Arise and Shine
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1/7/2024 To 1/7/2024

As we enter a new year together, what does it look like to watch for the star? To look for those signs of God’s arrival in our lives and in our world? Epiphany season points to discovery, illumination, a new realization. We are still in a time of long nights and short days, and the concept of spiritual “dark” and “light” may hold more than first meets the eye. In Barbara Brown Taylor’s “Learning to Walk in the Dark,” she lifts up some of the unique gifts that only the darkness can bring. But here in Isaiah, the prophet speaks to a new dawn with brightness, rising and radiance—people gathering together from near and far. This passage of Hebrew Scripture has been used by Christians to point toward Matthew 2:1-12, and the coming of the Magi to the newborn Messiah—even connecting the details of gold and frankincense. Tying into Matthew’s Gospel, what does this story teach us afresh about the gifts we bring? The unexpected ways wisdom shows up? The scope of this good news that extends widely into nations and peoples beyond our own? As we celebrate this coming anniversary of God’s mission through Village Church, what are some unique gifts of this congregation? How has Village been a light through many a troubled time, and into the future? How are we invited even now to “rise and shine” in this new day?