Peace Members and Friends,
Thanksgiving Day is past and, all of sudden, Advent and Christmas are upon us!
Advent in church begins with the hymn, “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence.” The hymn has a deep, full melody that goes all the way back to the chants of the 4th century. The hymn also reminds us of something important: that the story of Christmas we are about to retell and the event we are about to celebrate again did not happen last week. The hymn reminds us that it is a story of waiting, waiting thousands of years before the event, and waiting now for its completion. “Let all mortal flesh keep silence……ponder nothing earthly minded, for with blessing in his hand Christ our God to earth descending…..” We stop to ponder once again the story of the coming of God in the flesh: Jesus Christ.
From that opening hymn, we’ll light the first candle on the Advent wreath, we’ll sing some more wonderful Advent hymns and share in the Lord’s Supper around the Lord’s Table. We’ll also begin our Advent sermon series: “Whose House for Christmas?” What do we do to get ready for Christmas? Of course, we decorate, we put up a tree, but what do we do to get ready for God coming into our lives…..at any time! To answer, Christians turn, during Advent, to prophets like Isaiah, John the Baptist, and Mary. These people are our experts. They’ve done this whole “prepare for the Lord” thing before. They have wisdom for us. We’ll begin this series Sunday with a message, “Christmas at Malachi’s House.”
Following worship in Adult Education, on this first Sunday of Advent, we’ll welcome to Peace, Denice Gibson, from START Community Services, who will present on the topic, “Preventing Becoming a Victim of Fraud and Scams.”
A reminder, too, about Sunday, December 8th’s Adult Education Hour. Jamie Lennon, will give an update on the ministry we share with Lutheran World Relief.
My thanks to each of you who have made your financial pledge to God for the ministry of the church for the coming year. I am so grateful for each of you who had returned your pledge card. If you haven’t done so, please prayerfully consider a pledge to sustain what is important in our lives; the ministry of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Thank you!
A reminder that we will be holding Advent Midweek Worship Services beginning next Wednesday, December 4th at 6:30pm. We’ll have a 30-35 minute service around the prophet Isaiah’s words in Isaiah 9 and the theme, “What Are We Going to Call This Baby?” Worship will be preceded by dinner in the Parish Hall served beginning at 5:30pm. Join us for this devotional service and fellowship during this hectic time of year!
See you Sunday!
Mark