jesus christ – Page 4

Dec 28 2022

He’s Still With You

This Sunday, we are featuring a blog written by Reverend David Wright, Executive Director of BMA TenPoint and former UniteBoston Board President. Read below to hear Rev. David’s word about God’s abiding presence, an encouragement for Christians in Boston in this new year.

“Emmanuel: God With Us” print by Mary Fleeson

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.“
– Isaiah 7:14

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
– Matthew 1:23

When Judah was on the verge of destruction by its enemies God, through the prophet Isaiah, told King Ahaz to ask for a sign that the catastrophe would not happen. King Ahaz refused God’s offer, so Isaiah provided one anyway. Isaiah tells Ahaz –and us– that a virgin will give birth to a Child and His Name will be Immanuel.

As Israel is suffering under the oppression of the Roman Empire, Matthew reminds us of this sign. “God with us;” what an unimaginable prospect! The God Who is so holy, that people couldn’t approach the mountain on which He appeared for fear of death; the Creator of the Universe whose throne was Heaven and who rested His feet on the earth; the God who parted the Red Sea and allowed Israel to walk through on dry land; this same God is “with us!”

John picks up this theme in his Gospel and tells us, in so many words, that God took on flesh and lived among us. In the person of the Son, Jesus Christ, God walked with, talked with, and deeply engaged with us on a personal level. And this all starts with the virgin giving birth to Jesus; it all starts with Christmas.

While all of this is Good News, to be sure, the Greater News is that He is still with us! The Presence of God, through His Holy Spirit, now abides within and among us. No matter if we face the destruction that Israel faced during the time of Ahaz, or the oppression Israel faced in the days of Matthew, God is with us!

None of us have survived the Pandemic years unscathed. The pains and losses we have suffered –individually and collectively—are real. But the promise of God remains sure. He is with us. He has never left us, He has never forsaken us, and He never will! That is the promise of God. That is the beginning of Epiphany.

Whatever you are facing at this moment, whether good or bad, difficult or easy, remember that God is still with us. And no matter what we face, we can be of good courage because the One who is with us has overcome this world!

“All That is Good” Mural by Alex Cook, painted in partnership with The Boston Project Ministries

Sep 02 2022

5 Reasons to Attend the “Together Again” Concert

The Worship Band at the 2019 “Engage Boston” Concert

By Alexis Monroe

“Together Again” is UniteBoston’s first big concert since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Taking place on September 17th in downtown Boston, this concert is the opportunity for Christians to come together in a public place to worship. Not only that, we also get to help the city of Boston get a glimpse of what a diverse and loving Christian community looks like – This is why we would like everyone who has a heart to see Boston glorify God to come worship with us!

My name is Alexis Monroe and I’ve had the privilege of working behind the scenes to help facilitate the logistics for the concert – and today I’d like to share with you some reasons why you should attend!

Reason #1: It’s going to be a big reunion!

Over the last two years, we have not been able to gather as a large body of Christians due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While this kept us physically safe, at times, this isolation and social distance brought on feelings of loneliness. “Together Again” is the perfect opportunity to reclaim the feelings of joy, love, and embrace that we find when we are gathered as a community of believers. This year’s concert is a great opportunity to meet up with old friends, stumble upon a work colleague walking through the park, or meet another fellow Christian who also wants to feel and share the love of Christ.

Reason #2: There’s going to be great music!

We have an incredible line-up of Boston-based artists who are performing, including the Christian hip-hop artists Caleb McCoy & Jalen Williams, the deep soul music of Jen Aldana, rich guitar jams from Doully Yang, and the bilingual rap revivalist Ada Betsabe. This year, we also have a community choir with the core of “God’s Chosen” from Gordon College, as well as our usual united worship band. Join us to support Boston-based artists and to hear great jams that are glorifying God filling the heart of the city!

Reason #3: Boston needs to see the love of Jesus Christ

The Bible says that Christians are a light set on a hill that all the world needs to see (Mt 5:14) – So let’s let our light shine! As our society continues to be divided, love can often seem intangible, but as believers in Jesus Christ, we know the love of God is always around us. “Together Again” is the chance for us to show Boston that love comes in all shapes, sizes, races, ethnicities, abilities, and languages. While we worship and praise our God, the light we hold will shine brightly through the city. We invite you to help us shine this light.

Reason #4: We have giveaways to help you stay “Together Again”

Our “Together Again” concert is not just about being together for this one night, but we also want to provide you with opportunities to experience the joy of community with some amazing giveaways! All of our giveaways are activities you can do with someone else. Whether that’s learning how to roller skate at Chez Vous with a buddy, grabbing a matching tee or hoodie from Hope Design, a group workout session with a friend, or a photoshoot with your bestie, our giveaways will help you do something new with someone you love. You can enter to win one of these giveaways by RSVPing on our Facebook page and commenting on our giveaway posts.

Reason #5: We get to be a church without walls

As a body of believers, we often meet within buildings in cities and places we are familiar with, but may be unfamiliar and foreign to someone who has never attended church. When we worship in public places, it gives people who normally would not step into a church building the opportunity to witness authentic worship. With a variety of musical performance styles, a diverse band and community choir, as well as community tables with churches and organizations throughout the city, this is a great way for some people to see Christianity!

Please join us for the concert and help to spread the word! You can RSVP here via Facebook to receive notifications and enter special giveaways we have just for you. – Local organizations and businesses are also invited to host a Sponsored Table during our fall concert to help connect with all the people who attend!

Mar 02 2022

How to Pray for Peace in Ukraine

“We must pray for peace in Ukraine, but we must pray for the kind of peace that accompanies justice and virtue and truth—even if that takes time and, perhaps, some fighting to secure.“

Today, we want to offer a reflection on how we can be praying amidst the growing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Our guest blogger is Greer Bates Cordner, who is a Ph.D. student at Boston University School of Theology and a former missionary in southern Ukraine. Read below to hear her suggestions on what it means to pray for peace in Ukraine right now.

(Photo: Nadya Ershova is originally from St. Petersburg, Russia and here stands in support of Ukraine at a rally in front of the Massachusetts State House. Photo by Pat Greenhouse / Boston Globe)

Many people have committed to fast and pray or attend special worship services to ask God for peace in Ukraine. As we prepare for those important devotions, though, I felt an urge to share a caution that I received during some of my own pleadings.

It is important to consider what kind of “peace” we desire for Ukraine. More specifically, I think that we need to pray for a “peace” that means something much more than an end to the armed conflict.

The war needs to end—absolutely. The shelling and killing and destroying must stop. But there are many ways for the conflict to end, and not all of them constitute “peace,” in my mind.

After all, if Ukraine surrenders, gives in to Putin’s puppet government, yields her territory, and turns vassal, the fighting might end. But would that mean “peace”? If Ukraine falls (without surrender), and time passes before any meaningful pods of resistance can form, there might be a lapse in armed conflict for a while. Would that interim be a time of “peace”? Has there been “peace” in Ukraine for the past several years while the fighting and occupation have simmered out of sight from our headlines and news feeds? Was there “peace” in the months leading up to this most recent invasion, before the fighting broke out?

We must pray for peace in Ukraine, but we must pray for the kind of peace that accompanies justice and virtue and truth—even if that takes time and, perhaps, some fighting to secure.

Let us pray that the armed conflict ceases without the destruction of Ukraine’s sovereignty.

Let us pray that the invaders’ hearts will sicken at the realization of their actions, and that anyone with an ounce of authority over the troops will begin to pull back, resist Putin’s commands, and leave their neighbors be.

Let us pray that the defenders’ hearts will strengthen to endure whatever amount of fighting it takes to achieve the kind of peace that doesn’t mean victory for the abusers.

Let us pray that the civilians will find shelter and support, that international aid will rally behind them, that countries will embrace the refugees, and that families can somehow be reunited and live in enduring security.

Let us pray that in the aftermath of this war, Russia, Ukraine, and the rest of our nations take hard stock of our governments, and begin (or continue) the process of rooting out corruption, self-interest, and greed.

Let us pray that this war doesn’t set up a precedent of inaction by those of us whose personal security affords us the option to look away, or to call for the speediest end to the fight, no matter the cost to a faraway country.

Let us pray for the stomachs to fight for hard peace instead of the absence of conflict.

Oh God, pour out peace on Ukraine, on the world, but please let it be this kind of peace—even if it takes time and some fighting to reach. And if the road to hard peace isn’t fast or free of conflict, then pour out strength and courage and faith on anyone who battles for what’s right and true.

“Ego eimi, I am, Do not be Afraid,” by Soichi Watanabe.

О Боже, дай Украине настоящий, тяжёлый, справедливый мир. И дай ей храбрость бороться для него. Пусть это будет в Украине по словам Твоего Сына: «Мир оставляю вам, мир Мой даю вам; не так, как мир даёт, Я даю вам. Да не смущается сердце ваше и да не устрашается.» Во имя Иисуса Христа, аминь.

[Translation: Oh God, give Ukraine a real, hard, just peace. And give her the courage to fight for it. Let it be in Ukraine according to the words of Thy Son: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.]

Apr 08 2021

Are We There Yet?

This week, our featured blogger is Ellie Wiener, who lives in Beverly and is a member of North Shore Community Baptist Church. Ellie is is a full-time student at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. As many are growing weary with dynamics relating to the COVID-19 public health crisis, Ellie shares a powerful reflection and call to action to cling to the resurrection hope found in Jesus Christ because He is our End.

The end. These sweet words of closure place the period on the best stories, celebrated with a satisfied exhale. How is it that this common phrase of finality has frayed into elusiveness and uncertainty so abruptly? Often when I stop to probe the restlessness I register stirring within my soul, it is this devolution of my sense of “the end” I find churning at the core. I discover that once again, my fickle self sends out grasping hands to latch onto any hopeful statistic, any felicitous daydream of when and how this pandemic will come to an end so life can return to the normalcy we did not know we should have treasured so much.

But then projections prove to be a double-edged sword, for I rarely find congenial the assessments of how long it may take for society to open back up (haltingly, guardedly) to work and gathering, for distribution of vaccines to quell this unwieldy virus. Our best number-crunching and prudent proactivity are a meager match for this invisible yet formidable foe of a virus that keeps demanding more of our calendar, resources, bodies…

This image was made by Ellie’s friend Emmy Short, who is also a member at NSCBC. Reflecting at the close of 2020 on the year behind and before, they collaborated on this piece as a way of creating a faith-informed commentary on the calendar.

And then if I press on still further into the labyrinth of my heart, the dim pathways become only more grim. I encounter what I scarcely dare admit: that I most often, most strongly desire “the end” for myself first. Even though my situation is far less dire—in fact, rather pleasant on the whole—in comparison with the grieving and/or vulnerable millions worldwide who are anxious over lost jobs, pushed to the brink of starvation, mourning a loved one, physically compromised, etc., still I somehow retain the selfishness to wish first for the alleviation of what feels most unideal in my own life. Perhaps you resonate, whatever your situation may be. Yet is not the way of the cross to carry the death of Jesus around in our bodies so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our lives and the lives of those around us (2 Cor 4)? Rather than looking for the quickest escape route from suffering, should we not purposefully ally ourselves with those most likely to linger in suffering long after many have recovered and forgotten? O God, have mercy.

And in God’s mercy, may I—and we, together as the church—absorb and lament the pain of the world through tears of faithful intercession. In God’s mercy, may we enter the specific griefs of our hurting neighbors, with no hurry to exit and no agenda to accomplish other than to bear the presence of Christ in love. In God’s mercy, may we run to the sufferer with the winsome, hope-filled comforts of a tender Savior.

How may this be done? Only if our Lord is our End. We are no longer lost, for we have been found at the End, in the End; we are no longer blind, for we have beheld the End; we are no longer thirsty, for we have drunk to the End. In our God we have encountered all that is substantial and lasting, wholly satisfying truth. No longer must we linger in limbo as we restlessly pine for circumstances to emerge as we would ordain; rather, we are invited to acquiesce delightedly to life and time as God has masterfully ordained them.

What is more, Christian faith would come up tragically short if devoid of eschatology, theology of the end. Paul has said that if only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men (1 Cor 15). I am learning to cling to the resurrection of my Lord as I never have before, trusting that even now in the risen Jesus the Spirit has ushered me into the Father’s presence in the heavenly realms, uniting his people to the divine life and securing the life to come (Eph 2). It is indeed fitting that humans should recoil at the brokenness and darkness of the world, refusing to settle for anything other than wholeness and light. We are only able to stare a sin-scarred world in the face without fleeing in terror or collapsing in despair because we stand with our God who once made and declared everything good; has climactically thwarted death in the cross that gave way to life; and promises to make all things new at last. Then—how my heart burns within me—the end will come. And outstripping our wildest imagination, it will be unshakably and unendingly glorious.

Dec 20 2019

When God Became Man…

This week, we feature two Christmas reflections written by local Christian leaders: Kelly Madden, Director of the Boston Fellows and member of the Church of the Cross, and Sherami Hinders who is on staff at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and a member of Highrock Arlington. These are timely reads as Christians throughout the world celebrate the significance of God becoming human in the person of Jesus Christ.

How Long Did Jesus Live as a Man?

By Dr. Kelly Madden

God became man. “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” Luke 1:31

O God, you make us glad by the yearly festival of the birth of your only Son Jesus Christ: Grant that we, who joyfully receive him as our Redeemer, may with sure confidence behold him when he comes to be our Judge; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

“How long did Jesus live as a man?” I often ask, when teaching.

“Thirty-three years,” my hearers obligingly answer.

“No, it’s a trick question,” I warn them, with a smile.

(But it’s not, really; it’s no arcane bit of theology.)

“He is still a man. He still has a body.”

If this idea is new to you, too, then let me say, first: This is not controversial. Not a “Some-scholars-would-say” technicality. No, this is as biblically-basic and historically-orthodox as it gets.

He was conceived and born and lived in a body, suffered and died in a body, was buried, rose again in a body, ascended to the right hand of the Father in a body, and will return again to judge the living and the dead in a human body.

That’s bare-bones Christian teaching and if you don’t know it, then I hope this provokes a couple of reactions in you.

First, I hope it makes you a little angry that no one has ever taught you this foundational truth. I hope it causes you to wonder about what other basic beliefs have eluded so much of the church today, despite our claims to hold the Bible as our final authority.

Second, I hope it will spur you to pay attention to what I’m going to say next. Because this matters.

**In a body.** (Carvaggio, *Doubting Thomas*)

God took on human form forever. He chose to live as a human being, not just for a few decades, but for all of eternity forward.

That shows the level of his commitment to us, of his love for us.

Of course, we must soon go on to talk about the cross and his ultimate demonstration of love for us. But not today.

Today, just let such thoughts fill your mind and emotions during this season, as they did Mary’s, as she tried to grasp, in faith and wonder, what the angel was telling her, and the meaning of later events.

Ponder. What difference does it make?

It says everything about God’s commitment to our physical and material well-being. Don’t let the perversions of the prosperity gospel throw you off here. Jesus became man to save us.

Save us from what?

Well, whadya got? He came to save you from that.

From sin and judgment. But not just to save some narrow, invisible, interior part of you, apart from your daily indifference to God and the challenges of a boss who’s a jerk and financial slavery and a child in need and personal tragedy and that nasty habit that’s keeping you from joy in Jesus and a dull sense of desperation about where your life is headed and a fear of being alone and the injustices you see in your own life and others’ and in society and… and….

No, he came to save you—to save all of us, in our lonely-together lostness apart from God—from all that. From that.

The Gospel of Luke is not talking about salvation from injustice and disease and suffering as merely spiritual metaphors. Jesus is Lord and Savior of the hard-edged realities we live every day.

We have been saved, we are being saved, we will be saved. “Advent” means “coming” and is a season of looking and longing and preparing for his second coming, as much as his first. Maranatha. Already, but not yet.

Kelly Madden, PhD, MDiv, is Executive Director of the Boston Fellows, a nine-month fellowship for Christian professionals from Boston-area churches of many denominations. It seeks to help the churches equip their emerging leaders with a theology of vocation, work, and rest and the spiritual disciplines necessary for workplace excellence in service to Christ and the world.

The Wonder of Christmas

By Sherami Hinders

“The Lord answered Job… ‘Where were you… when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?’” ~Job 38:1, 4, 7

I spent this Thanksgiving at a home in the woods, and when I retrieved my overnight bag from the car that evening I had a moment of silence, away from the pie-scraped plates being washed and the giggles of children running circles while they burned through their sugar rushes. And, in that moment of quiet, wooded silence, I looked up. Heaven’s skies proved faithful once again, and there I noticed Cassiopeia… that famously W-shaped constellation.

“Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing.” ~Isaiah 40:25-26

I was immediately taken back in time: one of my most real moments from my second summer in Mongolia as a college student involved Cassiopeia. I was at a camp in the wilderness with dozens of beautiful children, orphaned and aching for love (yet somehow filled with so much of it to give). And as I looked up into the camp’s night sky, I saw it. My eyes took Cassiopeia in, and I marveled… What a creation God has made, that this simple constellation I saw all my years in Iowa also glows across the seas in this foreign land, for these little ones to see.

“You must be so big, God.”

And here I saw it again… this same constellation, nearly two decades later, on the edge of the Atlantic. In my limited awareness, I assume the stars remain silent. But truth is, Cassiopeia witnesses to its Creator without missing a day. Sometimes hidden from sight, sometimes because I forget to look up… but if I still myself enough, if I remember to look for God’s glory around me, if I step away from the noise of artificial light and hurried clamor, I find it again.

I wonder at the wisemen so many years ago, who journeyed by way of a mysterious star… A star whose witness announced the greatest mystery of all: God has come into our world! As one of us, in form of tender babe. God has come into our world to live with us, die for us, rise and rescue us… a mystery more real than all my mechanical assurances with which I try to surround myself.

May God’s good mystery kindly overwhelm us this Christmas season, that our bend toward the mechanical and controlled may straighten. May we stand a bit more upright… so we might take in God’s stars, our ears ever closer to hear the songs of heaven.

“In heaven… they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy… because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.’” ~ Revelation 4:1a, 5:9-10

What incredible news these heavenly choirs proclaim!

What memories linger for you from 2019 when creation (light or land, skies or seas, animals or Adams) witnessed to God-with-us?

Sherami Hinders works for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA as a National Scripture Engagement Specialist and a New England Coordinator for Spiritual Formation and Prayer. She is certified as a Spiritual Director and will complete her Master of Arts in Theology this spring.

How Long Did Jesus Live as a Man?

The Wonder of Christmas

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