Over a decade ago, a few pastors were lamenting how they’d come to the end of an Advent season exhausted and sensing they’d missed it – the awe-inducing, soul-satisfying mystery of the incarnation.
“For many of us, we were drowning in a sea of financial debt and endless lists of gifts to buy. We struggled to find the connection between our Christmas to-do lists and the story of Jesus’ birth,” they said.
An overwhelming stress had overtaken worship and celebration. The time of year when focusing on Christ should be the easiest was often the hardest. Somehow, this had become the new normal.