reiterates that we are beloved, we belong, we are worthy. And yet, many of us have gotten the opposite message from our families, our culture, our own internal critics.
On Sunday, we’re going to sink into this sense of divine Belovedness — how it’s always there for us to claim and live into.
In faith,
Kent
Image credit: “Beloved” by Lauren Wright Pittman, Inspired by Luke 3:21-22, Digital painting and collage. © a sanctified art | sanctifiedart.org
