Welcome to Northridge UM Church. This Sunday Pastor Karen Crawford will lead us into the season of Epiphany, which begins this Tuesday, the 6th!

What is Epiphany, you might ask? Epiphany, also called ‘Theophany,’ is a celebration of God manifesting as the baby Jesus and revealing Himself to the world. Some believe it is a message of faith in divine light, which guided the Magi to come and see the King. Others interpret it as a celebration of Jesus coming to unite the world as the true “King of kings” and that He came to be a Savior to all people.

In the Bible, the Epiphany is Jesus’ visit from the Magi, aristocratic men from the east (often referred to as kings or wise men) who followed a star to see the newborn baby Jesus. The Magi brought Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Gold was considered a symbol of kings, frankincense a perfume representing divinity, and myrrh an anointing and embalming oil that symbolized death.

The Epiphany season marks the arrival of the Magi to worship the Baby Jesus and the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as the Savior of the world. However, longstanding tradition connects the Epiphany with two additional events: the baptism of our Lord and the miraculous transformation of water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee.

Come and learn. Come and live! Come declare Jesus your King; honor, glorify and praise His name! We will meet the Magi, hear beautiful music, and praise God for the best gift of the Christmas season, the gift of our Savior, Christ Jesus!

Texts for the day are: Isaiah 60:1-6, Psalm 72:1-2,10-14, and Matthew 2:1-12.

Know that you are welcome here!