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“What’s the Attraction?”
A Service of the Word for the 2nd Sunday of Advent
December 7, 2025: IN-PERSON and ONLINE at 10:30 a.m.
The Rev. Matthew Emery, lead minister, preaching
Isaiah 11:1-10 and Matthew 3:1-12
Even though the world around us is already fully awash in jolly secularized "Christmas" festivities, as we walk the deeper and more-ancient paths of Christian worship practice, we move further into a time of preparation, contemplation, reflection, solemnity, and even repentance that we call the season of Advent.
This week, our scripture readings will bring us back to the witness of John the Baptist, one of the few parts of the Jesus story that is included by all four of our Gospels. The “preparation” for Christ's coming that we're invited into was at the heart of John's message: to be awakened to the knowledge that the kingdom of God is at hand, and to ready ourselves for its coming by “repenting”—that is, by changing our hearts and lives. But what’s the attraction of that? Why did so many people seem to respond to John’s ministry? Perhaps reorientation isn't a sad or bad thing, ultimately. Perhaps, instead, we're being invited once more to bring our lives into alignment with the truly life-giving ways that God intends for us.