December 21, 2025. Fourth Sunday of Advent. Year A.
Without knowing it (for he doesn’t focus on Christmas in the conventional sense), Paul’s salutation to the Romans is a distilled version of Christmas and the whole gospel story. This one sentence maps out all the high notes of our salvation history. A key phrase comes toward the end: “including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.” Like unsuspecting bystanders suddenly conscripted into the action, by God’s grace we, too, have become characters around the manger, “set apart for the gospel of God.”
Preacher: Rev. Dr. Mack Dennis
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