A MESSAGE FROM REV. KAREN KINNEY: CELEBRATING THE GIFT OF THE MAGI
Grace and peace to you,
Happy New Year! It is hard for me to believe that we are now in 2026! I pray the holiday season was what each of you needed it to be.
Though Epiphany doesn’t officially happen until 
next Tuesday, Jan. 6, we will celebrate the gift of the magi following the light of the star to meet Jesus even though Herod and his wily and violent ways loom large. Jesus’s birth didn’t silence Herod, didn’t end suffering, didn’t bring down the empire. Where is the hope in that?
But let us remember the magi and their journey in spite of Herod, in spite of Empire, in spite of violence and oppression. They journeyed on! They kept following the star recognizing the hope and love and grace flowing from Jesus and his birth. As Rev. Dr. Boyung Lee points out in her commentary: “Fear permeates this story. Herod is afraid. Jerusalem trembles. Yet the magi do not turn back. They travel through uncertainty, seeking truth.” They travel together in community.
What truth do we seek when we follow Jesus as individuals or this community of faith? What fear do we experience in our journey of faith? What is being asked of us as we move from the way of fear to the way of love? What epiphany might we have along this journey with epiphany being defined as a sudden, profound moment of insight or realization, often triggered by something ordinary, revealing a deep truth or meaning?
The magi followed a star and found a deeper truth, becoming witnesses to God’s action in the world to birth love in human flesh. To teach us about the way of love. To guide us through our fear. To help us realize our own power to bring love into the world.
This Sunday, we will also choose our ‘star words’, which are words printed out on a card with a star on it. I invite you to pray to the Holy Spirit before you choose one (they will be face down), and then you are invited to reflect on the word throughout the year.
What has that word come to mean for you? If you chose one last year, what has that word meant to you? My word last year was “cleansing.” I confess that one stumped me – what in the world was the Holy Spirit doing!
And yet, I’ve come to realize just what it has meant for me and what needed to be cleansed from my life to grow in faith. Each person will have the opportunity to pick their star (words are face-down) and the word you receive is your word for the year. You are asked to reflect on that word throughout the year – what has it come to mean to you? How is God speaking to you through that word?
Other words I have had over the years include tenderness, inhale, inspiration, peace, comfort, persistence – as I have looked over the word and the year I received it, I see the deep meaning each had to me. I hope it will be the same for you.
Blessings,
Pastor Karen
If you will not be attending one of our two services on Sunday and would like a star word to be sent to you, please contact the church office at info@fpc-bethlehem.org or 610-867-5865 (if you leave a message, please say and spell your name slowly, and give your phone number slowly and clearly).