Luke 1:56 NLT

Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back to her own home.

Luke 1:56 NLT

Luke doesn't tell us why Mary stayed 3 months with Elizabeth- maybe it was to give Elizabeth someone to talk to 'cos Zechariah wasn't speaking!

Maybe it was for Mary, having some distance from other members of he family, maybe it was for Elizabeth, an older woman having her first baby...but whatever their reasons, they formed a little community for a time.

This need for community and connection is in us, and here it may look a bit unusual:

An older couple, one mute, from a long line of Priests, having their first child, and Mary, a single Mum figuring out her part in God's Redemptive Story that she finds herself parachuted into...

What we need may be found in unusual or unexpected relationships.

Here at the beginning of this new phase of God's Redemptive Story is a little community, for a time.

Perhaps today on Christmas Eve there's an invitation to community, a looking back on relationships from the last year, a looking forward, someone to be grateful for, someone who has given you something you needed for a season...

Maybe someone needs inviting in, welcoming in today.

Maybe there's someone who needs to hear from you about the goodness of their relationship from 2025...

#advent

#Christmas 

#redemptivestrands 

#community 

#speaklife