The First Week of Advent

I thought I was prepared for what I would see when I walked into the sanctuary this morning. I've been here for five or six Advent seasons now; I know how amazing our sacred space looks adorned in royal blues and gold and silver and greenery and garland.

I thought I was prepared after weeks of working with the worship planning team and listening to their ideas come together.

But I wasn't prepared.

The beauty of it all, the meaning of it all, took my breath away.

Come see for yourself and give yourself the gift of worshiping with us as we begin a new year in the Christian liturgical calendar. Our over-arching theme for the coming year is "Sacred Desire~ Spiritual Yearnings." As we begin the journey through the year with Advent, we will be incorporating traditional themes of Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace. Additionally, we have woven in and among those traditional themes some new images and ideas about circles--thus the sermon titles you will see for the four weeks in Advent and for Christmas Eve:

"Where Does a Circle Begin?"
"Widening the Circle"
"The Circle Within"
"Outside the Circle"
"Full Circle"

To help you fully enter this blessed time of Advent and help you prepare your heart and mind for the coming of the Holy Child, we will be sending you daily devotionals for each week of Advent beginning this Saturday.

I'll close this with a quote that I discovered when preparing last week's sermon about worship. It is taken from the Didascalia Apostolorum and quoted in John E. Burkhart's book, Worship.

"Now when thou teachest, command and warn the people to be constant in assembling in the Church, and not to withdraw themselves, but always to assemble, lest any person diminish the Church by not assembling, and cause the body of Christ to be short of a member."

Please do come and worship with us this Advent. We will be less than we should be without you.

Always in Hope,