Jesse Tree

December 4 Abraham  Field of Stars             On old man receives a promise—he will be the father of a great nation more numerous than the stars of the heavens. Life is full of promises—spring, pregnancies, first day of school, a wedding, planting seeds. What keeps us hoping even when life’s circumstances suggest the promise is empty? Faith! […]

December 3 Noah.  The ark             Humans are frail creatures prone to misdeeds, so bad that God desired to start over again. Ever long to wipe your life clean—start over without the mistakes, errors, pains, and sorrows of the past? How much water would be needed to do just that? God needed a global flood to cleanse

December 2 Cain and Abel. A stone altar             Out of jealousy, Cain killed his brother Abel. How often, motivated by jealousy, do we “kill” others. There are many ways to kill without taking life—slander, gossip, mistreatment. How we deal with bouts of jealousy is what is important. Take a moment to count your blessings. After

December 1 Adam and Eve. An Apple             It slithers up, oiling the lies so they become easy to swallow. Evil makes passions like jealousy, hate, anger, unchecked power, greed and dishonesty seem alright. We are weak. We forget at what cost our inability to resist comes. Yet, aware of our weakness, to redeem us, a

November 30 Creation. The Earth             “Let there be light!” These four words set into motion a power stronger than the chaos, the darkness, the raging winds. Out of the nothingness that had been before, came everything—and it was good! Since God created all from nothing, conquering darkness and chaos, imagine what God can do in

Emmanuel=God is with us   Maranatha=Come Lord, Come!   Merry Christmas! Read Luke Chapters 1 and 2 and Matthew Chapters 1and 2 for the best story ever!

4th Tuesday of Advent December 24, 2024  Mary Symbol=Lilies What a life—Visited by an angel, bearing God’s son, fleeing to a foreign land and seeing your son executed. Rather overwhelming, I’d say. Life is complicated, filled with crushing sorrows and tremendous joys, the tedium of daily chores and the excitement of travel or unexpected upheavals, fear in

4th Monday of Advent December 23, 2024  Joseph Symbol=Tools Joseph felt betrayed. His beloved was pregnant, but not with his child. It took the appearance of an angel in a dream to convince him of the truth. Snap judgements can be, and often are, wrong. With too little data, or information from unreliable sources, the wrong conclusion

3rd Saturday of Advent December 21, 2024  Elizabeth Symbol=Mother and Child “Be careful what you pray for, you might just get it!” As an older woman with no children, I wonder if the pregnancy was more than Elizabeth was really prepared for. Were her ankles swollen? Did her back ache? Did she have energy enough to do

3rd Friday of Advent  December 20, 2024  Zachariah Symbol=Pen and Paper Zachariah was struck mute because of his lack of faith. We must not be mute! Be bold when speaking the truth and calling out injustice, deception, and lies. Zachariah got his voice back only when what had been promised to him came true. We can’t wait that