Church programs for Monday, Jan. 22 will resume their normal schedule at all locations this evening.
Leawood’s Sunday night in-person worship has been moved to 4 pm for Sunday, February 11.
7 She gave birth to her firstborn child, a son, wrapped him snugly, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the guestroom.
8 Nearby shepherds were living in the fields, guarding their sheep at night. 9 The Lord’s angel stood before them, the Lord’s glory shone around them, and they were terrified.
Tomorrow, December 21, at 6:30 pm, Resurrection’s Leawood Sanctuary will host a special candlelight Christmas Eve service. It’s for those who are healthcare workers, immunocompromised, or are especially COVID-cautious and would prefer to attend a mask-required service.
Manger scenes, Christmas pageants and paintings usually portray noble, worshipful shepherds. Yet at the time of Jesus’ birth, most people looked down on shepherds. As the shepherds cared for their flocks, they couldn’t precisely observe all the rituals other people followed to be “holy,” so devout Hebrews shunned them as “unclean.” And these were the “night shift shepherds,”* the lowest of the low. But God loved them and sent these shepherds the first news of Jesus’ birth.
Today’s Insights blog was chapter 21, “Night-Shift Shepherds,” from The Journey: A Season of Reflections, by Adam Hamilton. Copyright © 2011 by Abingdon Press, and available on our website for 24 hours by permission of Abingdon Press. If you’d like to buy the entire book of reflections, you can click here for a direct link to the Cokesbury sale page, as well as other Journey resources.
God of all people, you care more about my inner openness to you and your purposes than you do about any human reviews or praises I might receive. Help me to see those around me through your eyes. Amen.
* The phrase is from Adam Hamilton in today’s Insights blog, a chapter from The Journey: A Season of Reflections. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2011, pp. 115-120.
** Zondervan, NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, eBook (Kindle Locations 232417-232418). Kindle Edition.