Recent Devotions from Centreville UMC
-
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 25THE CHRIST CHILD Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar finally did arrive at the manger, and they laid it down. No sooner had they laid down their golden tent stakes, the branch of myrrh plucked from the fire, the Frankenstein who wasn’t frankincense -and set them at the foot of the Christ
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 24WEDNESDAYS WITH WESLEY IMMANUEL Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar found themselves worshipping at a candle light service when they beheld a cloud of witnesses. They thought of the dear departed who had taught them how to seek the Christ child. They thought of John Wesley, a circuit rider indeed, who rode
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 23PICK UP PAGEANT Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar happened upon a young fellow with a blanket, who was practicing for tomorrow’s pick up pageant. He was really hoping to play one of the shepherds. They know, after all, what Christmas is all about. WESLEY’S QUESTION: Is Christ real to me? SCRIPTURE:
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 22FRANKINCENSE “FRANKENSTEIN!” Melchior couldn’t stand it anymore, “THAT ISN’T FRANKINCENSE, CASPAR, that is FRANKENSTEIN!” Caspar kept insisting that he was going to be giving the Christ child frankincense when they arrived, and Melchior had tried to “cover a multitude of sins” with love, but he couldn’t stand it anymore and
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 21ANGEL TREE Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar were as lost as they had been the whole journey. “Wait, weren’t we following a star?” said Melchior. “Yes, we were. Where did it go?” said Caspar. But Balthazar was already walking towards something shining brightly in the distance. They followed and when they
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 20THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar entered into the hustle and bustle of Bethlehem. Here was a Martha world, and not a Mary was stirring.(See Luke 10:38-42) Here, hurry had not been eliminated, let alone ruthlessly. Here, everybody had watches and clocks, but nobody had
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 19RUNNING NUMBERS Caspar complained the whole trip. Never mind that a woman about to give birth was traveling nearby on a donkey to a strange town where she wouldn’t even have a room. There was a census and much like the book of Numbers, there was no dearth of murmuring.
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 18A GREAT LIGHT, MUST BE ITALIAN It was a dual celebration, Charles Wesley’s Birthday (see yesterday) and a Christmas party. There was a “white elephant” gift which Balthazar won. “It’s a major award!” he shouted and managed to hold onto it through the game. They sang Charles’s hymns and
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 17WEDNESDAYS WITH WESLEY -CHARLES, THAT IS “Is that a welkin?” asked Caspar innocently. “No, my friend, that is clearly an angel!” said Melchior. “Is it ringing?” asked Balthazar. “No, clearly, it is singing.” said Melchior growing more and more exasperated. Melchior was growing apoplectic. “IT SHOULD BE A WELKIN AND
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 16THE WRONG KIND OF THANKSGIVING Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar happened upon other pilgrims on their travels to Bethlehem. These pilgrims were practicing a thanksgiving of sorts. Now, giving thanks is a joyful practice, but these folks were thanking God that they were not like other people. Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 15YOUR AFFECTIONATE UNCLE My Dear Wormwood- I note with grave displeasure that you have let Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar attend the Young Adult book study. If the Christian’s laughter is bawdy, mocking, biting or satyric, all the better for our side. Should the Christian laugh at himself, I’m afraid the
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 14CANTATA FROM THE BIG PINK Upon waking, the wise men found themselves on the Advent wreath, (yes, they had to have a little help) Caspar, however, had found himself lost in a dark wood where the way had become wholly lost. Melchior and Balthazar were little better, for they had
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 13THE THREE SLEEPERS OF CENTREVILLE Whether you are Joseph taking your family into Egypt, or the wise and foolish virgins with their oil, Advent is about being a light sleeper and ready to awaken. But Christian legend also tells of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus. Under the emperor Decius in
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 12JOSEPH Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar happened across a man who was sleeping, they thought about waking him up to ask for directions to Bethlehem. But he seemed to be so peaceful. Little did they know that it was Joseph, the foster father of the Christ child, who could have very
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 11THE GOLD, OR YOU CAN’T BUY PEACE OF MIND Years later, when he was asked why he gave the gold to the Christ child, Melchior would tell this story: now, all three kings were kings and had tremendous reserves of gold, even the stakes of Balthazar’s tent were made of
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 10THE PEACE OF A HEART STRANGELY WARMED Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar were very excited to spend another Wednesday with Wesley. They were not so much transformed as they had brought a transformer toy. Wesley assured them that their hearts and minds would show the true transformation, as they “gave their
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 9THAT PASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING While traveling through the church, Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar found a prayer cloth that had been made by the CUMC members, lovingly knit and prayed through with every stitch. “Perhaps this cloth of prayer will help us find the Christ child.” said Caspar. “Well, we can
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 8S’MYRRHS Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar were still feeling awful about having gone to Herod, but the Bonfires and Carols event definitely gave them more peace in their hearts. They sang “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus” and “Silent Night” all while roasting marshmallows and making s’mores. All was calm and all
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 7PEACEABLE KINGDOM Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar were having trouble finding the Christ child, so they decided the best strategy would be to reverse engineer some bible prophecy. “When the peaceable kingdom is ready, the child to lead them will appear” said Melchior. Caspar took some hay from a nearby manger
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 6PREPPER-ATION, OR A THIEF IN THE NIGHT Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar knew that Advent was about Christ’s coming in many ways: in a manger at Bethlehem, into the human heart of the believer, at the time of death to take us home, and the hope of the second coming. Now
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 5Our Wandering Wise Men - December 5 THAT OTHER THING WITH FEATHERS Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar happened upon some ladies at “tea.” (Literally and figuratively) Whatever the women were whispering about seemed like tasty morsels indeed. A young maiden was betrothed to a righteous man, but she was found to
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 4Our Wandering Wise Men - December 4 OLD MAN, OR THE LAST GIFT GIVEN TO MEN Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar were not interested in looking for Christ in the defeats, disgraces, and failures of their own lives-and to them it certainly did not feel like hope. They were even starting
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 3WEDNESDAYS WITH WESLEY Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar were feeling pretty foolish for being naive about Herod. Then they happened upon John Wesley himself, who said rather wistfully “The Germans,” which was his term for the Moravians. The star was a Christmas ornament associated with them. John had met them during
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – December 2A STAR Almost as soon as they quit following foolish shepherds who lost their sheep, Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar saw a great light -as the prophets promised a people living in darkness would. But this light came from a star that God gave them to lead them to Christ.
Continue reading -
Our Wandering Wise Men – November 30Today marks the beginning of our Wandering Wise Men Advent devotion series, running from November 30 through December 25. Gaspar, Balthasar, and Melchior are setting out on their journey, following the star that promises the arrival of a King. Each day, you’ll get a glimpse into the humorous and heartfelt adventures
Continue reading