Scripture: Romans 8:14-17 (NRSVUE) – “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if in fact we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”

Message: One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Romans 8, and my favorite Easter hymn is “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today”1 written by Charles Wesley.  The fourth stanza has always stayed with me:

Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

These words remind us that because of what Jesus has done for us, through the Cross, the Grave, and the Resurrection, we too are invited into new life.  Paul says it plainly in Romans 8: “if in fact we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”  Following Jesus doesn’t give us a free pass to avoid hard things.  Discipleship is about taking up our cross daily, serving God sacrificially, and trusting that even in death, God is still at work.  But it is also about the resurrection life we are given now, a life shaped by hope, freedom, and the assurance that we belong to God as beloved children.

We cannot skip the cross, the grave, or the skies.  Yet in Christ, all three are ours.  The cross no longer defines us by shame, the grave no longer has the final word, and the skies remind us of the glory that is still to come.

Prayer: Almighty God, during this season of Lent, help us to slow down and remember that there is no resurrection without the Cross and the Grave.  Help us also to remember that because of Christ, we are invited to live the resurrection life even now.  Amen.

Pastor John Shughart

1.     “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” by Charles Wesley.  1739. Public Domain. UM Hymnal 302.

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Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Christmas Carol Theology

Scripture: John 1:1-14 (NIV) – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.   Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  There was a man sent from God whose name was John.  He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.  He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.  The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.  Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.  The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Message: In the Methodist tradition, there is a saying: we sing what we believe.  This conviction likely stems from Charles Wesley, one of the founders of the Methodist movement in the 1700s, who wrote more than 6,000 hymns.  Through these songs, Methodist theology took root and spread across the world, shaping the denomination we know today.

Among Wesley’s hymns is the beloved Christmas carol, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”1.  It is a personal favorite of mine and one of the most widely recognized Christmas songs.  While many sing it as part of holiday tradition, sometimes without much thought for its religious meaning, the hymn contains profound lyrics that reveal the mystery of what took place that first Christmas in Bethlehem.

Advent is the season when we prepare to celebrate what theologians call the Incarnation.  John’s Gospel tells the story in a unique way: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”  The Incarnation means that in Jesus, God took on a human body and lived among us.  That is no simple idea, it’s mysterious and hard to fully grasp!  But Charles Wesley helps us glimpse its meaning.

In just three verses, set to a tune many of us know by heart, Wesley makes this complex truth accessible.  The hymn reminds us that the birth of Christ is more than a story, or seasonal celebration; it is the moment when God’s love broke into human history in the most personal way possible.

So this Advent, listen closely to the words as you sing.  They are not just beautiful poetry, they are theology in song, teaching us who God is and how much God loves us.

I find particular hope in verse three:

Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that we no more may die,
born to raise us from the earth,
born to give us second birth.1

Prayer: May these words strengthen your faith and fill you with hope this season.  Amen.

Pastor John Shughart

1.  “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” by Charles Wesley. 1743. Public Domain. UM Hymnal #240. 

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