“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13-14)

Signs in the world around us remind us that Christmas is only five weeks away. We are looking forward to again celebrating the birth of the Promised Messiah and worshiping him. As we celebrate Christmas, may we keep in focus that Christ first came to save sinners like us with his perfect life, death and resurrection. In the historic Christian church year, this time of year we also keep in focus Jesus’ second coming - when Jesus will return to take believers to be with him forever in heaven. Jesus, our almighty and eternal king, is ruling on high now and will rule for eternity. We don’t need to wait for Jesus’ second coming to worship him - we get to worship him now and every day of our lives. In Romans 12, Paul emphasizes that we can worship God by offering our bodies as living sacrifices. He then gives the directive to not conform to the pattern of this world. In other words, we can worship God by sacrificing (giving up) our sinful nature’s inclination to think and act the way the sinful world thinks and acts. Instead of being normal, or common, in this sinful world, we, God’s redeemed children, can worship God by being UNcommon. As we look forward to his second coming, may God give us the desire and strength to courageously worship him by being UNcommon.