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Advent 2025 - Be Amazed

During the 2025-26 Advent and Epiphany season at BMC, our worship will be shaped by the Leader theme of “Be Amazed.” Following the Narrative Lectionary, texts will be drawn from stories in the Old and New Testaments that invite and evoke amazement. As noted in the Leader material:

“The assigned scriptures speak of dry bones, a fiery furnace, a mystic’s monologue, and the birth and adult ministry of Christ….Our planning team thought for a while…until someone asked, ‘What do all these stories have in common? They are amazing!’ There is, in each of them, a common thread of God acting in powerful and astonishing ways. The response seen in many of these passages and likewise evoked in us as readers is that of awe. Be amazed!”

It is worth noting that “amazement” is a word that carries many meanings. Literally, the word means “to put into a maze,” and the word “maze” itself originally meant “bewilderment” or “confusion of thought” and was therefore used to describe a bewildering group of paths. While the word’s more positive use in the context of faith suggests wonder at something that God has done, it is appropriate to also say that we might find ourselves experiencing bewilderment and even confusion during Advent too as we explore the many paths of God’s people through history. We invite all our emotions, our whole selves, into the exploration of stories of hope, peace, joy, and love and trust that God will go with us on this Advent journey.