Welcome to a New Year, 2021.

VII.
As you take a moment to turn your attention to this week’s Scripture passage –
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%204%3A14-22&version=NRSV;MSG

Pay particular attention to –

“…to set the burdened and battered free, to announce, ‘This is God’s year to act!'” – Luke 4:18-19, The Message

“Then he started in, ‘You’ve just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place.'” – Luke 4:21, The Message

VIII.
How do we hear these statements today? Do we take them seriously?

Was Jesus right? Did the Kingdom come true? And for us, today, is it still a truth we can live into?

IX.
Today marks the beginning 2021, one week after Christmas Day 2020.

Listen to the words of Howard Thurman and consider what he regards as the “The Work of Christmas”,

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music from the heart.

“The Work of Christmas” by Howard Thurman

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}