Hope - A Message of Christmas
Today marks the beginning of advent for Christians, a theme of Hope. I was reminded today how important that message is as it brings themes of patience, love, understanding, and faith. We were reminded by our leader this morning about the story of Zacharias (name meaning “Yahweh remembers”) and Elisabeth (meaning “God's oath”), both characters in the introduction to the Christmas story and strong examples of this message. It is a story of light appearing in a dark circumstance as Zacharias and Elisabeth were seen as leaders without child, and that was seen, and sometimes still viewed by some, as being a punishment from God. Late in life they were blessed, prayers answered as they had a child, John, who became a blessing to many people. The message of Christmas begins as a story of hope. As a 42 year old mother of two teenage boys whose parents are divorced, I often feel my family is broken and look around to see so many teenagers from broken homes. Divo...