Sermons (Page 158)

This time of year is often filled with parties and gatherings. If you’re the host of the gathering you know the importance of preparation. For a holiday dinner party you might get out your Christmas decorations, purchase a tree, bake a pie, cook the meal, and find the right music for a memorable time. If your house is anything like mine there are bathrooms to clean, floors to sweep, and all the tasks of making the home shine.

What’s a sign for you that Christmas is near? For some of us it’s seeing pumpkin spice lattes transform to peppermint mochas. For others it’s the snow falling from the sky. Christmas decorations and gift ideas from retailers can help some– even if they’ve been out since September. Holiday music, the empty feeling of a dead loved one, or the dark days and long nights – what is your sign?

As of late, almost every time I look at my phone I have an alert from a news outlet. One source tells me that at least 129 are dead in terror attacks in Paris. Another announces that the United States House passes a bill restricting flow of refugees from Syria and Iraq. Yet one more says that the suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks was killed in a police raid. Violence, death, and fear seem to reign supreme as of late. And some of us walk around in fear of future terror attacks in America. We notice the violence around the world, violence on streets from guns, and some suffer from the violence from intimate partner abuse.