Overall Theme: This year, we get to celebrate Epiphany on a Sunday. We just celebrated Christmas and the proclamation that the light has come into the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. Now, we get to see what that gift offers to those of us who walk in the darkness of uncertainty and fear in our time. The presence of the Lord is not packed up with Christmas. Instead, the joy of the Lord becomes our strength as it grows in our lives. Like those who came from far away to follow a star, with great expectation, we also lay our gifts before the Lord having received the news of the boundless riches of God. Now we are no longer alone but part of a community that is the body of Christ. We have far more strength and varieties of gifts together. As we strive for the greater gifts that come through the presence of the Lord and the blessings of community, we discover the true joy of the Lord. This invites us to put out into the deep water of our uncertainty and fear knowing that our power and strength comes from the Lord. As we began the Season of Epiphany laying our gifts before the Lord, we once again return to our offering. Yet this time, the offering has been magnified. As we turn to the Lord, the joy of the Lord becomes our strength!
