Sermon Recap+ Jan 4, 2026
- Mario Bolivar
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
"Reframing the Story" John 1:1–14 Preached by Pastor Melanie Ruta
While I was away caring for Melissa as she continues to heal from knee surgery, our congregation was invited into a deeper, quieter Christmas reflection through Pastor Melanie Ruta’s sermon, Reframing the Story. Rather than retelling the familiar scenes of Bethlehem, she guided us into John’s Gospel—a text that asks us not simply to remember Christmas, but to understand it.
John does not begin with Mary and Joseph or a census decree. He begins before all of that: “In the beginning…” Matthew and Luke help us locate Jesus in history—who was there, where it happened, how it unfolded. John seems less interested in chronology and more interested in meaning. His Gospel appears to answer the question why Jesus came, not just how.
When John writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” the story is reframed entirely. Jesus is not introduced first as a baby, but as the eternal Word—present with God, active in creation, and fully divine. Everything that exists comes into being through him. Nothing is accidental. Nothing is outside his reach.
John then names Jesus as both life and light. This light shines into the darkness—but the darkness does not simply disappear. Pastor Melanie did not shy away from the tension in the text: the world Jesus created did not recognize him, and his own people did not receive him. Faith, John suggests, is not assumed. It is offered, and it must be received.
At the heart of the passage comes a promise that reframes belonging itself:“To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.”This identity does not come through ancestry, effort, or religious performance. It is not something we achieve. It is something we receive. John describes this as a new kind of birth—one that comes not from human will, but from God.
Then comes what may be the most staggering claim of all:“And the Word became flesh and lived among us.”God did not remain distant. God did not send instructions from afar. God took on flesh. And not the kind of flesh that comes with power or privilege, but the fragile flesh of a newborn—dependent, limited, and vulnerable. Jesus took on hunger, fatigue, discomfort, grief, and ultimately death.
John tells us that Jesus “lived among us”—or more literally, “pitched his tent” with us. He moved into the neighborhood. This was not a temporary visit or a symbolic appearance. It was a full commitment to relationship. Jesus came to live as us, with us, and for us. Pastor Melanie reminded us that this incarnational way of being is not just something to admire—it is something to follow.
This reframing has real consequences for how we live. If God chose to enter fully into human life, then being a child of God is not about distance or detachment. It is about presence. It is about relationship. Jesus’ death and resurrection become the first fruits—the promise that restoration is possible, that brokenness does not have the final word, and that we, too, can be made right with God.
Jesus, then, is not a Christmas decoration we store away once the season ends. He is not a gift we exchange if it no longer suits us. He came to be Savior—not just during Advent or Christmas, but in ordinary days, difficult seasons, and unplanned moments.
As we move forward, Pastor Melanie left us with questions worth sitting with:
Am I treating Jesus as a seasonal decoration or as my daily Savior?
How might I follow Jesus’ model of incarnational living by moving closer to people who need to experience God’s love?
What does it truly mean for me to be a child of God, and how should that identity shape my daily choices?
How can I share the good news that through Jesus, others, too, can become children of God?
The Word became flesh not only as a moment in history, but as an ongoing invitation—to receive Christ, to live as God’s children, and to extend that same incarnational love into the world God so deeply loves.
A Word of Thanks
I am deeply grateful to Pastor Melanie Ruta for preaching with wisdom, clarity, and pastoral care, and for guiding our congregation through this meaningful reframing of the Christmas story. I am also thankful to our church family for your prayers, encouragement, and continued care for Melissa and our family during this season. Your love, patience, and support have been a true reflection of God’s presence among us.
— Pastor Mario Bolivar
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