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This is a preview for the first sermon in the series “Passion: When God’s Love Meets Our Betrayal”  To watch the recording of any of the sermons in this sermon series, visit our website. In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” -Mark 11:12-26 (NIV) In college, I found myself accidentally taking a pilgrimage to Rome during Holy Week. (I know, I know: how does a small town Kentucky girl accidentally get to Rome? That, my friends, is a story for another day. But you can thank my friend Melissa and a very upset stomach.) Eight years later, and I’ve still never experienced a city alive the way Rome was the Holy Week of 2016. The air buzzed with thousands of visitors flooding the city to remember the events leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion and death. I remember visiting St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, filled with weary wanderers with hopeful eyes–those mourning the traps of sin around them and yet expectant of Christ’s victory to come. I remember Melissa teaching me to do the stations of the cross for the first time, and the wonder I experienced practicing them in the streets surrounding the Colosseum. Jesus may have died at Golgotha. But the shadow of death looms at the site of Christian martyrs. It gives new meaning to Jesus’ call, “take up your cross and follow me” (Matt. 16:24). And it was here that God helped me understand the power and purpose of Lent and Holy Week within the Church Calendar. Lent is a season marked by reflection and confession prior to Easter. Traditionally, the Church uses this time to fast, recognizing our depravity and need for Jesus everyday of our lives. Like many Baptist churches, FBCM doesn’t have much of a history incorporating Lent practices into our rhythms of the year. And while that doesn’t make us “bad Christians,” I can’t help but wonder if we’re missing out something that God uses to deeply form many of our sister churches throughout the globe. So this Lent, FBCM is going to be doing something a little bit different. For the next forty days, we will be studying Mark’s gospel as we expand “Holy Week” into an entire Lenten series. We will explore the many ways in which the disciples betray Jesus in the week leading up to his death. But more importantly, we will also see how our God responds to our betrayals with his love and invites us into repentance and life everlasting. And wow! The text for Holy Monday is quite the place to start! Mark 11:12-26 accounts what might be Jesus’ most infamous or most heroic moment–depending on which side of the debate you’re on! Jesus appears to have zero chill when he enters the Temple in Jerusalem. At first glance, he sees innocent Jews being taken advantage of by merchants trying to turn a profit by selling overpriced animals to sacrifice for worship. It’s a sickening display watching the merchants prey on those who have little and simply want to worship the Lord. So naturally, Jesus does what any of us would do. He runs and flips over all the merchant’s tables! He chases them throughout the Temple while yelling, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. But you have turned it into a den of robbers!” (And in other gospels, there’s even a whip! Yikes!) Alright, so maybe this isn’t exactly what any of you would do. I’ve personally never flipped tables or chased people down the street when I’m mad. So it’s shocking that our God, Jesus, does do such a thing. So what do we do with this scene? Is it an excuse to justify extreme actions when we’re angry or see injustice? No, not quite. To really understand odd passages like this in the Bible, the best thing we can actually do is look at the context. And Mark’s gospel gives us some pretty big clues about what’s going on here. Both before and after the temple scene is a story about Jesus and his disciples and a fig tree. Jesus curses the fig tree for not bearing fruit, so the tree shrivels up. Then he teaches his disciples, “Have faith in God.” Not a shallow or showy type of faith put on display for others. But a genuine faith built on prayer, belief, repentance, and forgiveness. This is the problem with the people at the temple that day. The merchants were like the fig tree. They wanted to appear to be spiritual by “providing” sacrifices for worship. But it was all a show. There was no fruit of the spirit in it. They didn’t care about the worship. They only cared about the money they could make off of ripping others off. Jesus’ reaction is one that removes the weeds of unfruitfulness that prevent the Temple from the true worship that God has called them too. And while FBCM doesn’t have merchants turning our Fellowship Hall into a market, this Holy Monday story should make us reflect on the way we come into worship each Sunday. Congregational worship is serious business. And yet, despite their betrayal in worship and fruitlessness, Jesus marches on towards the cross. Reflection Questions Reflect on the Bible: How does the comparison between the fig tree and the temple change the way you think about the story of Jesus cleansing the temple? Reflect on your life and faith: How has our church betrayed God in our worship? Are there times that you come to church without keeping your focus on God? Why do you think it’s so easy for us to forget God when we come to church? Reflect on God's grace: How is God leading you to go deeper in faith, prayer, repentance, and forgiveness this Lenten series?

Our sermon podcast has returned! We'll continue to live stream on our YouTube channel. And you'll continue to be able to find previous videos on our church center channel⁠. But in addition, sometime the week after they're preached live, we'll be putting our sermons online in audio-only podcast. We hope this will be a convenient library for any interested in the messages preached during our worship service. "Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives." - Colossians 3:16a (NLT) Here are some features of the podcast: Download and listen more easily on your commute, or when you're wanting to listen or catch-up on sermons without watching a whole live-stream / video. Each episode has a short intro and outro, an arrangement of "Be Thou My Vision," by FBCM's Worship Minister Dr. Clifton Davis. And each episode will end with one of several brief testimonies with brief instructions on how to find out more about our church. Our first one is from one of our elementary students, Landon! Listen to the end of the episode. He did a good job in his podcast debut! Available on all major podcast platforms. Apple Podcasts Amazon Music YouTube Music Spotify And many more. You can find many of them linked on our Spotify for Podcasters page. You can also ask your smart speaker to play "First Baptist Church Muncie Indiana Podcast" and it should play the latest episode. Share this resource with friends. We hope it will be a convenient way to discover or revisit the sermons, and may prove edifying for your faith in Jesus.

This is a preview for the sixth sermon in the series “Light Bulb Moments: When God Shows Up.”  To watch the recording of any of the sermons in this sermon series, visit our website. “In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. [Jesus], what do you say?” -John 8:1-11 (NIV) Barefoot and curious, little Kendall was obsessed with playing in the dirt. Jumping in mud puddles, making mud pies, and digging in the garden were daily happenings at my great grandmother’s house. Perhaps that’s why this week’s Bible passage has always stuck with me. There’s something earthy and wonderful about imagining Jesus crouched down–literally unafraid to get his hands dirty–while everyone else around him is so concerned about maintaining an image of purity. As Christians who walk by the light of Christ, we take seriously the writings of Paul that remind us to live lives worthy of the grace and calling that God has given to us. So the question posed by the Scribes and the Pharisees in John 8:5 is one that echoes in our own souls: What does Jesus say we should do when we witness injustice in the world? In their prideful and self-righteous interpretation of the Mosaic Covenant made with God in the Old Testament, the Pharisees had stones in hand, ready to bring punishment to the woman who committed adultery. Surely justice is making her pay for her wrongs! (So they thought.) Surely justice is her husband getting even! (So they thought.) You can imagine this story playing out like a scene from your favorite crime drama where you hear the cries of the victim that “justice must be served.” There is no doubt that Jesus cares deeply about justice in this story. But the plot twist is that God’s justice doesn’t look like what we’d expect. Jesus answers from the dirt: “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” In other words, Jesus’ answer to the question of injustice in the world is not one of revenge or punishment. Jesus’ justice calls us to leave our mask of self-righteous cleanliness behind. Jesus’ justice calls us to pull up our sleeves, get down with others in the mud pits they’re stuck in, and hold a flashlight that illuminates a path towards the cleansing rivers of baptism. Jesus’ justice is one in which reconciliation with God and others is possible. Sometimes we’re the woman in this story having played in the dirt too long and needing Jesus to get us out and clean up our mess. Praise God that Jesus is there with us in our messiness! Sometimes we’re the religious leaders who need to be reminded what Jesus’ call to be the light of the world actually looks like. Praise God that Jesus teaches us and the lightbulb goes off in our heads! In either case, as our church closes out this 2024 season of Epiphany–the time marked by sharing our “a-ha” light bulb moments with God so that others may come to know Him–it is my hope that we will encourage one another to take seriously the calling of Jesus in John 8:11: “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.” Go…into all the world. Go…share your lightbulb moments with others. Go…so that all may know the One who is the Light of the world. Reflection Questions: Who do you resonate most with from John 8:1-11? Why do you think that is? What is an unjust situation that you’ve witnessed recently? How might God be calling you to get in the dirt with those stuck in that injustice and bring reconciliation? What has been your greatest “light bulb moment” this Epiphany? How can you share what you’ve learned about God with others to encourage their faith?

At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God and that you are turning their hearts back again.”  1 King 18:36-37 This week we look at an Old Testament story that could be a Hollywood production. It has drama, tension, a showdown, pyrotechnics, and an amazing twist. 1 Kings 18:20-40 is about a showdown between the prophets of Baal and the prophet Elijah, who is the prophet of the Lord. The people of God were living a double life. They were professing that they belonged to God but they were serving another god. Elijah in this showdown, makes them choose between God and false gods. Who will they choose? Our text for this week reminds us that we must choose between serving the one true God and false gods or idols. Join us this Sunday as we find out what it means, “When God Shows Up, Idols Are Made Foolish.”

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:30-32 Sometimes we humans need a lot of help understanding! Sometimes we are easily confused, even when we DO have all the facts. Sometimes we are confused when we see and hear all the facts! It is no wonder that there are so many stories in the Bible that talk about humans being like sheep. Sheep are not very smart creatures. In Luke 24, we are told that the disciples did not believe the group of women who came back from Jesus' tomb saying that the stone had been rolled away! The Eleven didn't believe that angels had told the women that Jesus had risen. Peter goes to the tomb and he sees the stone rolled away, and strips of linen lying in the tomb, but he goes away and wonders what has happened. Two disciples were walking along the road to Emmaus and discussing all that had happened when Jesus showed up! This week we will continue our series, "Light Bulb Moments: When God Shows Up." Reverend Dr. Bruce E. Cochran, our Region Minister with American Baptist Churches of Indiana & Kentucky will share the message "Confusion to Clarity," in worship with us! In preparation for the message read Luke 24:13-35.

This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. Jeremiah 29:10-12 This week’s message continues our series: Light Bulb Moments: When God Shows Up. As we look at Jeremiah 29:1-14, God’s people had planned to remain in Israel and Jerusalem forever, as they believed God had promised them. However, their sins, in particular, worshiping other gods, caused God to allow the Babylonian Empire to defeat Israel, destroy Jerusalem, destroy the Temple, and lead the Jewish people into captivity for 70 years. This passage tells us of God’s people in exile. Even though the Jewish people had failed to keep their covenant with God, God showed up to remind them that He still had plans for them. This week we will discuss this passage and what it means for us today. What happens when our plans change? What happens when everything seems hopeless or beyond us? It is often the case that our plans and God’s plans are in tension. Join us this week as we learn that, “when God shows up, plans are changed."

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. From Matthew 2:1-12 Epiphany is the liturgical season marked by Jesus revealing himself not only to the Jews but also to the Gentiles. It’s a time when the Church has historically looked at what it means to be a disciple of God who takes the good news into all the world. This year, FBCM will be celebrating these themes by studying well-known “light bulb moments” found in scripture–these moments when God unexpectedly breaks into the world and changes everything. Through these stories, we hope to be reminded of how God is breaking into our world here in Muncie, IN, and how we can come alongside God’s presence to be better neighbors that share our lives and God’s love with them. This week we begin a series titled, Light Bulb Moments, and the message is titled “When God Shows Up, Rulers Bow Down.” Our Scripture, Matthew 2:1-12, tells us a familiar story about the Wise Men or Magi. The Magi came to see a prophesied king but instead, they encountered God, the light of the world. Who were the Magi? Were they wise men, scholars, kings, astrologers, or something else? What did they expect to find and what did they encounter that prompted them to bow down before an infant? This Sunday we will gather and discover what these Magi sought, what they found, and what that means for us and our neighbors.

This sermon preview is part of "Pardon the Interruption: An Advent Series." To view past live streams, please view our live stream archive. For information and a schedule of our Christmas and New Year’s Service, see this post. *** “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. -From Luke 1:28–38 “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told” -From Luke 2:1-20 Sometime Monday evening, Kendall and I realized how much we had to do before Christmas. We loaded our one-month-old daughter into the car, braved the cold, and hit three stores in as many hours. Our little one took her dinner in a Target fitting room. A normal routine was interrupted by hurry. Has Christmas snuck up on you this year? Good! Christmas should come in a burst. God’s timing is not our timing. But it is in “the fullness of time” (Galatians 4:4) that Jesus came. This year, the last Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve fall on the same day. Sunday morning, we’ll see how Mary is the first faithful disciple: hearing the word of God and responding to it. It’s hard to imagine a life more interrupted, plans more upended, than Mary’s plans. And yet her response is, “May your word to me be fulfilled.” In the evening, we’ll travel with Shepherds whose normal day shifts were interrupted by a chorus of an angel army proclaiming the good news of great joy and peace to those on whom God’s favor rests. When Mary hears of this astounding tale (after childbirth!) she “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” God doesn’t come in our time. Christmas comes in a burst. It interrupts. It upends. It upsets. But because it does so, we can be confident that Christmas peace doesn’t come into our world once it is tidy and neat. It comes to people tending smelly livestock. It comes to the poor and at-risk. The news, tidings of great joy, the blessing of peace on earth: words worth treasuring and pondering. Christmas can still interrupt our lives. But the true meaning of Christmas won’t generate more hurry, like my last-minute shopping. Instead, Christmas interruptions generate wonder and awe at the God coming to be Immanuel – God with us – in the right time, the fullness of time, God’s time.

All about FBCM's worship services and office hours during this special time of year. Christmas Eve Sunday, December 24th. We have two services this day.* In order, here are the day's events. 10:15 a.m. - Donut (Semi-) Hour in our Fellowship Hall on the Lower Level. 10:45 a.m. - Worship Service, Worship on the Final Sunday of Advent, in the Sanctuary. 7:00 p.m. - Family Candlelight Christmas Eve Service, in the Sanctuary. *There will be no children's, adult, or youth Sunday Morning or Evening classes. There will be nursery care during service. New Year's Eve Sunday, December 31st. We will have service in a special location on this day.* 10:15 a.m. - Donut (Semi-) Hour in our Fellowship Hall on the Lower Level. 10:45 a.m. - Family Worship Service, around the tables in the Fellowship Hall *There will be no children's, adult, or youth Sunday Morning or Evening classes. This service is in-person only, there will be no live-stream. There will be nursery care during service. Office Hours For our normal office hours, please visit our contact page. During the week between Christmas and New Year's, the Church Office will be closed. Other News To order Poinsettias, contact our Worship Coordinator - Emily Anderson at worship@fbcmuncie.org. The cost is $10 for each.

This sermon preview is part of "Pardon the Interruption: An Advent Series." To view past live streams, please view our live stream archive. *** “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." -From Matthew 3:1-11 (NIV) John the Baptist is a figure out of sync with our time, or any time. And yet, in many ways he is "Mr. Advent." He proclaims the coming of the King, in the sort of fiery glory which burns away all that does not last. The Episcopal Preacher Fleming Rutledge in her collection Advent: The Once & Future Coming of Jesus Christ noted how strange it could seem that it is very common for churches to read the words of John the Baptist these weeks leading up to Christmas. His words are full of consuming fire, far from Christmas lights' gentle and warm glow. Rutledge says of John's famous cry, "You brood of vipers": How would you like to get that on a Christmas card? . . . . We really don't know what to do with him; he doesn't fit into anything... But here he is. (293). Inspired by this, I made my own John the Baptist "Season's Greetings" card to show how strange his words are to hear. But something more shocking is this: we need to hear those words! John the Baptist's cry is to "produce fruit in keeping with repentance." His role is as a voice calling out in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the Lord." His aim is single-minded: to proclaim one greater. There are many things that do not last. That includes, essentially, every Christmas present we might buy. They will break. They will fade. Their ultimate destiny is likely the landfill. But John reminds us of something that does last: an in-breaking age of the justice of God. John the Baptist reminds us of greater things, higher things. With his wild camel hair clothes and his bizarre locust diet, in his home away from all people, he has perceived our condition more clearly and more fully than most people. He asks us to re-order our lives. To proclaim one greater. He knows it is when we lose our lives for the sake of God, we can truly find them. Or as Jesus says later in this Gospel: "All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me will find them." - Matthew 16:25, CEB Christ invades our world and can make a new creation. This new creation is made up of people who live according to the ways of another age: a new age. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. - Colossians 1:13-14, NIV That is why John the Baptist seems so out of place and out of time. The Christian life should always feel a little bit out of place. Because it should look like the coming Kingdom: where grace abounds and service to the Lord is perfect freedom; it should look like the joy of proclaiming One greater than us. Join us this Sunday as we discover what it means to experience the joy of proclaiming one greater.

This sermon preview is part of "Pardon the Interruption: An Advent Series." To view past live streams, please view our live stream archive. *** As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. - From Isaiah 55:6, 9-11 (NIV) "All words, no follow through" is a complaint we might hear. It's a complaint against people in life who "talk a big game" but do little. Or, as the Elvis song put it, "A little less conversation, a little more action, please." Christians often speak of God's word: the importance of God's word, the authority of God's word, and the power of God's word. More than one person frustrated with the state of the church and believers in general has said, "Why isn't the church effective? What isn't the church doing something?" In Scripture, the word of God is never just "merely words." But it is not our actions alone which go alongside God's word. God's word itself is effective. And if we have the eyes to see, we can see scripture doesn't just inspire or motivate us to do good things, God's word works something new in us. The influential theologian Augustine of Hippo (354-430) wrote in his Confessions: "Give what you command [O Lord], and then command whatever you will.” This idea is found in scripture: that whatever God commands, God supplies. That is, whatever God asks, he also is at work in that very thing. God's Word is never merely just words. More recently, a philosopher by the name of J.L. Austin developed a theory of "speech acts," words that do something. He wrote a book in 1975 entitled How to Do Things with Words. Some words do things. Some examples are saying "I object!" in a courtroom, or "I do," in a wedding ceremony. There are, at certain times or places, where words are more than just words: they're actions. The LORD speaking in the book of Isaiah is clear his word is not merely words. "[S]o is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." - Isaiah 55:10-11 (NIV) The hope of Advent is that God speaks into silence, and those are no mere words God gifts. The Word of God is alive and active. It is cutting and powerful. It achieves the purpose for which God sent it. And so receiving the word, hearing the word, is also no simply passive listening. It cannot go in one ear and out the other. Because to hear, and to receive, the word of God is to be affected by it, changed by it, altered by it — for the Lord's glory and our great good. Reflection Questions Have you ever been confronted with a word, a message, which changed you? What happened? Last week, we discussed the problem of God's silence ("Waiting in the Dark"). This passage from Isaiah uses the imagery of rain coming down from the heavens and watering plants. Elsewhere in scripture, with similar imagery, the letter of James talks about the word being planted in our hearts: Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. - James 1:21-22 (NIV) There are two parts to this metaphor for receiving God's word: removing "filth" and humbly accepting the word planted in us. Notice, we are not the planters of the word ourselves. The word comes from outside. But it is also true that we can participate in the word planted in us: humbly accepting it and doing what it says. What needs to be removed from your life to help you hear the active and effective word of God? 3. What do you need to do to accept God's word and do what it says?

This sermon preview is part of "Pardon the Interruption: An Advent Series." To view past live streams, please view our live stream archive. *** The Lord will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God. - From Isaiah 52:7–10 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’” - Mark 13:35-37 “They ask me: Why are we always facing these difficulties?” Taleb said. “We are believers. Why is there always war, war, war?” Those are the words of Rabih Taleb, a Pastor of a small congregation in Southern Lebanon, located less than a mile from northwest Israel. He is describing the deep questions of his congregation, which had just been displaced by the war between Israel and Hamas. This displacement was the congregation's seventh in the last 50 years. That is an Advent question, "Why are we facing these difficulties?" It is very similar to the scriptural cry, "How Long, O Lord?" Psalm 13 cries: "How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?" (emphasis mine). For how many has that Psalm summarized their prayer? Waiting, wrestling with God, wondering when reprieve will come - and if it will come and all. Suffering is especially acute in the war-torn areas of the world. But it is not limited to such places. It is the human condition. Murder, poverty, gross injustice, corruption, a devastating diagnosis, all that shakes us with its terrible unfairness, everything that make us cry out, "We are believers. Why is there always..." Always trouble, always darkness, always fear, at the door, in our lives — some of it (God help us) we even know we caused ourselves. "How Long, O Lord?" Such questions are Advent questions because Advent is the time of waiting. Advent waits for God's interruption to, too often dreadful, business-as-usual. It is the in-between time. It is the season we find ourselves in: and it awaits Jesus's coming — his second in glory as much as his first at his birth. As the Swiss Theologian Karl Barth said: “What other time or season can or will the church ever have but that of Advent!” This may seem odd to you. Odd because outside, despite the cold, our culture tries to be its cheeriest during the months leading up to Christmas. There are lights and songs and presents to be bought and, if anything "religious" is said at all, we're confronted immediately with "Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men." Advent refuses to jump there immediately. Advent is far more honest. Advent awaits an interruption, and a good interruption - like the one in the vision of Isaiah, which promises "all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God." This season refuses the too-simple sentimentality of 30 days of warm and fuzzy movies about good cheer. It demands that we recognize the full gravity of the situation we find ourselves in. Advent knows we need an interruption of the-way-things-are. But if an interruption is to be good, that suggests that whatever it interrupts is anything but. Advent Waits in the Dark. There is a story in the Gospels. A story which the early Church, no less surrounded by trial and hardship and war than we are, often told one another. A story from Jesus's own teaching, a parable about the Kingdom. In it, Jesus urges: "Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’” (Mark 13:35-37). Watch! Keep vigilant! This waiting is active. The hour draws near, though no human being might know the day or the hour. The word from God, the God whom we cry out to "How Long, O Lord" comes. The word comes to those waiting in the dark. To receive the message, it may help to know we know where we are. And we are in the thick of night. Reflection Questions Where are you waiting for the action of God? What moves you to ask, "How Long, O Lord?" Does Advent pointing to the second coming as much as the first change how you think about this season? If so, how? Is there anything surprisingly comforting about knowing the Christian church has been wrestling with these questions since its beginning? What might this tell us about our faith as Christians?