Not sure how this happened, but here we are at the middle of Advent - anyone else feel like they lost a few days somewhere?
We spent our first two Sundays exploring the passages of Luke surrounding the arrival of John the Baptist on the scene and the annunciation to Mary. Both scenes involved the angel Gabriel bringing good news of a surprising birth. Both scenes involved God choosing to act through some of the most unlikely individuals imaginable. And both scenes involved a song.
The canticles of Zecharaiah and Mary both give glory to God and hold tight to the ancient promises of God being fulfilled. Not just in a general sense, but far more specifically through the work of these bouncing, baby boys who are about to arrive. They proclaim God's Love coming to earth to finally turn things right-side-up.
And as Luke is so enamored with music in its infancy narrative, it seems only fitting that we continue the remainder of this season of preparation thoroughly ensconced with melodies thronging the air.
This weekend, our Choir will be presenting their cantata, The Ballad of Bethlehem, by Pepper Choplin. It beautifully weaves new themes into well-known carols, as we retell the story we all know so well.
Following worship, we will be hosting our Angel Tree families for lunch. Over sixty of them have said they are coming, so we will need all hands on deck to welcome them into our church family's home.
Next week we will have two important ways to embrace one another with loving care. First, we will have our Blue Christmas service at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 18. This is a worship service to make space for anyone who is needing a break from the high-fevered-holly-jolly of the season and for whom the holidays are not an easy time of year. We will sing calming carols and consider God's presence even in our most challenging times through liturgy and prayer practices.
The next day, Thursday, December 19, we will be going Christmas Caroling at the homes of some of our homebound members in the El Paso community. We will gather for pizza at 5:00 p.m. and carpool from the church.
And the fun continues from there the following weekend and into the main event.
Our season continues on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. for worship. See you soon!
Blessings,
Rev. Janie
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