ROAD-TRIPPING TO BETHLEHEM: ”The Hill Country (Luke 1:39-55) - December 19, 2021

Christmas tells the extraordinary story about how God came to us at a particular time in history, in a particular place in the world, with a particular name that stands above all other names: Jesus. But the season of Advent—the four weeks leading up to Christmas—is an ancient story about the inward, spiritual journey we must make if we are ever to find this God who has come to us in Jesus.

Because God came in such a humble, hidden, unspectacular way, the world nearly missed the first Christmas. As might we even today. So, we make this Advent journey together, traveling across the spiritual landscape of our lives and our world: through places and spaces of chaos, forgiveness, emptiness, wisdom, and wonder, until we arrive at last in Bethlehem—and there behold the face of God beholding us in love.

The only way to Bethlehem is through the sea, the river, the desert, the hill country, and the fields. The promise of God goes with us as we journey through them. The presence of God waits for us somewhere beyond them, in the form of a child wrapped in swaddling and lying in a manger.

Are you ready to road-trip to Bethlehem?