Advent

by Brad Watson 0

0

Arts & CultureCommunityDiscipleshipDomains of SocietyFoundationsKidsLife Issues

December 2, 2016

Preparing Room For God’s Arrival to Us

  (Enjoy this first blog in a new series called celebrating Advent. Read post two here.) How will you prepare room in your heart for God this Christmas season? Christmas Tree Hunting In the early days of Advent we drive out…

Read More

by Brad Watson 1

0

Arts & CultureCommunityDiscipleshipDomains of SocietyFoundationsKidsLife Issues

December 9, 2016

Why Did God Have to Come?

  (Enjoy part two in a new series called Celebrating Advent. You can read part three here.) “Why did God have to come, anyway?” Christmas is a magical time for kids as they see the glow of lights, trees in the…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

Arts & CultureCommunityDiscipleshipDomains of SocietyFoundationsKidsLife Issues

December 16, 2016

The Arrival of Our Enough

  (Enjoy part three in a new series called Celebrating Advent. You can read part four here.) We are servants to the Son who was born King. I ran my first 5K on Thanksgiving with my whole family: three kids and…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

Arts & CultureCommunityDiscipleshipDomains of SocietyFoundationsKidsLife Issues

December 23, 2016

Feasting at the Arrival of God to Us

  (Enjoy the fourth and final part in our series called Celebrating Advent.) We anxiously wait for the powerful moment of hope’s arrival. Our most revered and treasured tradition is our Christmas Eve feast. This family tradition pre-dates our marriage,…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelSaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 1, 2018

Preparing for Advent

    Christmas Tree Hunting In the early days of Advent, we drive out to the Beck family farm to cut down a Christmas tree. Our only rule is it must be shorter than “Mom” so it will fit in…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelIdentitySaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 2, 2018

Why Did Jesus Have to Come?

    Christmas is a magical time for kids as they see the glow of lights, trees in the home, and packages accumulate. It’s also the season when we get to regularly articulate the meaning and nature of God coming…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelIdentitySaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 3, 2018

The True Story of Hope

    On a December morning in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012, children and teachers were likely gearing up for a day filled with gluing cotton balls onto Santa beards when a 20-year-old man came into the school shooting and killing…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipGospelIdentityMissionSaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 4, 2018

Jesus Came into the World

    “Jesus came into Galilee” is offered as hope, the first hope. After centuries of silence, of struggle, and continued sin, the resignation of the people was, “No one is coming.” And yet, Jesus came into Galilee. “No-one-is-coming” is…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelIdentityMissionSaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 5, 2018

Life from a Stump

    As I mentioned previously, our family always cuts down a Christmas tree. Each year, we leave a stump in the ground—something that was once growing is now dead. Stumps in Oregon are a part of life. In fact…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelIdentitySaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 6, 2018

Responding to the King’s Arrival

  Go on up to a high mountain,     O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength,     O Jerusalem, herald of good news;     lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah,     “Behold your God!”  Behold,…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelIdentityMissionSaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 7, 2018

A Humble Baby?

    “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,     though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me     one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old,     from ancient times.” Therefore Israel…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelIdentityMissionSaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 8, 2018

Mourning with Hope in a Tragic World

    Christmas can be a time of lights, trees, parties, and decadent food, but it is definitely a season of grief and sadness. For some, it’s the grief of a lost childhood; the holidays remind us of all the…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelMissional CommunitySaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 9, 2018

Peace on Earth

  At the center of the angel’s announcement on the first Christmas night is this phrase found in Luke 2:14; it’s what Linus quotes at the end of A Charlie Brown Christmas: “Glory to God in the Highest, and peace…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelMissional CommunitySaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 10, 2018

A Child and Big Government

  Wherever he reigns, His thriving and flourishing will be there, too! His law is peace. On May 19, 2018, Prince Harry of England married Meghan Markle in Windsor, England. The event was marked by the usual fanfare of such…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelMissional CommunitySaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 11, 2018

How the Long Expected Jesus Came

  How does the king come? We know He comes to change the world. We know He was born into our world. But how does Jesus come? What is the manner, the posture, the practice of Jesus’ incarnation? Returning to…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelSaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 12, 2018

The Kingdom that Divides

    Growing up, my family spent each night of the holidays sitting beneath the glow of the Christmas tree and watching Christmas movies. We watched the original Miracle on 34th Street and the “new” Miracle on 34th Street (which…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelSaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 13, 2018

We’ve Been Brought Near

    We all have a complicated relationship with the Church. It’s a ruckus communion of saints. It’s for many a place of quarreling, a place of scheming, a place of power, and even for those same people, a place…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelSaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 14, 2018

The End of War — Healing of the Nations

    My favorite Christmas movie is Joyeux Noel. It tells the true story of a Christmas Day Truce in the trenches of World War I between the Germans, French, and British. The cost of World War I was a…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelSaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 15, 2018

When the Soul Feels Its Worth

    This past week, each reflection has focused on the theme of Peace and the Kingdom Jesus’ birth brings. It all seems so wonderful. The birth of the saving king, so glorious. The highest glory has come to us!…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelIdentityMissionSaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 16, 2018

The Meaning of Joy

    This Advent season has been a delight for me as we’ve walked through hope and peace. Now we turn our gaze toward joy. Our modern dictionaries define joy as a feeling of great happiness. It’s essentially pleasure plus,…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelIdentitySaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 17, 2018

Joy to the World, Good News!

      I’ll never forget where I was when I first heard the news: LeBron James was coming to Los Angeles to play for our Lakers. King James was going to come! After years of trying to read between…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelIdentitySaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 18, 2018

Good Times Have Come, So Go Tell it On the Mountain

    We tell the stories that matter most to us and our world. The stories you tell at parties, over dinner, and even in small talk have two overlapping qualities: you like them and you think the people around…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelIdentitySaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 19, 2018

Emmanuel

    Christmas is one of those strange times you sing a lot. It’s also a time when you oddly sing words in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and all sorts of languages. A favorite, I think, is the song “O Come,…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelIdentitySaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 20, 2018

The True Light

    I haven’t found a suburban light show, a boat parade light show, or the lights in a fancy mall in Los Angeles to compare the Christmas lights of Lisbon, Portugal. My home city truly rises to the occasion…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelIdentitySaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 21, 2018

Future Victory and Present Joy

    We find ourselves between two arrivals - the first in Jesus in Bethlehem and the second as He comes again. We stand between resurrection and restoration.  That’s precisely why this season is so important; it locates our hope,…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelIdentitySaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 22, 2018

Loved from the Beginning

    One of my favorite Christmas memories came five years ago when Mirela told me she was pregnant with our second child. I was overjoyed, amazed, and humbled. When that daughter was born we named her “Maitê,” which means…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelIdentitySaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 23, 2018

Lasting Redeeming Love

      On these last days of Advent, we turn our gaze to the love embodied in the crib. The incarnation carries into our world not just hope, peace, and joy, but Christ brings with Him a love of…

Read More

by Brad Watson 0

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelIdentitySaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 24, 2018

Gospel Feast

    Our Advent traditions have become numerous: we cut down our tree at the Beck family farm in the shadow of Mt. Hood; we make cinnamon rolls for our neighbors; we go ice skating at the mall; I take…

Read More

by Brad Watson 1

0

DiscipleshipFoundationsGospelIdentitySaturate PodcastSpiritual Growth

December 25, 2018

Arrival of Enough

    A few years ago, I ran a 5K on Thanksgiving with my whole family - three kids and two strollers. As we crossed the finish line the announcer said, “Welcome the stroller team!” The race was through the…

Read More