Scripture"The Word became flesh    and made his home among us.We have seen his glory,    glory like that of a father’s only son,        full of grace and truth." - John 1: 14ReflectionI need you to read that again. “The Word became flesh, and made his home among us. We have seen his glory, glory like that of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”What do you think it means for Christ to mak...  Read More

Scripture“The Scriptures say that the Messiah will come from the family of King David. Doesn't this mean that he will be born in David's hometown of Bethlehem?” - John 7:42Reflection“Mom, how tall is God?”[Gosh, I love kids’ questions.]“Well, God is everywhere, so it’s hard to say exactly how tall he is, but he’s really big,” I responded to my 5 year-old, thinking that answer would suffice.“But wh...  Read More

Last January, a woman that was relatively new to The Gathering caught me on a Sunday morning to tell me how meaningful it was for her to serve at one of our Christmas Eve services. She was hesitant to do so at first. It required some extra time, a bit of extra effort, and the rearranging of a few plans – but she said it ended up being the most powerful part of her Christmas. In particular, she got...  Read More

CoreGroup Guide | Simply Christmas - Week 3Guide written by Denee Bowers and Jenny HuffmanWelcomeA simple truth about Christmas…it almost never goes exactly as planned. Things go off the rails and we are forced to deal with things we didn’t see coming. We can respond to these interruptions with stress and frustration, or we can take them as an opportunity to open ourselves up to God and those arou...  Read More

Scripture"As for you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah,though you are the least significant of Judah’s forces,one who is to be a ruler in Israel on my behalf will come out from you.His origin is from remote times, from ancient days.” - Micah 5:2ReflectionChristmastime is one of my favorite seasons of the year; even before I worked in ministry I would get so excited when stores started decorating and up unti...  Read More

Scripture"Israel, wait for the LORD! Because faithful love is with the LORD; because great redemption is with our God!" - Psalm 130:7ReflectionPsalm 130 isn’t necessarily a feel-good passage of scripture, but it’s an honest one. The writer reflects upon their need for God’s forgiveness, acknowledging that if God kept track of all of the different ways they had screwed up along the way, everybody w...  Read More