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Big Idea: The shepherds got quite a wake-up call that night when the sky lit up "like a Christmas tree" (so to speak). Awe at the transformative glory of what God can do in our lives is the focus this week. Glories are streaming every day if we only have eyes to see. How would our lives be renewed if we saw the world and our lives through the lens of wonder?

Big Idea: One of the most famous stories about this beloved hymn took place in World War One, in 1914. British and German soldiers on the front lines called a truce on Christmas Day. So close were the encampments from one another, they could hear each other in the peaceful quiet of the truce singing "Silent Night," each in their own language. This prompted the soldiers to come out and meet on the battlefields, without weapons, and they spent the day playing soccer and exchanging small gifts -

Big Idea: This life purpose was given to Abraham - be blessed in order to be a blessing. In the great chain of being, it is given to some to realize that they have been blessed, in order that the chain of blessings be increased. That is the way God is working out the purposes of creation for blessing. God is more Omega than Alpha.

Big Idea: The ancient story of the flood and restoration of life on earth is another piece of God's Big Story with humans and life on earth. God has made this Creation and Covenant the source of a trustworthy relationship with humans. Can humans still trust this God to keep the promise? Can God still trust the humans to remember it?

Big Idea: History is replete with "flood" stories--stories about life on earth being threatened by wickedness. Every devastating war, every community catastrophe has the potential to wipe out life. When life is threatened on this planet, what is required for human life to again flourish?

Big Idea: In the human-constructed world of our time we have everything we need to preserve the life and health of the planet, including the thriving of human life. God has "shut us in." Now we are the current stewards of decisions that our ancestors have made--for good or for ill--to care for the planet that is our ark. Are we going to honor the calling to obey God and care for the planet?

Big Idea: Why does evil persist in a universe that God declared "Good?" This question has haunted humans forever, so much so that philosophers and thinkers have a name for it, the "theodicy" question. How we deal with this serious question will lead us either into life or despair.