Greetings during this Christmastide! “By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high has broken upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” - Luke 1:78-79 These beautiful words are attributed to Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. Here he is speaking about Jesus and the hope that his birth brings to us all. This pandemic has certainly given us all a deeper understanding of darkness a

May the grace and peace of Jesus Christ be with you! “Many others have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events which have been fulfilled among us, exactly as those happenings were passed on to us by the original eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word. I too have investigated everything carefully from the beginning and have decided to set it down in writing for you, noble Theophilus, so that you may see how reliable the instruction was that you received.” - Luke 1:1-4

Greetings, For this third week of Advent, our week celebrating joy, I commend to you this devotional titled Choosing Joy from the Henri Nouwen Society. “‘Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.’ - Romans 12:12 “I am convinced we can choose joy. Every moment we decide to respond to an event or a person with joy instead of sadness. When we truly believe that God is life and only life, then nothing need have the power to draw us into the sad realm of d

Greetings! “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” Isaiah 2:4 In this verse about peace, the word peace does not appear, but the actions described embody peace. Laying down weapons in order to transform them into farming tools beautifully describes the change from conflict to teamwork: swords we swing at each other, plowshares we use side-by-side

Sundays at 10:45 am: Briarwood's in-person worship service includes Kids’ Faith and congregational singing. There is no pre-registration or assigned seating, and we will all wear masks except for children under 3. To watch the service when it goes live, go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC76NSDhale3d8O7Y4kse2Sg/live To view past services, go to Briarwood’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC76NSDhale3d8O7Y4kse2Sg/videos For information about our mid-week

Greetings, “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint.” - Isaiah 40:31 The hope of God is an unending well of infinite hope. This year, Stacey Abrams inspired me to hope. I wrote the following, inspired by her perseverance in the face of constant adversity. There comes a time in everyone’s life when they will be knocked down. When you fall prone like