Hey Everyone,
I hope you are all well as we prepare to enter a new liturgical season. For those who like to celebrate stuff, tomorrow, Saturday, November 30th is viewed by many in the theological/ liturgical world as the New Liturgical Year’s Eve. If you want to make this Advent season (and liturgical year) more meaningful, celebrate tomorrow night with a nice dinner or a special treat. Take a moment before you go to bed and remember all that God did in our community this year.
And, if you really want to make sure this Advent season is special, print out the Jesse Tree ornaments (which you can find directly after Sunday’s order of worship below). If you’re not familiar with the practice of the Jesse Tree. It’s a schedule of devotionals and/or biblical readings that take you from the story of creation up to the birth of Jesus. The pdf below contains printable ornaments that you can color and an associated chapter of Scripture that highlights the narrative. For those of you who don’t have printers, there are card stock copies of the Jesse Tree ornaments on the table in the narthex.
Additionally, if you’d like to have a set of Advent candles for your home this year, there are a few sets of candles on the mantel in Darley Hall. There are a bunch of wooden craft kits as well. So if you don’t want to mess with candles, grab one of those sets and place it in a prominent place in your home this season.
A special “Thank You” to those of you who helped decorate the church this week. You were few in number, but you accomplished a lot. The church looks great.
Switching gears for a moment–earlier this week I received the news that my uncle on my father’s side passed away unexpectedly. Consequently, Silas and I will be traveling to Detroit tomorrow to pay our respect on behalf our family at his memorial service. We will return on Monday evening.
Given my absence, I am delighted to share that Lyn Lampert will be offering worship leadership and the sermon for this Sunday’s worship service on December 1st. This will also be the first Sunday of Advent and our colors turn to purple and pink. Join us in person and on Zoom for this special service. A link for the service and the order of worship can be found below.
Due to my absence, we’ll also be pushing our monthly communion to the second Sunday of Advent, December 8th. But, we’ll still be having our first-Sunday-of-the-month potluck this Sunday, December 1st, directly after the service. The theme for this month is thanksgiving leftovers (or whatever you want to bring).
Also, no games this week on Monday (since I’m gone), but we will still have our weekly Bible study on Wednesday at 5:00pm. For the next three weeks, we’ll look at the stories of the Jesse Tree and explore the links between Creation and Christ’s birth.
I think that’s it for this week folks. I’ll touch base early next week before I head to Texas to officiate George and Ingrid’s wedding. It’s going to be busy one. 🙂
Finally, here are your links and the order of worship for Sunday’s service:
Sunday Worship Service:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88489308747?pwd=RHVFY1BybkU0a1RXZE9GRlBZWWpNUT09
Wednesday Bible Study
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83431443393?pwd=NEFpYVlSNVloSkdCNGExU2kxMUNtQT0z