Candle Litany, Advent Four: LOVE, A vision for a world filled with justice and compassion.
The Fourth Sunday of Advent – December 23rd Today we light the candle of Love. Your love fills our lives with blessings, O God. Jesus came to show us how much you love us and invite us to a new community. Help us share that love in the world. Amen. Luke 1:39-45 Mary Visits...
A Deep Sense of Joy
December 21st, 2012 Advent Devotional by Becca Lockwood A Deep Sense of Joy The deepest sense of joy I feel is being together. Whoever is gathered, whether it is the whole congregation, close family and friends, or colleagues, I am filled with a sense of deep joy when I witness our togetherness. It is part...
Share Everything
December 20th, 2012 Advent Devotional by Alex Will Share Everything I drove by a billboard last week that exclaimed the words: “share everything.” Around those words swirled pictures of songs and movies, books and apps, all those things we love on our phones and tablets. It was just a Verizon Wireless advertisement for shareable phone...
Changes
December 19th, 2012 Advent Devotional by Joy Fallon Changes When Zechariah is told by Angel Gabriel that he and his aged, barren wife Elizabeth will bear a son, we treat this as an applause line, miraculous good news! But think of the terrifying changes that lie ahead for Zechariah. As any older parent knows, this...
Tugboats and Midwives
December 18th, 2012 Advent Devotional by Paul Shupe Tugboats and Midwives Not long ago, I saw a huge oil tanker heading into the harbor at Portland, Maine. You couldn’t miss it. Several hundred feet long, and dozens of feet above the waterline, it appeared, as they always do, to be immense, powerful and strong. The...
But how?
December 17th, 2012 Advent Devotional by Joy Fallon But how, my wife and I are so old now? But how, I’ve never slept with a man? Luke opens his book with two parallel stories of babies born to astonished parents: Zechariah, the temple priest, told his aged, barren wife Elizabeth will bear John...
Candle Litany, Advent Three: JOY, Two women waiting in expectation together…
The Third Sunday of Advent – December 16th Today we light the candle of Joy. Help us to remember that Jesus came to change tears to laughter and sorrow into songs of joy. Thank you for the joy of this season, O God. Amen. Luke 3:7-18 John said to the crowds that came out...
A Time of Peace
December 14th, 2012 Advent Devotional by Becca Lockwood A Time of Peace We are a Church that thrives on action. “The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.” (Ps. 111:7) Peace must be created; it is something towards which we strive. I think of our mission trips, the good...
A Time for Questioning
December 13th, 2012 Advent Devotional by Pam Cochrane A Time for Questioning! Christmas is a mood, a quality, a symbol. It is never merely a fact. As a fact it is a date on the calendar – to believe it is the anniversary of an event in human history. An individual may relate himself...
A Step by Faith
December 12th, 2012 Advent Devotional by Dana Allen Walsh A Step by Faith I can easily get stuck in a rut in Advent, using the same language of waiting, watching, preparing, and anticipating, for how we understand this journey to Christmas. And there is a good reason that these words get a lot of...
Expectations
December 11th, 2012 Advent Devotional by Alex Will Expectations I hate it when I don’t meet someone’s expectations. In truth, I get ill at the sight of facial expressions or body language that might possibly indicate that someone is disappointed in me. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating just a bit, but I recognize that the...
Blue Christmas
December 10th, 2012 Advent Devotional by Paul Shupe Blue Christmas The only company I keep, Just exists in memories With the dawn they’ll fade away Leaving me alone on Christmas Day. -Mike Ireland, “Christmas Past” “Merry Christmas!” “Happy Holidays!” “Season’s Greetings!” They are ubiquitous, these cheerful salutations of the season. What they all share,...
Candle Litany, Advent Two: PEACE, Mary receives the news.
The Second Sunday of Advent – December 9th Today we light the candle of Peace. This candle reminds us that our world needs your peace, O God. Wherever there is conflict or war or violence or people hurting people, open the door for your healing peace, O God. Amen Luke 3:1-6 The Proclamation of...
Here and Now
December 7th, 2012 Advent Devotional by Alex Will Here and Now Every year, after Thanksgiving and before Christmas, I always feel like I’m in the middle of that fast-moving stream. Between Black Friday and the hype of holiday shopping, if you’re not careful, that stream will throw you right out of your canoe. Although,...
My Friend the Solstice
December 6th, 2012 Advent Devotional by Paul Shupe My Friend the Solstice Arizona would have been worse, I guess, but growing up in Colorado was hard enough for a red-haired freckled kid whose skin burned under a 75-watt light bulb. Three hundred and twenty-five days of sunshine a year for a kid who craved the...
A Season of Unexpected Surprises
December 5th, 2012 Advent Devotional by Dana Allen Walsh A Season of Unexpected Surprises We, like Bethlehem, are too tiny to imagine the greatness and potential that lies within us. “You Bethlehem-Ephrathah, too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule my people...
The Advent Wreath
December 4th, 2012 Advent Devotional by Pam Cochrane The Advent Wreath The Advent Wreath can be traced back to early Christian celebrations in the Middle Ages. Part of many Christmas preparations, candle light became a central symbol for Christ, “the Light that came into the world” to dispel the darkness of sin and to radiate...
A Chance To Wait
December 3rd, 2012 Advent Devotional by Becca Lockwood A Chance to Wait As the air gets colder and the days are shorter, our anticipation grows. Here in New England, we know what the cold weather means. We know what is coming. We start counting down the days until we can sing, “Silent Night.”...
Candle Litany, Advent One: HOPE, an unexpected message is delivered
The First Sunday of Advent – December 2nd Today we light the candle of Hope. We thank you, O God, for hope that shines like a candle to brighten our world. We light this candle and pause to thank you for Jesus, who came to bring us hope. Luke 21:25-36 The Coming of the...