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Stressed Out About Thanksgiving
The Anxiety of Wanting a Perfect Holiday Feast
Read the Rest at Stressed Out About Thanksgiving - Mockingbird (mbird.com)
I‘m already stressed out about Thanksgiving. I should amend that previous statement. I’ve been stressed about Thanksgiving for months now. As the holiday approaches, my anxiety level is going sky high.
It’s going to be my first experience cooking and hosting the gobble gobble day. Two years ago, I cooked most of the meal and then carted it to someone else’s home. This year, though, I’ll be cooking and hosting. It’s a marathon only made somewhat easier by the fact that I don’t have to worry about roasting (or frying?) a turkey; no one particularly likes it in our family.
If all else fails …
But I’m already stressing … How am I going to cook and bake everything with only one oven? When are we going to eat because the daughter usually is napping when I like to have Thanksgiving Din…………………
Read the Rest at Stressed Out About Thanksgiving - Mockingbird (mbird.com)
![[Sunday] Strong Weakness - Forgive & Give](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1636732880933-BW95MBE2L3G410IF4JYJ/F%26G+4a.jpg)
[Sunday] Strong Weakness - Forgive & Give
So much of our capital time and money is spent trying to make ourselves look strong, to give us something to boast about. This makes it where we spend all that capital on ourselves. But when we look through the cross of Christ, it softens our hearts, and we can boast in our weakness.
Sermon!
Questions for the week
What is the biggest mountain top experience you’ve had in your faith walk?
What is the darkest valley you’ve experienced in your faith walk?
Paul talks about his mountain top experience and his darkest valley.
Read 2 Corinthians 12:1-10. What does Jesus say about our weaknesses?How could you reassure someone this week that God works through the cross, even in their weaknesses?
What Had happened at Grace this week.
![Christmas Dinner at Mission BBQ [photos]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1766111458710-ULPCKS16DAZCMUN7LI93/PXL_20251218_000243197.jpg)
![[Sunday] A Song of Christmas Light - Know Me Better Man Stave 3](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1765482111687-AQYCM4FZQV9BO7JIPL02/Christmas+light+3a.jpg)
I Hate Presents
Nothing wrecks a gift faster than making a law of out of it.
Read whole article at I Hate Presents - Mockingbird (mbird.com)
I hate presents.
I swear, though, that I have not always been such a Grinch. It hasn’t always been this way. I can distinctly remember a time when I was still Cindy-Lou Who. There was that glorious Christmas when all my presents had to do with the Nutcracker, marking my brain so indelibly that ambulance alarms in France sound to me like the opening notes of the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. When I was a kid, I counted down the days each May till my birthday, and when the big day finally arrived, I was astoundingly grateful for everything. (Well, that’s how I remember it, anyway.)…………………..Read the rest at I Hate Presents - Mockingbird (mbird.com)
![[Bible Study] Chapter 5 | 2Corinthians](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1636732523030-4ARWKNTJGIIOVDJ1R3ZA/2+cor+bs5.jpg)
![[Sunday] Cheerfully Generous - Forgive & Give](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1636067585682-7YXYU5NL2GEHOB7KF6XH/F%26G+3a.jpg)
[Sunday] Cheerfully Generous - Forgive & Give
We are reminded to look at the Macedonians, how they had nothing and yet were generous. We’re to look to Paul and see how he had nothing yet lived a generous life. Most of all, look to Jesus, who gave it all up for you so that you might be rich. May we have the same spirit of generosity.
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Sunday Worship is up now! Click above.
Questions for the week
Describe the most generous person you know and how they live their life. What do you most admire about their generosity?
Read 2 Corinthians 8:1-9. What examples does Paul use to encourage the Corinthians to be generous?
Read 2 Corinthians 9:6-15. What advice does Paul give you about living a generous life?
How has Jesus been generous to you? How does that shape how you live your life?
What Had happened at Grace this week.
![[Sunday] A Song of Christmas Light - Pointing to Greatness Stave 4](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1766107074577-MKU6U8LW1N5S1EATE1RW/Christmas+light+4a.jpg)
Eugene Cho: ‘Christians, Stop Being Political Jerks’
One of the biggest temptations in our world today is to dehumanize those we disagree with and in that process, we actually don’t know that we’ve done it.
read the rest of the article Eugene Cho: ‘Christians, Stop Being Political Jerks Click Here’
very November, the online political discourse ramps up as elections across the country take place. Politics have become increasingly divisive in recent years, leading to people fighting with family, loved ones and strangers online and in-person. And no group is exempt from this. Christians can often be found in the comments of Facebook posts exchanging harsh words with one another.
Rev. Eugene Cho, pastor and the president/CEO of Bread for the World, the huge Christian anti-hunger and poverty organization, sees the ways the Church is handling politics. He wants …………………
![[Bible Study] Chapter 4-5 | 2Corinthians](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1635518810426-E56TC4S8W33MTGL7KGDS/2+cor+bs3.jpg)
The Tragedy of an Incidental Christ
The tragedy of the incidental Christ I was raised with is that he was really no Savior at all.
Read the article at The Tragedy of an Incidental Christ | 1517
As obvious as it may sound, Christianity is all about Jesus Christ. In the person and work of Jesus, God is revealed to us. The entirety of the Old Testament, in ways both subtle and bold, tells us about the need for and promise of a Savior. In the Gospel accounts, it is revealed to us that Jesus is the Savior the Old Testament promised us. He is fully man, obeying all the commands of God, all the while being fully God himself. At just the right time, he laid down his life to make a blood sacrifice that paid for the sins of all mankind for all time. Jesus is the Savior of the world. Jesus for us is the subject of Chrsitianity. He is the beginning, the end, and everything in between………
![[Sunday] Generous Creation - Forgive & Give](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1635519259749-7TPZCFMBD2C71R2TAPYR/F%26G+2a.jpg)
[Sunday] Generous Creation - Forgive & Give
We are a new creation who has seen the amazing generosity of the Father though the Son. Let us go with new generosity into all the world, giving good news.
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Questions for the week
Describe the funniest viral video (think America’s Funniest Home Video) that you’ve seen.
Read 2 Corinthians 5:11-15. What are some ways you’ve seen people compelled by the love of Christ to do things that are “out of their mind”(NIV) or “beside themselves”(ESV)?
Read 2 Corinthians 5:16-6:2. As you live in the new creation, brought by Christ, what does it look like for you to be an ambassador of reconciliation today?
Video From the Sermon Today
What Had happened at Grace this week.
Laughing at our Weakness
We smile, wince, and shake our heads precisely because the comedic tragedy of it all is true.
Read article at Laughing At Our Weakness - Mockingbird (mbird.com)
These days, we are so politically segregated that we often read, watch, eat and play according to our own values. Democrats wear Levi’s denim, watch the NBA, and drink Starbucks; for Republicans it’s Wrangler jeans, NASCAR, and Chick-fil-a. Of all the big data metrics, one’s political leanings are a reliable indicator of what you might consume. The realm of comedy is hardly an exception, offering a wide array of both red state comics and blue state comics. If you are a fan of John Oliver, there is very little chance you are also a fan of Larry the Cable Guy — both have significant followings but hardly ever within the same zip code…………….
![[Sunday] Ordinary Jars - Forgive & Give](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1634919227441-GG3OCUXQL5JMGZ96IVQR/F%26G+1a.jpg)
[Sunday] Ordinary Jars - Forgive & Give
Can you remember birthdays and Christmases past? All the presents wrapped in beautiful paper - well, except the ones wrapped in old newspaper. Which one is the better gift? Perhaps it's the one that is just ordinary.
Questions for the week
Describe a time you tried to set someone straight and it didn’t go as planned. How did it feel following that incident?
Read 2 Corinthians 4:7-12. What do you think Paul means that we have “this treasure in jars of clay?” Where have you witnessed treasure in jars of clay?
Pauls speaks of being persecuted, struck down, and death. In those depressing times of life, where does Jesus give you hope?
When you were reconciled to someone, what did that process look like?
What Had happened at Grace this week.
While the Ghost points to the grave our ambition digs, Jesus answers by becoming the humble Child who enters that grave to raise us to new life.