Looks like I forgot to post information about our later Advent and Christmas Eve services. Sorry about that. We thoroughly enjoyed the children's Christmas Pageant and bell choir on Dec. 22, and had a full house for our lovely Christmas Eve service, featuring harpists, violin, choir, carols, Communion, and candlelight. If you weren't able to attend, I hope you'll visit us some Sunday morning (10am) in the near future.
This Sunday, January 6, is (the first day of) Epiphany, when we recall the story of the Magi (wise ones) who followed a star from the east to bring gifts to the young Jesus. Traditionally, the 12 days of Christmas began with December 25 and ended with January 6. The story of the Magi is told only in the 1st Gospel (Matthew 2:1-12), and implies that Mary and Joseph were staying in a house in Bethlehem when their foreign visitors arrived. In this story, there is a strong undercurrent of danger and political unease, as King Herod reacts to the news of a new king being born with paranoia and violence. The gifts that the Magi bring represent attributes that the Gospel writer wished to affirm about Jesus: gold for a king, frankincense for a priest, and myrrh for a body to be buried. But the text does not specify that there were 3 people, nor that they were kings. (For a more extensive critical reading of this text, check out this Lectionary Homiletics article.)
The Highlands UMC Worship Band will add to our music this week, as we enter the season of Epiphany. The term "epiphany" means "to make known," or "to reveal," and the focus of the season is on the ways in which God's revelation in Jesus was made known to the world, especially through the early signs and wonders of Jesus' life and ministry: his baptism by John in the Jordan, turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana, and his transfiguration on the mountain with Peter, James, and John.
I hope you will join us to experience and know for yourself the love and light of Christ made known in our world 2000 years ago and continually today!
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