Advent Supper--Sunday, December 14th from 6-8pm.
Join us for an evening of fellowship and worship. We will begin with a lasagna dinner (we will provide lasagna, last names A-I, please bring a salad, J-Q, please bring bread or rolls, R-Z, please bring dessert to share), then continue with a time of fellowship, Christmas stories, and creating ornaments, then end with a time of worship together in the sanctuary. A donation of $2/person (max. $10/family) is requested to help offset the costs of the lasagna. So that we can plan for numbers, please RSVP to Dona Culhane no later than 12/12.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
A Christmas Song
I am always grateful when Advent rolls around. It is perhaps my favorite liturgical season, and it always puts me into a contemplative and reflective mood (as it is of course supposed to do).
While I am sure I should be seeking the message in my well-worn bible I received in 3rd grade, I find that I seek the most comfort in an old Dave Matthews song (click below to listen). I love this song not just for the beautiful melody, or the humanity that it brings to such a miraculous story, but because of the fear it presents. Christianity did not end with Jesus, but merely began. I am a Christian who doesn't always know what she believes, but I do believe that at the core of it all, Christianity is about love. It is about being love, doing love and showing love the way Jesus was able to do so effortlessly. Even the story of his birth, which I am honored to help tell with the youth and children of our church every Christmas Eve, is a story filled with love.
We spend this advent season preparing the way and celebrating the birth of Jesus not just because of his birth and all its wonders, but because of what we know this child will one day do. He will grow up and fill the world with love; love without question, and that is what is truly miraculous.
for a copy of the lyrics, click here: lyrics
Amanda Gianniny
While I am sure I should be seeking the message in my well-worn bible I received in 3rd grade, I find that I seek the most comfort in an old Dave Matthews song (click below to listen). I love this song not just for the beautiful melody, or the humanity that it brings to such a miraculous story, but because of the fear it presents. Christianity did not end with Jesus, but merely began. I am a Christian who doesn't always know what she believes, but I do believe that at the core of it all, Christianity is about love. It is about being love, doing love and showing love the way Jesus was able to do so effortlessly. Even the story of his birth, which I am honored to help tell with the youth and children of our church every Christmas Eve, is a story filled with love.
We spend this advent season preparing the way and celebrating the birth of Jesus not just because of his birth and all its wonders, but because of what we know this child will one day do. He will grow up and fill the world with love; love without question, and that is what is truly miraculous.
for a copy of the lyrics, click here: lyrics
Amanda Gianniny
Monday, December 8, 2008
“Comfort, O comfort my people.” Isaiah 40:1
What we call “creature comfort” is not what Isaiah had in mind. Rather, Isaiah is writing to a people who had been exiled, who had lived in fear, whose future was not secure. God’s voice, articulated through the prophet, that Israel’s wilderness journey and season of suffering is over.
What would that look like? What would comfort look like in a weary, war-torn world. What would it look like in an anxious nation? What would it look like to each one of us – the promise of our collective and individual burdens being lifted?
Today, and this week, imagine the kind of deep and abiding comfort that Isaiah imagines, and then pray for it and work into that promise.
Loving God, give us a vision of true comfort, and allow us to share it with a world in need. We pray in the name of the one whose coming we await. Amen.
What would that look like? What would comfort look like in a weary, war-torn world. What would it look like in an anxious nation? What would it look like to each one of us – the promise of our collective and individual burdens being lifted?
Today, and this week, imagine the kind of deep and abiding comfort that Isaiah imagines, and then pray for it and work into that promise.
Loving God, give us a vision of true comfort, and allow us to share it with a world in need. We pray in the name of the one whose coming we await. Amen.
John Wilkinson, Pastor
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Week 2 Advent Wreath Devotions
WEEK 2—SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2008
Scripture Sentences
(may be read by one person or divided into parts)
3A voice cries out:‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low;the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
5Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’
From Isaiah 40:3-5 (NRSV)
The lighting of the Advent Candles
Loving God, be with us in these weeks of preparation. Help us to prepare not just by decorating and baking and shopping, but by making room in our hearts to experience the anticipation and wonder and joy that the celebration of the birth of your Son brings. As we bring light to this candle, so may you bring light to our world. Amen.
Hymn—Comfort, Comfort You My People
Closing prayer
Close your time together with sharing of joys and concerns
Scripture Sentences
(may be read by one person or divided into parts)
3A voice cries out:‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low;the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
5Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’
From Isaiah 40:3-5 (NRSV)
The lighting of the Advent Candles
Loving God, be with us in these weeks of preparation. Help us to prepare not just by decorating and baking and shopping, but by making room in our hearts to experience the anticipation and wonder and joy that the celebration of the birth of your Son brings. As we bring light to this candle, so may you bring light to our world. Amen.
Hymn—Comfort, Comfort You My People
Closing prayer
Close your time together with sharing of joys and concerns
Friday, December 5, 2008
The Craziness Hits!
I don't know about you, but for me, the pace of re-entry after the Thanksgiving weekend has been particularly daunting this year. Of course, the Advent season, in preparation for Christmas, has always been a whirlwind of activity - both at church and at home. With the way the calendar has fallen this year, however, with a late Thanksgiving, it is all compressed into about 5 or 6 fewer days, too - which I know is contributing to my sense of desperation for more time to do the multitude of things on my plate.
Perhaps for that reason, I seem to be more drawn than ever to some of the wonderful hymns of Advent, rather than the Christmas carols (which amplify for me the short amount of time between now and then!). Many of these Advent hymns have a wonderful way of putting this season in its proper perspective, and with their sense of expectation, and faith in the promise of Jesus' coming, help ME to slow down the desperate rush of activity in which I get caught up...and permit me to take a deep breath, and think more clearly about what I am doing, and why.
One of the most profound, and centering, of these Advent hymns is "Savior of the Nations, Come" with a text that dates from the 4th century by Ambrose, and paraphrased over 1000 years later (!) by Martin Luther! Talk about timeless... I would encourage you to look it up in the Presbyterian Hymnal (#14) if you have one at home, or make a point to check it out at church on Sunday. (I'll be playing a prelude and a postlude based on this hymn in both services this week.) I'll leave you with the first stanza, which sets the tone for the entire season, I think....
"Savior of the nations, come,
Virgin's Son, make here Your home.
Marvel now, O heaven and earth,
That the Lord chose such a birth."
Amen!
Peter DuBois
Director of Music/Organist
Perhaps for that reason, I seem to be more drawn than ever to some of the wonderful hymns of Advent, rather than the Christmas carols (which amplify for me the short amount of time between now and then!). Many of these Advent hymns have a wonderful way of putting this season in its proper perspective, and with their sense of expectation, and faith in the promise of Jesus' coming, help ME to slow down the desperate rush of activity in which I get caught up...and permit me to take a deep breath, and think more clearly about what I am doing, and why.
One of the most profound, and centering, of these Advent hymns is "Savior of the Nations, Come" with a text that dates from the 4th century by Ambrose, and paraphrased over 1000 years later (!) by Martin Luther! Talk about timeless... I would encourage you to look it up in the Presbyterian Hymnal (#14) if you have one at home, or make a point to check it out at church on Sunday. (I'll be playing a prelude and a postlude based on this hymn in both services this week.) I'll leave you with the first stanza, which sets the tone for the entire season, I think....
"Savior of the nations, come,
Virgin's Son, make here Your home.
Marvel now, O heaven and earth,
That the Lord chose such a birth."
Amen!
Peter DuBois
Director of Music/Organist
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Advent Soundtrack
Driving back to Rochester from Columbus on Sunday was quite the non-stop event -- non-stop rain, non-stop trucks and non-stop Christmas music. Cruising up and down the dial, I must have found every FM station that switched to an all-Christmas, all-the-time format on Thanksgiving Day. I don't mind it, actually. I am often amused by it -- Mariah Carey warbling through "O Holy Night" or Alvin and the Chipmunks and "Christmas Time Will Soon Be Here." Every once in a while they even slip through a sacred classic, and a little inspiration on the Thruway is never a bad thing!
The secular recognition of Christmas is an easy target, but perhaps we can think of it differently than that. What is it about the story that we know so well, the story that claims and defines us, that is so compelling that even the world "out there" makes an effort to pay attention to it. And what can we do to keep that story alive in our ever-changing, ever-evolving world?
Two questions:
>What's your favorite secular Christmas song?
>What's your favorite Christmas carol?
Answers to come...
John Wilkinson, Pastor
The secular recognition of Christmas is an easy target, but perhaps we can think of it differently than that. What is it about the story that we know so well, the story that claims and defines us, that is so compelling that even the world "out there" makes an effort to pay attention to it. And what can we do to keep that story alive in our ever-changing, ever-evolving world?
Two questions:
>What's your favorite secular Christmas song?
>What's your favorite Christmas carol?
Answers to come...
John Wilkinson, Pastor
Monday, December 1, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
A voice cries out:‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Isaiah 40:3
These are familiar words of Advent. Whether they start me thinking of Handel’s “Messiah” or all of the Christmas preparations I need to make, this verse of Isaiah always brings my thoughts to Advent. Though the words are almost too familiar, take a moment to pick a word or phrase from this scripture that speaks to you this Advent season.
Voice
Cries
Wilderness
Prepare
Way
Lord
Straight
Desert
Highway
God
Where are you being led this Advent? Share the word of scripture from above that speaks to you, in the comments portion of the blog.
Loving God, Help us to listen for a voice to us in Advent. Be with us—in the wilderness, the desert, or wherever we are, as we prepare to celebrate your Son’s birth. Amen.
Becky D’Angelo-Veitch
Coordinator of Children’s Ministry and Congregational Life
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