Thoughts
“The genealogies in Matthew and Luke are summing up the history of the world, from creation to Christ. The story of the birth of Jesus is both the beginning of Christianity, and is also the fulfillment of Judaism. And the story of the fulfillment of Christianity or Western history is also the story of the return of Christ in bodily form to complete God’s mission in the world. But the completion of God’s mission in the world does not mean that it culminates in the destruction of the world.
Rather, it means that it is the fulfillment of the purpose for which God created the world, which is: God and humanity dwelling together in peace on earth. That’s why Jesus was born, and that’s where the world is going in Christ. Human perfection, completion, fulfillment, and rest is the goal, and it is an eternal goal. But it’s more of a direction than a place to arrive at. Anytime that we think that this goal can be accomplished, we impede the forward momentum of history, and fall short of the eternal goal, the eternal fulfillment of the process.
We are to aim at perfection, knowing that all we will ever achieve is improvement. And that’s why we practice our faith, practice living into the gifts of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. Let’s do that! Let’s improve these character qualities in our own lives.
Lord God, we ask that You would help the people in your churches to be tuned to what is important. These days it is easy to get distracted by materialism and cultural expectations. And when we do that we miss the main event. Please help our hearts and minds to be focused on Your Son, our Lord, this Christmas. Remind our own souls of our great salvation that has come from You alone. Help us to celebrate what is eternal over what is temporal. Give us the desire to search Your Scriptures for more understanding of Your life and miracle of rebirth. Bless your churches with a focused heart and mind on the message of the love of Jesus.
When we celebrate Christmas in ways that are common to our culture and traditions, may our celebrations be reminders of the greater gift and relationship that we have in You. We praise You that you were born a child, that Your son was given for the likes of us. We are grateful that Your government is on His shoulders. Thank You that You are called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. We celebrate the victory that Your government and peace will never end. Our hope is fully in You (Isaiah 9:6). We give you the glory and honor and majesty forever, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
from GoodNews—2023
Phil continues leading St. Paul’s Evangelical Church; he loves it! And it continues writing and publishing. He published two new books this year: GoodNews 2024, a collection of sermons. and Highland Ridge Church—190th Anniversary, a short history of a neighboring church.
Phil posts weekly to https://phillipaross.substack.com
We are changing some of our habits due to our doctor’s suggestions. We seem to have joined the older persons generation. We are also eating better, moving to a “less meat” type diet, with continuing walking, exercises, and taking health supplements. We are mostly enjoying our seasoned years except when our bodies protest.
Our major hobby continues to be music: practicing together almost daily, working with our small church worship group and our organist, and playing for others whenever volunteer opportunities arise. Phil continues to improve at playing the guitar and singing in the past eight years when we started leading music at St. Paul’s Church. Stephanie continues to sing with the Marietta College Community Oratorio Chorus. This was her 10th year. It was the Marietta College/Community Chorus 99th Annual Messiah presentation. We continue leading music for some of the Walk To Emmaus 3-day Christian Retreat community events.
Phil purchased a keyboard for Stephanie’s birthday this year. We played one song together this year using guitar and keyboard. Thanks to a church member asking her to sing a solo about three years ago, her solo singing skills continue to improve. We continued doing “Live Music” for our third annual Trick or Treat night in front of our church. Fifth Street in Marietta, where our church is located, is one of the busiest streets for the Trick of Treat event in Marietta. Our music continues to be received well and we plan to do that again. This year, as someone was walking by us, said, “you should put out a bucket for donations”.
We had grandchildren visit from Cleveland, mostly in groups of two, several times during the summer and fall. The whole family visited for Christmas. We may be nearing our expiration date for the older kids, 13 and 10, who get busier each year, but our door is always open for youth visitors.
We went to to Arlington, Virginia, to visit son Austin and family for Thanksgiving this year. They are very busy with kid’s school and both adults working that we couldn’t find another time to visit. We went to Cleveland in November for son Justin and Leah’s 15th anniversary renewal vows. We had a good time.
Our home improvements have been completed for the time being.
Wishing you merriment and happiness!
Phil & Stephanie
Our Flock
