December 20, 2020

B04: The Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year B (2020)

Courtney Allen Crump

“A pastor friend was hoping to counter all the commercial Christmas frenzy swirling about his children, and to teach them what the season was all about. So he sat down at the kitchen table with his young child in the middle of December and they began the project of assembling a cardboard cutout nativity scene…Fold on the dotted line, the directions said. Place tab A in slot B, etc.,” begins Courtney Allen Crump, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia. She continues, “Easier read than done, of course, and within a few minutes, it was a disaster. Nothing worked as intended…The little boy was less than impressed…The four-year-old who was supposed to be learning the real meaning of Christmas – that Jesus is God’s son – said, ‘So, Daddy, where is God in this mess?’ A poignant Christmas memory, which also remains the quintessential Advent question: Where exactly is God, in all this mess?” Listen as Crump preaches from Luke 1:26-38 and reminds us that God is right in the middle of all of our messes.

Manuscript available: click HERE