Isaiah 55:1-13

Buy it quick before it runs out! One day sale only! Maybe I should get two just in case. We are trained from an early age by society and by advertising to fear that if we don't purchase something, it will not be available to us in the future or at that price, and we will suffer somehow for not owning it. People are good at manufacturing the fear of scarcity despite the fact that we are surrounded by an abundance of stuff and things. Jordan Morehouse, reflecting on the scripture from Isaiah, contends that in the face of abundance we are so conditioned to scarcity that we don't know how to trust that there is enough. Our fear of scarcity drives us to work longer hours or side hustle for more money, and reduces our capacity to build community with family, friends, and other believers. This in turn reduces our available social safety net, which leads to more fear, which leads to more work, in an ever-tightening spiral. The powers of the world use the threat of less to justify war and cruelty, and the whole system would collapse if everyone views what they have as abundance. Tyrants fear abundance, but God delights in it. God brings manna, loaves and fishes, and salvation through Christ all without cost. To combat this sinister mindset of scarcity that constantly robs our lives of joy and community, our church bodies must lean in to a culture of radical, reflexive generosity, giving more than we expect to ever receive, without strings attached. These small kindnesses will quietly build, multiply, and produce unimaginable abundance as God's love has already shown us through Christ's example

John 11:14-27 Ezekiel 37:1-14

Susan Scott's sermon starts us with Israel's period of exile in Babylon, where Jerusalem has fallen, the temple is destroyed, and the people feel like God has abandoned them without hope. Ezekiel reminds the Israelites that God has not forgotten them. God keenly knows their suffering and Showed Ezekiel a vision of hope in the valley of dry bones that could be made to dance. God is greater than death and Israel will live again, even though that will still take decades. Eventually God's people return, rebuild, and there is a revival of the people. We see the same theme 600 years later in the John scripture with Jesus's resurrection of Lazarus. Jesus waits until after Lazarus dies to come back a perform a miracle. Jesus, like God to Ezekiel, speaks words of hope and faith to those mourning Lazarus and regretting Jesus's delayed response. We too, much wait patiently with faith and hope that God will make good on their promises even when our circumstances appear bleak. Remember that God is greater than death, greater than our problems, and when God is at work there is always hope.

Daniel 3:1, 8-30

Due to some technical issues, the beginning of Susan's sermon was cut off.

On this first Sunday of Advent 2025, we were introduced to the theme for Advent: "Be Amazed!" This week's focus was on the three youths, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who refused to bow down to the image of King Nebuchadnezzar. As a result, they are thrown into the fiery furnace. Yet God protects them.

(Image of the fiery furnace by artist Konstantinos Adrianoupolitis, in the public domain.)