Dear Peace members and friends,
Coming up this weekend is the Second Sunday of Advent. We will mark the progress of Advent by lighting a second candle on the Advent wreath. The candles represent the coming of Jesus, the Light of the World. Zechariah says as much in the Gospel: “By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness…..”
We will continue our sermon series, “Heaven to Earth” with that theme of light. In worship, we will acknowledge the lack of light in life. We all know about darkness. However, we will also proclaim that there is a never-ending source of life, grace, and truth in the person of Jesus who first appeared to us as a baby in a manger. It’s a light that is promise of new life for us. As Barbara Brown Taylor writes: “New life starts in the dark. Whether it is a seed in the ground, a baby in the womb, or Jesus in the tomb, it starts in the dark.”
Other Advent activities are coming up, too. There is the Lefse-Making Congregational event tomorrow Saturday, December 2nd at 9:00am and mark your calendars for the Children’s Christmas program on Sunday, December 17th.
And there is also this: beginning this coming Wednesday, December 6th (6:30-7:05pm) and for the two following Wednesdays, December 13th and 20th, all are invited to Advent Midweek worship. In these busy days, we will “Pause, Prepare, and Ponder” the good news of God coming to us in Jesus Christ. Worship will be preceded by a light dinner that will be offered from 5:30-6:15pm. Join in this special worship!
As we all know, there is much conflict and violence going on around the world. The challenge for each of us is, how do we respond to these situations as both Christians and citizens? The issue of war is complicated. In Adult Education Hour (10:45am), we have just completed at look at the life and witness of the 20th century German pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. This Sunday, we’ll take a look at the Just War tradition. In a series of short videos entitled, Oppenheimer and the Just War Tradition, Matt Gobush, a former U.S. national security official and lay leader in the Episcopal Church, we’ll hear how Christians over many hundreds of years responded to conflict and the question, can war be justified through the lens of our Christian faith? And next Sunday, December 10th, we’ll take discuss some of these same questions and the background to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
Last of all, in the tradition of the Magi bringing gifts to the baby Jesus, Advent is a time for special giving. There are the gifts we offer as a congregation through our offering to such ministries as St. Andrew’s Church in Cairo, Egypt, and their ministries to refugees, and providing presents for the kids at Queen Louise Home for Children in the U.S.V.I.
And each of us can again join the congregation in ELCA Good Gifts. This year your offerings are purchasing a water well ($2,500). You can also join in individually. If you haven’t received a catalog in the mail, take a moment at church on Sunday to check out the catalog and add to the Christmas tree. It’s one of the best things we do all year!
Thank you to all for our life together in Christ at Peace!
Mark