SMALL GROUP: THE FIRST CHRISTMAS

Believe it or not, Christmas is just around the corner. Perhaps some of us have started putting up miniature lights while the weather is nice. Perhaps some of us have started listening to holiday music already. Perhaps some of us have prepared lists for those who have been “naughty or nice.” Perhaps some of us have been preparing the Advent and Christmas decorations for the church. But have we been preparing our hearts and minds for the season? To do just that, Rev. Michael Riggs is starting a short-term book study on THE FIRST CHRISTMAS by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan (the same authors as The Last Week, which several of us have read). The book explores what the gospels really teach us about Jesus’s birth through historical context, scriptural setting, and the stories’ message for our faith.

In THE FIRST CHRISTMAS, Borg and Crossan — top Jesus scholars and authors of The Last Week — help us see the real Christmas story buried in the familiar accounts we read in the Bible. Basing their interpretations on the two nativity narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Borg and Crossan focus on the literal story — the inner truth rather than the historical facts — to offer a clear and uplifting message of hope and peace. With THE FIRST CHRISTMAS readers get a fresh, deep, and new understanding of the nativity story, enabling us to better appreciate the powerful message of the Gospels.

If you would like to give your Advent and Christmas season a fresh perspective and prepare your spirit to experience the seasons in a new and powerful way, please contact Rev. Michael with your interest. This is not going to be a Sunday-morning group but rather something during the week, maybe in the evening, and perhaps at a coffeeshop or pub or even a rotation of people’s living rooms. Please consider being a part of this new study as we live into the words of that old hymn, “Let every heart prepare him room…”