Birthing Pains

Here are two of my favorite quotes regarding the birth of Jesus. Both are from Barbara Brown Taylor.

"In our own age of people who raise children without benefit of marriage, the issue of legitimacy sounds a bit quaint, but the heart of the story is much bigger and more profound than that. The heart of the story is about a just man who wakes up one day to find his life wrecked: his wife pregnant, his trust betrayed, his name ruined, his future revoked. It is about a righteous man who surveys a mess he has had absolutely nothing to do with and decides to believe that God is present in it…He claims the scandal and it gives it a name. He owns the mess—he legitimates it—and the mess becomes the place where the Messiah is born," (BBT in Gospel Medicine).

And regarding Mary's status as "theotokos" (the God-bearer, or God-bringer) . . .

". . . You can decide to be a daredevil, a test pilot, a gambler. You can set your book down and listen to a strange creature’s strange idea. You can decide to take part in a plan you did not choose, doing things you do not know how to do for reasons you do not entirely understand. You can take part in a thrilling and dangerous scheme with no script and no guarantees. You can agree to smuggle God into the world inside your own body," (BBT in Gospel Medicine).

Imagine Christmas

Several people at the Rochester Church have been working hard getting ready for our big December musical/play, Imagine Christmas (click here to read more about the production).

If you live in the Metro Detroit area, you should make plans now to attend this production beginning a week from Friday. If you want to see Patrick Mead play the guitar, Josh Graves sing a solo, or the most beautiful woman in the world do a Highland Fling, buy your tickets today!

Of course there are a dozen other reasons to come (and some, perhaps even better than the ones I mentioned. Like . . . Great writing, acting, music, dance, art, and performances by a host of Rochester Church people.)