Fourth Sunday of Advent

Sunday, December 20, at the 9:30 am service, the young people of our congregation present a Christmas program. You will hear words of scripture as you look at illustrations by our confirmation students. The children and youth will sing and play Christmas hymns on their musical instruments. Send the Zoom link to friends and family!

Third Sunday of Advent

..hold fast to what is good… 1 Thessalonians 5:21b

This phrase from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians is part of a check-list of reminders about how to live, as Christians. It ends a letter he wrote to a congregation of the first Christians.

The Christian faith is not about believing things. It is about living in certain ways.

Do good things. The church is the steward of messages, stories, songs, activities (like praying and serving) that help you keep good things in your head and before your eyes.

Second Sunday of Advent

See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way. the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord. Mark 1:2

Think of the people who prepared the way for you: parents, grandparents, friends, coworkers. John the Baptist appears in the role of a prophet, preparing the way for a new expression of God’s word. He gets our attention with his unpolished appearance and his foraged diet. He is not only the advance guard of God’s word, he is the wild man from the wilderness (a point that has been ignored in our nature-denying Christian tradition), and he directs us to Jesus.

First Sunday of Advent

For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Romans 13:12

The church year begins this Sunday with the first Sunday of Advent. We will introduce the themes of the season-darkness and light, waiting and watching, waking from sleep to a new day and a new way of life.

Advent is the season of the Christian life. It is the season of quiet preparation, of faithful meditation on the promises we have heard, and the promises we have made.