{"id":2417,"date":"2012-12-21T10:38:27","date_gmt":"2012-12-21T15:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/?p=2417"},"modified":"2012-12-24T10:23:49","modified_gmt":"2012-12-24T15:23:49","slug":"ready-for-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2012\/12\/ready-for-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Ready for Christmas?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Star-Cross Nativity, by Allison t R\u00e9gnier – www.allisontregnier.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Today’s post is written by Jo Anne Taylor, Music and Worship Pastor at Bethlehem Covenant Church<\/a>, Minneapolis, MN.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Waiting is almost over. The bulletins have been proofread and tweaked. The choir and the worship team have rehearsed. The children have practiced their speaking parts. The Advent wreath is on its last candle. The pastor is working hard to get that Christmas Eve message ready to be delivered on Monday, right on the heels of a\u00a0full weekend of Advent worship and church activities.<\/p>\n

But are we ready?<\/p>\n

Amid all the preparations and bustle, in between the rehearsals and the meetings, the decisions about logistics and the theological implications of serving (or not serving) Communion on Christmas Eve, where, exactly, do we find Jesus? As we recruit last-minute volunteers and deal with the surprises of births and deaths that affect our congregations in unpredictable ways, as we watch the news and the weather reports, imagining that our attention to them will somehow transform them into favorable messages of hope and good will, where is our Lord?<\/p>\n

Are we ready?<\/p>\n

Are we ready to welcome God with<\/em> us, Emmanuel? Are we ready to pause, to wonder, to ponder, to turn our attention completely toward the One Who Saves? Are we ready to bow the knees of our hearts to worship him simply and reverently, without all the noise and flash of our busy, busy lives?<\/p>\n

The waiting is over. Ready or not, here he comes.<\/p>\n

Come. Let us adore him.<\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today’s post is written by Jo Anne Taylor, Music and Worship Pastor at Bethlehem Covenant Church, Minneapolis, MN. The Waiting is almost over. The bulletins have been proofread and tweaked. The choir and the worship team have rehearsed. The children have practiced their speaking parts. The Advent wreath is on its last candle. The pastor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[332,102,14503,14512],"tags":[14513,14514,14515,23],"class_list":["post-2417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advent","category-arts","category-better-together","category-current-events","tag-advent-2","tag-christmas-eve","tag-waiting","tag-worship"],"yoast_head":"\nReady for Christmas? - Worship Connect<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2012\/12\/ready-for-christmas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ready for Christmas? - Worship Connect\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today’s post is written by Jo Anne Taylor, Music and Worship Pastor at Bethlehem Covenant Church, Minneapolis, MN. 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