Advent & Christmas @ New Vision: Sundays through January 8, 2023

Are you ready? At this time of year, that question incites unease in many of us…Is my place ready for guests? Are my bags ready for the airport? Is the car ready for a road trip? Am I ready for uncomfortable conversations around dinner tables? Am I ready for the hard emotions of grief and rejection? Are the kids ready for photos? Are the gifts ready for Christmas morning?  Ironically, Christmas is both the cause of our hectic month and the reminder to slow down and let the mysteries of God interrupt our well-worn habits of planning, shopping, remembering, and gathering.

Are you ready? This is a question lurking behind the Christmas stories of Zechariah, Mary, and Simeon. Zechariah is told that his son, John, would make God’s people ready for Jesus. This task would later cost him his life. Mary’s faith made her ready for the humble task of loving a child who would know poverty, society’s disapproving eyes, and the despair of unjust capital punishment. Simeon devoted his life to becoming ready to recognize a single poor family at the temple as the fulfillment of God’s promise to his people.

Are you ready? Zechariah, Mary, and Simeon all said “yes,” not knowing what that yes would mean. Their stories cast that question back to us — am I ready?

While we are all getting ready for a holiday, New Vision will gather through January 8 to let the stories of Zechariah, Mary, and Simeon interrupt us with a getting-ready of a different kind.

There is a wonderful opportunity amidst cultural celebrations to ask, am I ready? Ready for what, you ask? I don’t know, but God will show up for those with the determination to hear the answer! A starting point? Choose some interruptions during this season. Remember…God’s greatest interruption arrived quietly to a young, poor couple. Not many recognized it, but for those who did, they experienced an abiding joy.

You are invited to join New Vision on December 11, Jan 1, and Jan. 8 for dinner and conversation around the theme “are you ready?” We begin our gatherings with dinner at 5 PM. You are welcome to come unannounced and be our guest. If you would like to let us know you are coming, or would like to bring something, e-mail Pastor Christina at newvisionbic@gmail.com.

• Sunday December 11 — Luke 1:13-17: Zechariah, are you ready?
• Saturday December 24 @ 4 PM — Christmas Eve with World Impact Ministries
• Sunday December 25 — New Vision will not gather on Christmas Day.
• Sunday January 1 — Luke 1:26-35: Mary, are you ready?
• Sunday January 8: Luke 2:25-33: Simeon, are you ready?