Advent 2013: Days 1 and 2

Yesterday I began the Advent photo-a-day challenge. This is the list:


I am posting the pictures to facebook, but wanted to take some time as well to think more deeply about each word, and explain why I did the pictures I did.  So here is day 1 and 2...

Day 1: Go


It all sounds so cliche.  Church is not a building, it's a people.  The real work of church takes place outside of the building.  Yet there is usually some truth to cliches, and these are no exceptions.  This time of year particularly it seems easy to get caught up in the busy-ness of church, and our own lives.  But we need to take the time to shift our focus outside of ourselves and see the needs of others around us.  And we need to GO outside the church to meet people where they are.  At a youth conference a few weeks ago the theme was John 13:35, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."  


Day 2: Bound

This one was harder for me.  I thought about lots of different possibilities, but this is what I ended up doing:


See the thing about being bound is that there are many things we can be bound to.  Some of them are good and help us.  For example, we need to be bound to God.  But there are many things that we become bound to that are not healthy.  This time of year the easiest thing to think of is our stuff.  I am working part time at Easton this holiday season, and I have already seen first hand many holiday shoppers.  And I am not saying that giving gifts is bad.  I have already started my Christmas shopping as well.  But we need to keep in mind what we are binding ourselves to - and those whom we give the gifts.  Are we bound to our stuff?  And the other - which is what I considered doing as my picture - are we tying ourselves to lots of debt through our credit cards?  God has offered to set us free from that which binds us if we choose bind ourselves to him instead.  And that is where we find true freedom.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In need of ideas...

So today it is 45 days until my 30th birthday... or as I have referred to it sometimes, the 1st anniversary of my 29th birthday. But the 6th graders found that confusing and thought it meant I was 58, so that was not ideal... Anyway, the point behind bring all this up is I want to come up with a list of 30 things to accomplish in the 30 days leading up to my birthday. It works out well because exactly 30 days before my birthday is the quarter marathon. Other things already on the list are party like I'm 29, and moving to my new apartment. I took the plunge and joined pinterest today, so I have also been getting ideas there, though I have not started my goal list yet. Some thoughts I have from pinterest include trying a new recipe and creating some of my own art work. But I need more ideas - so let's brainstorm! What ideas do you have?
Read more

"Don't let me become an elephant"

Image
I am in love with the new Tenth Avenue North single, "Losing."  If you haven't heard it yet, I highly recommend checking it out. This part particularly sticks out to me:  "Why do we think that hate's gonna change their heart? We're up in arms over wars that don't need to be fought But pride won't let us lay our weapons on the ground We build our bridges up, but just to burn them down We think pain is owed apologies and then it'll stop But truth be told it doesn't matter if they're sorry or not Freedom comes when we surrender to the sound Of Mercy and Your Grace, Father, send Your angels down (singin') Oh, Father, won't you forgive them? They don't know what they've been doing (oh, no) Oh, Father, give me grace to forgive them Cause I feel like the one losing I feel like I've been losing" (Emphasis mine) After my blog post the other day, I was thinking about what we, as the church, are doing.
Read more

Compassion

Matthew 9:36-38 When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Today I am beginning the 30 hour famine. I get to eat lunch, and then I will not have anything but juice and gum until tomorrow at dinner. Considering the craving to simply nibble I have had the past week, that will likely be quite challenging, though the fact that I will be kept busy will certainly help. The point of the 30 hour famine is to give the kids the experience of what it is like to be hungry as they raise money to help the hungry. And the point I always emphasize to them, is that they always know there is an end point - we will have a delicious meal of baked pasta at 6pm on Saturday. The people we are trying to help, those who are actually without food, t
Read more