The First Wednesday in Advent (pdf Slides) - To follow the slides with the service, click on the words "pdf Slides." It will open a new tab. Follow the slides as the service streams below. You may also open two windows to view the slides and service at the same time.
The M3 - Monday Morning Mail for the First Wednesday in Advent
"Hope"
I began last night's sermon with the above image of a tree covered in toilet paper. I retold the story of going teepeeing at the age of 8-9 with my friends for my birthday. We piled into my parents' 1979 Jeep Wagoneer–ocean blue with a wood panel down the side. When I suggested to my parents this is what my friends and I wanted to do, they expressed concern about the response of the parents' of the girls whose houses we would teepee. So, they contacted them, my dad working with the dad of one girl, and my sister being friends with the sister of the other girl. We then proceeded to each house. It was great fun–a lot of giggling. In both cases, we had to run back to the getaway car–my dad sitting in the Wagoneer down the street. The Jeep was our safe place.
I then told the story of Rahab and the two spies that Joshua sends into the land. In this story there is hiding, pursuing, and fleeing, too. The spies hide under the flax on Rahab's roof. The people of Jericho pursue after the spies into the hills, after being "misguided" by Rahab. The spies flee. Yet, the power of the account is that Rahab the prostitue becomes part of Jesus' lineage as Mt 1:5 tells us. The spies assure her that she and her family will not be killed but spared, when the Israelites take the city. RAHAB THE PROSTITUTE is saved. From a prostitute, the Savior of the world comes, and he welcomes her into his people–like you and me! That gives us hope today, tomorrow, and always!