Jesus Brought Love on the First Christmas

Merry Christmas! I just love to say Merry Christmas during the Christmas season, don’t you?  Of course, I would say Merry Christmas all year long, but I think they might take me away in a strait jacket. Whoever “they” are. This Sunday December 24th at 10:30am is going to be a very special Christmas service.

Our big Christmas event is Christmas Lights the Night on Saturday, the 23rd. That is where we will have the Christmas train that takes the kids on a fun train ride. There will be s’mores while people wait. And then a live manger scene, with actors and animals playing their roles while being backed by beautiful music from our worship band. I don’t know if you know it, but the amazing worship band means that Eliot’s dad, a professional guitarist back in the day is there with their family friends to just lift the bar from a great worship band to a sensational worship band! The church and campus will be decorated to the hilt and our animals include a new camel named Hank the Tank.  We have a professional jazz trio opening the service to put a touch of class to our service. The choir will be there, and you will be able to hear a dynamic Christmas message from Pastor Mark Nsimbi. And then there is the “Oh Holy Night” moment when two Ballet dancers lead the tiny cherubs in an explosion of joy and beauty toward the end of the service, followed by singing “Silent Night” with our lights.

There is a hot chocolate bar like you’ve never seen before and Christmas cookie paradise to enjoy after the service. This may be the greatest Christmas spectacular that our church has ever put on in 40 years. You can get free tickets for the 4:00PM and 6:30PM at wacathedral.org or christmaslightsthenight.com.

The next day at our Sunday Christmas Eve morning worship service we will have our beloved Vanessa here for a mini-Christmas concert. The kids will have an old-fashioned Christmas story and I have the opportunity to share a special message/story on The Gift of Christmas Love. 

It’s going to be a very Merry Christmas weekend so please join us.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

Live every moment with joy

Imagine all the joy spreading through the whole world during Christmas 2023! According to PEW research it was estimated that there are 3.8 billion Christians worldwide in the year 2020. Wow, think about it, 3.8 billion people filled with Joy from Christmas. Imagine 3.8 billion people all determined to enjoy helping less fortunate people.

According to The Charitable Roundtable Christians’ charitable gifts make up the largest charitable gifts of any group in the world. And 30% of Christian giving is in the month of December. It is as if Christianity wakes up and flexes its muscles during the Christmas season. I feel that you can see the twinkle in the eyes of most human beings when they give to help others regardless of their religious background. The angels knew what they were talking about when they celebrated Christmas by proclaiming: “Joy to the World” at the first Christmas.

I just returned from meeting a jolly man named Heinz. Heinz is originally from Austria where the Christmas tradition is for families who wait for Christmas Eve to cut down their trees and bring them into their homes to decorate them on Christmas Eve. They fill their homes with the Evergreen fragrance of Christmas. Then the families go to church carrying candles and lanterns to take the flame from the Christmas Mass to light the candles of their homes. We met at the Tacoma Home Depot to receive a flame from the Eternal Peace Flame in Bethlehem that was passed hand to hand by Austrian Christians around the world to bless churches at Christmas time. The whole project began in 1987 and is spreading more and more throughout the world. Every year before Christmas, the flame originates at the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem and goes to Austria. From there it is distributed throughout the country by the Scout movement. The eternal light signifies peace to as many people as possible.

I also had the joy of meeting, RJ Ryder who leads a men’s Bible Study for St. Patrick’s Catholic church in Tacoma who met Heinz and his wife K.J. Lange (both Austrians who now live in Poulsbo but grew up in Austria) and now that they are retired, they have joined the Peace Light of Bethlehem project throughout the world. The head of Austrian airlines allowed them to fly to New York to pass the peace flame. A company from Austria funds the costs to spread this flame around the world. I can’t tell you how inspiring these kind Christians were as they shared with me how our world is being touched by churches passing the peace flame around the world. These enthusiastic people told me wonderful stories of how we need this Christmas peace flame more than ever. They are sharing hand to hand more than just a peace flame but also Christmas joy!

This week we are going to discuss the importance of Joy in our Christmas experience. Because Christmas is like opening a window opening to a refreshing breeze freeing us from all the stale stench of the world’s continuing predicament. WHO and WHAT are the angels that open the windows to relieve the rancid monotony we often find ourselves being suffocated by. And how can we open our lives to more of this Christmas joy being spread by angels.

Join me this Sunday as we learn about angels and joy from the Christmas story and see our advent candles being lit from the international Christmas Peace Flame from Bethlehem.

 Your friend for the rest of my life,

 Pastor Tim White

God has good news for all of us!

One of the big goals of Christmas is peace. Often there are Christmas “cease fires” declared in the middle of terrible wars. Christians look forward to helping someone wrestling with trouble and agony in their lives as we celebrate Christmas. We work hard to get ready for a moment of peace to celebrate Christmas. At Washington Cathedral families from Hope Link, The Youth Justice Center, and family to family have their needs placed on a giving tree. Those requests have just flown off the tree as Christians want to help others experience some peace at Christmas. People travel through chaos so they can be together for a moment of Christmas peace. The shepherds heard a message from the stars of: “peace on earth good will towards everyone”. After hearing this good news, the shepherds ran to Bethlehem to see the baby messiah in a manger.

This Sunday Pastor Mark will be sharing the story of the shepherds and a message about the good news of Christmas and the peace that it brings. I think we will all be blessed by this message during this hectic time on our planet. I hope to see you there!

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

Dare to follow your star!

Christmas means hope for everyone! And do we ever need hope this Christmas! This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent. The candle that will be lit by a family from the church represents the hope of Christmas. Our story time for kids will be the story of the three wise men of Christmas. These stories have been so much fun, and this Sunday will be no different.

Three famous Kurdish (descendants of the great Persian empire) traveled from what is now modern-day Iraq or Iran to Israel to investigate the coming of the Messiah. Today people often forget how scholarly the Persians were. Persia, known for its rich history, made significant contributions in various fields. They excelled in mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and philosophy. Algebra was greatly advanced by Persian mathematicians like Al-Khwarizmi, who laid the groundwork for the subject. Persian astronomers made strides in understanding celestial movements and developed instruments for observation. Additionally, Persian scholars like Avicenna made significant contributions to medicine and philosophy, shaping the foundations of these fields for centuries to come.

About the time of the Birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the whole world was fascinated by their knowledge, but it wasn't until much later did we truly understand the advanced nature of their knowledge. The Persian ziggurats, which are ancient stepped pyramids, served multiple purposes, including astronomical observations. Some believe these structures were used for tracking celestial movements, marking solstices, and understanding the stars' positions, aiding agricultural calendars and religious rituals. While not solely dedicated to astronomy, these ziggurats likely played a role in early observations and the study of celestial bodies by providing vantage points for observing the skies.

The Persian worship of Ahura Mazda is called Zoroastrianism and there is a long history of their mutual respect with Jewish - Christian theology. These Harvard-like scholars followed prophecy and astrological observations to travel over 1,000 miles to observe the Messiah. The collision of the two cultures was both insightful and exciting. Don't miss this week’s worship online or in person as we learn something together about hope and why great dreamers must follow their star.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

God is Compassionate!

God is Compassionate! That is the inspiring big idea that Pastor Mark will be sharing this Sunday at 10:30am online and in person. Our world needs this simple, powerful idea. The story he will be telling this week is from Jonah. I’m so excited because I love that story. When I hear Pastor Mark tell the stories, I’m a six-year-old kid again remembering the Bible stories my dad, or my grandpa used to tell in church. I’m filled with wonder as I listen, my faith is stirred, and my dreams are tickled as I delight in Pastor Mark’s presentation of the good news.

Last week, I received a newspaper article from a member of our church who now lives in Skagit County. It spoke to all the divisions in our world and country today. And then it told the familiar story of Rabbi Levine who was the leading Rabbi of Mercer Island’s reformed Jewish Congregation. In the 1960s Rabbi Lavine started a national television program aimed at having open discussions about divisive topics. His partner was Father William Tracy. There was huge division and conflict between Jews and Catholics. They invited other religious leaders to discuss these hot topics in front of the television audience. Over the years Rabbi Lavine and Catholic Father Tracy became the best of friends. As did other religious leaders in our area. They literally impacted the whole world, and we survived the tumultuous 1960s. Later Rabbi Levine was killed in a car accident by a car going the wrong way on Interstate 90.

I often watched the program and was greatly inspired by it. Later when Jackie and I moved here to start Washington Cathedral we were greatly impacted by this good news approach to resolving the conflict in the world. Our congregation was under 100 when I dared to share one of my dreams that someday we would build a sanctuary with a beautiful waterfall view. Nature inspires peace and I wanted that natural aid to touch people’s lives. I announced my dream, and everybody laughed. Even my closest friends and family laughed thinking I was joking. I was so discouraged by the cold response to my dream. After the service when I greeted people at the back an older lady came up to me and shook my hand saying, I believe in your dream, and I dropped a large check in the offering to start the funding of your waterfall. I was blown away and became quite emotional. I asked why she would do that didn’t she hear everyone laughing at me. She spoke, still holding my hand saying, you remind me of a clergy member of the Jewish community, and he was a bridge for a lot of people in our area. I asked who she was talking about. She said his name was Rabbi Raphael Levine and she asked me if I had heard of him. I said yes, he was a national religious leader, he was like the Norman Vincent Peale for Judaism and then I asked if she knew him. When I said that she began to cry. I waited for her to speak again and she said with a beautiful smile and a sparkling tear running down her cheek, Yes, I knew him, I was his wife.

Pastor Mark is on the right track when he says God is a compassionate God. Our world desperately needs to hear that message today. So don’t miss this Sunday’s message that will touch your heart and bring enemies together as friends.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

IF THERE IS A GIANT IN FRONT OF YOU THEN THERE IS A DAVID INSIDE YOU

Have you ever faced a giant who was standing between you and your dreams? Sure you have we all have. One of my giants came when I was in the 8th Grade. He was 6’7 270 pounds and was in the 9th grade. He was already being recruited by Woody Hayes at Ohio State University and he was a bully. He was first chair French horn, and I was second chair. He often pulled his switch blade and would hold it a half inch from my face as he tried to mock me and humiliate me. He did not want me to challenge him for first chair. So bullying was his tactic. We had tussled before school had started over a foul ball at Sanders-Jacobs Baseball Field in Kennewick but during that fight I had my best friend Rich Sanders and my brothers who helped me out. By retrieving that ball, it gave us a free coke to split. But now it wasn’t five against two, it was one on one, and his size made me look like a shrimp and his knife had at least a six-inch blade. I was full of anxiety facing him. Oh, he was a giant. Not the worst giant I would ever face though. My math classes might have been an even greater giant when I was in college. I had to study for two hours for every hour in class, meet with my professor once a week, and meet with a tutor once a week. My “A” in calculus or inferential statistics was a miracle from God helping me tackle my giant.

Have you ever faced a giant? Of course, you have and this week I will be telling the story David and Goliath to the kids with a “kid friendly” dramatical reenactment. The sermon will give you a mega boost to your faith. Boy do all the kids need to hear this. So, meet me at 10:30am online or in person at our Christmas decorated Sanctuary.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

God has a game plan!

Imagine that you are standing on the horizon of the rest of your life. You survey the landscape and see unexplored adventures piquing your curiosity. Oh, in all the wonderment there is enthusiasm and anxiety. And then you remember that God has a plan for you. That is a little bit of what the people of Israel must have felt as they prepared to follow Joshua into the promised land. It was the land of their ancestors. This land was promised to Abraham and was settled by Isaac and Jacob. Now it was their turn.

This must be a little like Pastor Mark and his wife Ann as they wait for the next exciting step of their lives. The kids can sense their family’s enthusiasm. Just like Joshua and the twelve tribes of Israel they are excited because they are trusting that God has a game plan, and they are deciding to trust in him.

This Sunday at 10:30 either online or in person you can benefit from the thrilling Bible study of Joshua. Pastor Mark will be preaching. I will see you there.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

God wants us to be different!

This week, I have been reading Cosmic Queries by Neil deGrasse Tyson.  I really find his mind fascinating; he helps me grow my faith as I think with him about the Universe.  I know we have some different beliefs about religion, but I think we would become friends if we could spend some time together.  In chapter 4 he and his team discuss the age of the universe. The number we have all been taught to memorize is 13.8 billion years.  But his team points out that there is another prominent theory placing the date at approximately 11 billion years. I found this chapter fascinating especially due to the announcement on July 14, 2023, that it may be twice as old as everyone is thinking.  

There was a recent paper by Rajendra Gupta of the University of Ottawa in which he argued that observations of distant galaxies with the JWST, the existence of some stars apparently older than 13.8 billion years, and a phenomenon called 'tired light', mean the universe is actually 26.7 billion years old.  While this theory was not mentioned in his book the conclusion is that the size of the universe also may not be able to be measured accurately at this time.    

This quandary is one of the things about science. There are some things we know. There are some things that we have differing theories of knowing. And then there are inevitably some things that we don’t know yet.  But all those things may change as we grow as a collective world.

If this blog is boring to you, maybe think on this: In following Jesus, we are growing as we understand things better. It’s an exciting discussion but we’re all going to change as we move into the future. With that in mind, please come to Washington Cathedral this Sunday at 10:30 am as we study the Ten Commandments together.  We all might learn something that we have never even considered. I would not be surprised if some of us changed our lives by looking at the Ten Commandments with fresh eyes.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

God is always on the rescue!

It’s a beautiful day on Thursday as I write this devotion. The sun is bright and lifting my spirit like only God can do. This phenomenon always surprises me because you would think after all these years of being a full-time follower of Jesus Christ that I would not need God to do this; and yet here I am being lifted like a hot air balloon. It feels amazing to have this power outside of myself to lift me up. God lifts my hopes, my need for forgiveness, my love of life, and my love of His Spirit. God is always on the rescue.

Exodus 14:14 the Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.

Pastor Mark is preaching this week on the God who always rescues. I don’t know about you, but I am loving watching pastor Mark emerge as a superb preacher. It’s just a privilege to witness the exciting story of Washington Cathedral. And I expect God to do a mighty work in my heart this Sunday at 10:30 am. So, I’m getting ready for a lift and a rejuvenation in my heart as our Lord works through Pastor Mark’s sermon. Don’t miss it.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

God and I can do the impossible!

You are so much better with God on your side!

I love the verse: “not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.”  Zechariah 4:6b

What a lightning bolt insight into our lives. It's not about God being on our side it’s more specifically an issue of us being on God’s side.  This weekend I have the privilege of sharing the story of Jacob and Esau including the life of Joseph.  At one point Jacob wrestles with God determined to have his blessing. This was the top priority of Jacob, always scheming throughout his life not to be left out and always thinking he needed to scheme to make things happen. But after that wrestling match, he learned how essential it was to be on God’s side and then he was renamed Israel. Israel has a lot of meanings varying throughout history. But originally it meant “let God prevail.”  As Israel (Jacob) became a prince and the father of 12 sons who founded the 12 tribes of Israel.

What a privilege to share this story with the kids and then to see its impact on us adults.  Join us Sunday at 10:30 for the experience of watching schemers become princes under the power of God’s word.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White