Grace to you and peace, from God our Creator and the Lord Jesus Christ!  In the warm days that follow Christmas (warm hearts, anyway!), I am very often moved to remember the beautiful poem of Howard Thurman, “The Work of Christmas.”  As we look toward our worship together tomorrow, which will include a carol sing in response to scripture, we may also consider his words. 

Blessings and peace, Lisa

     “The Work of Christmas,” by Howard Thurman (renowned Baptist minister, theologian and Civil Rights activist)

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among others,
To make music in the heart. 

Grace to you and peace, from God our Creator and the Lord Jesus Christ!  Today’s early eVisitor will be brief as we all celebrate Christmas with family and friends.  You will find attached the Zoom information and Worship at Home bulletin for tonight’s service.  For those of you worshipping in person, you may want to consider arriving early for the service.  It officially begins at 7:00 p.m., but our brass choir will begin at 6:50, while people are entering.  I look forward to seeing everyone for this service in celebration of Christ’s birth!

Just a couple of other announcements:  Next Sunday’s service, on the 29th, will include a Christmas Carol “sing” with George Emlen, who will be accompanying all of the service’s hymns, as well.  Christmas, of course, lasts through Epiphany, so that we can indeed enjoy the twelve days of Christmas, and not only in the familiar song! 
Please also remember to mark your calendars for our second annual holiday party at my house.  This will be on Saturday, January 11th, beginning at 5:30.  Each person should bring a wrapped gift to share in our Yankee Swap (the basis of much hilarity) and we will enjoy a potluck supper, as well.  More details next week!

Blessings and peace, Lisa

Grace to you and peace, from God our Creator and the Lord Jesus Christ!  Today marks the longest night of the year, and it can be a difficult time for those who mourn or who are troubled by any number of things.  In God we have hope and in Jesus, our hope and our light, our God comes to us in human form.  So, our services this weekend name this breadth of emotion as we both honor grief and sing out joy.  So, you will find attached bulletins for both services, as well as the text of carols that will make up part of our Christmas pageant tomorrow morning.  All are welcome to participate in this  recollection of the story of Jesus birth, made wild by its spontaneous nature.  
The Zoom link for our Longest Night/ Blue Christmas Service is here, with Meeting ID: 823 2201 7438 and Passcode: 152903. Its Worship for Home bulletin can be found here.

Blessings and peace, Lisa

Grace to you and peace, from God our Creator and the Lord Jesus Christ!  Light in the darkness, rescue from fear, rescue from imprisonment, shame, or hunger . . . all these things are part of our hopeful prayers this season.  We pray and act in faith that God will respond, and we may learn that the response involves our participation.  In our continuing interaction with John the Baptist this week, we learn that our response to God’s word to us is very straightforward.  We are expected to act in such a way that we are making the way for Jesus clear and steady through our actions of justice and generosity.  Jesus spells out for his followers and us an answer to their pointed question: “What, then, shall we do!?” Might it steer our Advent practice this year?  What does it mean to live faithfully in response to God’s Word in our lives?  Does it make a difference?  Let’s see what we think together! 

Blessings and peace, Lisa

Please know that the event scheduled for this afternoon has been postponed until January 5th, with a snow date of January 12th should the roads again be unsafe. Please take good care and tell your friends who were planning to come this afternoon! You can look forward to seeing this film about homelessness in Maine by KaneLewisProductions at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 5th. It will be followed by a panel discussion of community partners to discuss community health challenges in our region. Stay safe today!

Grace to you and peace, from God our Creator and the Lord Jesus Christ!  It sounds like a simple question, really . . . What do we do to prepare the way?  The question is quite straightforward, and its answer may be as well.  We’ve heard the language in various settings and this Sunday we are told again: “Prepare the way of the Lord.”  Maybe we have never heard it as a mandate before now; maybe it has felt only like something that happened then, but is not a part of our responsibility–our call–now.  In this Advent season, though, we are given the opportunity to consider what it may mean to make ourselves ready for Jesus’ coming–into our hearts and into our lives, and maybe for the first time.  What does it mean to prepare the way?  How have others done so for your own understanding of possibility?  As we gather for worship of the God who gives us life and prepare ourselves for service in the world, we can pray to be strengthened for the journey.

Some of you may be watching the weekend weather with some concern.  Please know that we will be Zooming both our worship service and our quarterly meeting.  So, please do plan to attend in the way that is safe for you.  We hope to be able to tend to just a bit of business while enjoying one another’s company!

Blessings and peace, Lisa.

p.s. Don’t forget to bring your favorite hot or cold appetizers to share during coffee hour as part of our Advent celebration!