• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Stephanie J Thompson

exploring sacred connections with God and each otherr

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Mental Health Resources
  • Speaking

Unwrapping the Gifts of Christmas…Hope

January 6, 2016 by Stephanie Leave a Comment

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin

christmas
Every year, the pastor of our church brings the humorous, yet truthful, reminder that our home nativity scenes should not include the wisemen until after Christmas. Oh….but it’s so tempting to put them there. We grew up with that image of that original birth scene in our heads (nevermind the fact that “three” is never the number of wisemen mentioned in the Bible nor did they look Caucasian but that’s for another blog…)  Realistically, they could not have travelled quickly enough on their animals to have made it just in time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. And that little detail is actually significant.  Because, if  the celebration of Jesus’ birth was simply a birthday party, the hoopla would have ceased by the next day.  But…this wasn’t just any ordinary birth.  It was one that drew the attention of his immediate family, the Jews who heard rumors of the circumstances surrounding his birth, scholars of astronomy, and even put fear into King Herod. This baby signified a hope; a fulfillment of promises told to generation after generation. A restoration between God and his people.  In other words: Hope.
The verse that I have been reflecting on in the past two blogs is from Romans 15:13.  I reflected on the gifts of Joy and Peace that are found in the life that we celebrate; the source of “Christmas.” These words from Romans are an exhortation/blessing from Paul to the early church as they experienced tension adjusting to their blended cultural views.  But they are also Paul’s words to us.

As we unwrap the gifts of joy and peace, we will overflow with hope.

This hope is not only attainable, it’s eternal. The joy and peace we experience signals to us that Christ is living in us. That joy (which is carried for us) and the peace (which comes from within us) results in a hope in a God whom promises to abide with us forever.  And it’s a gift from the One who is Hope.  Trusting in this God of hope is what led the wisemen to endure rugged terrain in order to behold the promised arrival of the Savior (as promised in Isaiah 9:2, 6-8.)

Our God of Hope came to Earth as a baby to exude hope through all peoples, all times and all places.  ALL.

13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit (NLT)

 
 
standard-nativity-set-gfm010
 
 
 
 
 
 

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin

Filed Under: Sacred Connections Tagged With: Christmas, gifts, hope, Jesus

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

When my first child was born 20 plus years ago, I envisioned taking just a few years off from my role as Pastor of Youth and Family. While that didn’t exactly unfold as expected, God used my gifts and skills in other ways. Read More…

Member of Redbud Writers Guild

Follow me!

Follow me!
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Never Miss a Post

Top Posts

  • Recognizing the Need to Breathe Fresh Air into Others
    Recognizing the Need to Breathe Fresh Air into Others

s2thomp

Oh my goodness! I made red lobster biscuits as a l Oh my goodness! I made red lobster biscuits as a loaf! So good!
Lena ( who is vegan) prepared an herbed butter roa Lena ( who is vegan) prepared an herbed butter roasted turkey. We collaborated on vegan side dishes including rolls (amazing!), sauteed green beans with shallots, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes and of course dessert. Thankful for her culinary coaching and help today. How is your Thansgiving?
My recent reads. Three female authors who expanded My recent reads. Three female authors who expanded my recognition of the character of God and what it means to belong to the bold sisterhood of image bearers. I long to have their words coursing through my veins at all times.
“Are these good for baking?” asked the man sha “Are these good for baking?” asked the man sharing space in front of the bin of potatoes. I had navigated around the maze of vegetable stands in the produce department of the grocery store on a Saturday afternoon, and arrived here at this moment. As I looked up, he continued, “I’m new to this.”

 I answered his question, my mind reeling with the scenarios playing out in his life right now. He appeared in his 60’s. Did his spouse recently die? Divorce? “Sure. These are what I use. There is another bin over with more,” I replied as I pointed away from where we stood. 

My answer felt inadequate to what was conveyed seconds before. But it is what he needed. Humanity. A recognition that we see and hear each others as companions in this place wrought with both beauty and pain.

As he parted, he thanked me and I remembered: I have encountered this situation before. Another time in a different store, an elderly man asked me where to find an item and commented that he had never done the grocery shopping before. I walked away wishing I could do more than identify an aisle.

These encounters remind me that “we are all walking each other home.” At anytime, any one of us is harboring invisible struggles. None of us is immune to the realities that we live in a place this side of Heaven. 

But we have the opportunity to offer grace and love in the most ordinary of moments. We share out of what has been given to us. It’s not ours to hoard.

Read more: https://stephaniejthompson.com/2020/10/27/seeking-gods-transformation-of-our-interactions-with-others/  #graceupongrace #sacredconnections. #loveyourneighbor
Follow on Instagram
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: API requests are being delayed for this account. New posts will not be retrieved.

Log in as an administrator and view the Instagram Feed settings page for more details.

My Tweets

Archives

Categories

  • Advent
  • Easter
  • five minute friday
  • Help! This was not in the book!
  • Sacred Connections

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 5 other subscribers

Footer

Portfolio

s2thomp

Oh my goodness! I made red lobster biscuits as a l Oh my goodness! I made red lobster biscuits as a loaf! So good!
Lena ( who is vegan) prepared an herbed butter roa Lena ( who is vegan) prepared an herbed butter roasted turkey. We collaborated on vegan side dishes including rolls (amazing!), sauteed green beans with shallots, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes and of course dessert. Thankful for her culinary coaching and help today. How is your Thansgiving?
My recent reads. Three female authors who expanded My recent reads. Three female authors who expanded my recognition of the character of God and what it means to belong to the bold sisterhood of image bearers. I long to have their words coursing through my veins at all times.
“Are these good for baking?” asked the man sha “Are these good for baking?” asked the man sharing space in front of the bin of potatoes. I had navigated around the maze of vegetable stands in the produce department of the grocery store on a Saturday afternoon, and arrived here at this moment. As I looked up, he continued, “I’m new to this.”

 I answered his question, my mind reeling with the scenarios playing out in his life right now. He appeared in his 60’s. Did his spouse recently die? Divorce? “Sure. These are what I use. There is another bin over with more,” I replied as I pointed away from where we stood. 

My answer felt inadequate to what was conveyed seconds before. But it is what he needed. Humanity. A recognition that we see and hear each others as companions in this place wrought with both beauty and pain.

As he parted, he thanked me and I remembered: I have encountered this situation before. Another time in a different store, an elderly man asked me where to find an item and commented that he had never done the grocery shopping before. I walked away wishing I could do more than identify an aisle.

These encounters remind me that “we are all walking each other home.” At anytime, any one of us is harboring invisible struggles. None of us is immune to the realities that we live in a place this side of Heaven. 

But we have the opportunity to offer grace and love in the most ordinary of moments. We share out of what has been given to us. It’s not ours to hoard.

Read more: https://stephaniejthompson.com/2020/10/27/seeking-gods-transformation-of-our-interactions-with-others/  #graceupongrace #sacredconnections. #loveyourneighbor
Follow on Instagram
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: API requests are being delayed for this account. New posts will not be retrieved.

Log in as an administrator and view the Instagram Feed settings page for more details.

Categories

  • Advent
  • Easter
  • five minute friday
  • Help! This was not in the book!
  • Sacred Connections

Copyright © 2021 · Author Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in