City Of Light Anglican Churchaurora, Illinois

Jeremiah 31:7-14 Psalm 84 Matthew 2

God came and was like you and me in every part of being born and being human so that he could save us and make us like him. He was born into the living room of a human family so that we could be reborn into the living room of his family. As you go home into your living room with your Christmas tree, remember, that Jesus made his home in our homes with us, so we could make our home in his home with him. For further study see Kenneth Bailey “Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes” Chapter 1: The Story of Jesus’ Birth. Read online here: https://books.google.com/books?id=mjQAAebtAmEC&lpg=PA3&pg=PA25#v=twopage&q&f=false

Joseph didn’t choose for Mary to be pregnant and for the baby to not be his. But he did choose to be a father. He chose the public shame of raising a child that everyone else would call illegitimate to do exactly what the Lord had told him. And from this righteous man's costly obedience, Jesus learns what it means to say, "Not my will, but yours be done." Art Credit: "Joseph the Carpenter" by Georges de La Tour created circa 1642.

John 1:1-14 The light of Jesus was shining in creation, it was shining in his incarnation, it was shining in his resurrection, it will shine in the end when all things will be set right, and it is shining today.

Isaiah 11 Psalm 3 Matthew 3 Do you feel like a spiritual stump, cut off from God? Know that there is a living tree. The darkness distorts reality, but Jesus the Messiah comes to bring new life and light.

On the first Sunday of Advent we celebrate a new church year, counting down the days until Christmas, but even more, counting down the days until Jesus comes again to bring a new day.

In the midst of the experience, I wrote this: At our weakest point we have experienced the greatest care by our church and family. We have not been able to attend services for weeks, but the church has come to us. Our pastor came to bless Mahalia and to pray for my healing, our prayer ministry leader came to serve communion and pray for us, families looked after our kids as I was taken to important doctors’ appointments, my small group came over to hold the baby so we could rest, and many of you brought us meals. It is an overwhelming sense of gratitude that wells up within me as I recall all of God’s kindness lavished upon us through these loving acts. It’s almost as if He brought us to that valley in order to show us the true character of this body of believers.

This is a story of gratitude — how the Lord has blessed us through the rhythms of his church and through his church family. Two years ago, almost to the day, near the beginning of Advent 2017, we began to sense the Lord calling us to adopt.

"I had never stopped believing that the Lord was good, but I had stopped believing in the breadth and depth of his goodness. But through this season, I have truly come to believe that there is no good thing apart from the Lord, and I want to live the adventure of thankfulness for his constant goodness for all my days."

"Remember your future—that you will be part of the great multitude offering great worship and receiving great reward. Receive as grace this future, when we will join with the saints and the angels and archangels and all the company of heaven who sing, 'Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever, amen!'"

2 Samuel 6:14-22 Every bit of openness toward the Lord brings us closer to his heart and enables our heart to receive him more.

Dear City of Light,  On Sunday I was overjoyed to announce that Deacon Eduardo Dávila has accepted a full-time position at City of Light as our Pastor of Latino and Neighborhood Ministry. We also announced that we are supporting Sebastian and Daniela Vargas and their family as missionaries from Chile to our diocese!  Please listen to the full announcement from Sunday by clicking here as I share the testimony of how God has been miraculously answering our prayers. For years, we have been praying for more relationships in our neighborhood, for partners in Latino and multi-cultural ministry, and for a Latino leader to join our staff team. As we have taken risks to be open to and follow the leading of the Lord, he has been working to connect us more deeply to Iglesia de la Resurrección, to our neighborhood through ESL, and to the Lord’s heart for a church of many tribes and tongues and nations. He’s also reconnected us with Father Jonathan Kindberg and his work through ¡Caminemos Juntos! to equip Latino minist

Ruth 2:4-14 "God invites us to be open to others, not merely so that we can be fed, but so that we can feed. Sometimes we are called to feed the others in our midst, and sometimes God calls to be humble enough to allow the outsider to come in and teach us."

1 Kings 19:1-18 Our emotions were created by God as a way to connect with him and others, but in our brokenness, can sometimes divide us from God and others. When Elijah is depressed, he turns his emotional pain into prayer and experiences the intimate love and care of God restoring his connection to God and his connection to the people of God. We can be open to God in our emotions by turning our emotions into conversations with God where we hear the intimate whisper of his loving Word. Visit https://www.jennaperrine.com/ for a free step by step resource to write your own biblical lament.

2 Kings 22:3, 8-11, 23:1-7 To open our hearts to God is to open our hearts to his word. When we’re open to God in his word we read that we are cherished. When we’re open to God in his word we realized that we are nourished. When we’re open to God in his word we relearn how we can flourish.

God opens the heavens so that we can open our hearts We open our hearts on the Sabbath by trusting that God has already done the work for us. God’s got this really unique deal for us: If we stop on the Sabbath, he will provide what we need. He will take care of everything else. He’s gone and is going before us, even now, to provide what we need to meet with him and open our lives to him.. Question #1: When do I do it? Question #2: What do I do on the Sabbath? Question #3: What do I not do on the Sabbath?

1 Samuel 3 "Prayer is cultivating the conversation with the Lord, being on intimate terms with him, relating to him as a real person with whom we speak and who speaks to us."

We have to protect ourselves in this world. We need appropriate boundaries, and I often help people talk and pray through creating those healthy boundaries. But we never need walls with God. We were made to live life wide open to him!

Matthew 6 Prayer and fasting go together, because true vulnerability leads to true intimacy. We enter into the intimacy of prayer through the vulnerability of fasting. We take off our masks and go into the secret place; and we receive from the Lord with open hands. Join us on September 11 for our Fall Day of Prayer and Fasting: http://www.cityoflightanglican.org/events/day-of-prayer

In the center of the book of Acts is the Jerusalem Council, where a dispute in the early church becomes an opportunity not only to clarify the truth of the Gospel, but also to set up a pattern for the unity of the Gospel. Not only does the church answer the question, “How are we invited to the table?” but she also answers, “How can we be united at the table?"