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From Rev. John: “People, Look East,” the hymn source of the lyrics above, is one of my very favorite carols of Advent, the four Sundays leading up to Christmas. It speaks both about our hopes for the world and our calling to create a space inside us, as individuals and communities, for something new and surprising to grow. To do that, we need to become more comfortable sitting in darkness, silence, emptiness—which of course runs counter to our every impulse to seek “comfort and joy” in a wintry world. But the prophets of Advent encourage us to trust that comfort and joy are coming, just from the unlikeliest of places, like a baby born into the poverty of a stable on the edge of empire, the “word of the Creator, now in flesh appearing” (our Advent theme this year). The joy God offers isn’t sentimental; it’s solid, flesh and blood. This is our hope as we remember the birth of Jesus and look forward to the birth of God’s reign of justice, peace, and compassion.
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4th Sunday in Advent Worship
The Night is Not Silent 12/18 @ 10am ET, LIVE! on-site & online via Zoom at http://zoom.us/j/907548568 Silent, calm, and bright nights are lovely, and thank God for them. But just as the night of Mary’s delivery in the stable was noisy, indeed, the air today is still thick with the cries of God’s people, like Hannah’s fervent prayers in the sanctuary at Shiloh, like Joseph’s upsetting nighttime visions—cries of grief, pain, anger, hope… and joy. (1 Samuel 1:19-28; Matthew 1:18-25) |
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Blue Christmas / Longest Night Worship
Thursday, 12/22 @ 3:30-4:30pm ET LIVE! online only The Christmas Season is primarily known for hope and joy, focused on community and familial gatherings of celebration and thanksgiving. However, for some, the winter holidays season may be difficult due to personal loss and grief. Please join us for a special Christmas service in which we acknowledge pain and mourning during the holiday season and lift up prayers for hope, peace, and affirmation that God “is near the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18). Register for this “Near the Brokenhearted” Zoom webinar worship service with the national staff of our United Church of Christ denominational family at this link: https://ucc.zoom.us/webinar/register/6016479567418/WN_Mowxz_ABRdmD9P8kkpK44w |
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Christmas Eve Worship & Christmas Pageant
12/24 @ 4pm ET LIVE! on-site & online via Zoom at http://zoom.us/j/907548568 Once again, the youngest among us will share with us the old, old story of Jesus’ birth, with Mary and Joseph, shepherds, angels, and wise ones—and barnyard animals, too. This year’s Christmas Eve Worship will be 100% hybrid once more. You’re invited to gather with friends and family on-site in the sanctuary or online at home or wherever you are, so we can be church together on this special night. The Christmas Pageant itself will be hybrid, too. There will be actors live on-site, live online, and pre-recorded, too. Even the congregation will get in on the act! |
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Christmas Morning Kitchen Table Worship
12/25 @ 10am ET LIVE! online ONLY at http://zoom.us/j/907548568 How often does Christmas Day fall on a Sunday? Once every 7 years on average. (Sometimes you have to wait 5 or 6 years for a Christmas Sunday, depending on the number of leap years. Other times you have to wait 11 years, if leap year places Christmas on Monday.) Well, this is one of those years. So after the pageantry of Christmas Eve, roll up to the Zoom screen on Christmas morning with your hot cocoa and your pjs and share an abbreviated worship service with your church family. |
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Epiphany Sunday
Sunday 1/1 @ 10am ET LIVE! online-ONLY via Zoom at http://zoom.us/j/907548568 Epiphany Sunday is usually when we tell the story of those magi, those wise, Gentile visitors from afar who followed the star to discover the new King of the Jews they were looking for was a actually a baby, born into poverty. But Epiphany is also a reminder of all kinds of other discoveries, revelations, not just about who God is, but who we are, as well, what roles we’re really playing in the story of the world, and who we can become with God’s reign of justice, peace, and compassion. (Isaiah 60:1-6, 11) This will be an online-only service. We will celebrate holy communion on January 8. |