Wednesday, November 21st, St. Michaels Let us give thanks and praise! We and members from our local community joined at the Annual Thanksgiving Eve Service. The Rev. Patti Thomas offered the Meditation. Psalm 98 ../sermons/112107tg.htm ../sermons/112107tg.pdf Sunday, November 25th, Reign of Christ Sunday Reign of Christ Sunday completes the church year. The readings today give us a variety of pictures of who Jesus is - first-born of creation, righteous king, one who suffers and yet reigns over the world, the ones who comes to show us what God is like. As individuals and as the church, we are learning as we journey with God towards the full reign of Christ. Jeremiah 23:1-6 / Psalm 46 / Colossians 1:11-20 / Luke 23:33-43 ../sermons/112507.htm ../sermons/112507.pdf Sunday, December 2nd , First Sunday of Advent Peace forms Advent's prayer and hope. Prayers and hopes are not passive good wishes that leave us unchanged. Today's scripture passages invite choices that lead in holy directions. God sends prophets whose invitations and warnings spur our choosing. Their message is: expect the unexpected. Our calling is: journey with others to God's holy mountain. Isaiah 2:1-5 / Matthew 24:36-44 ../sermons/120207.htm ../sermons/120207.pdf Sunday, December 9th , Second Sunday in Advent Hope, like God who offers it, can be shocking. Dead stumps send out live shoots. Spirit-led leaders rule for the poor. The overturning of enmities in the natural order breaks ground for a wilderness prophet who shakes up privileged orders with calls to repentance. God raises the banner of hope for all to follow, and a little child leads the way. Isaiah 11:1-10 / Matthew 3:12 ../sermons/120907.htm ../sermons/120907.pdf Sunday, December 16th , Third Sunday in Advent When God comes to save, no one gets left behind. In Isaiah, the barren places of creation gush with the waters of new life. The psalmist and Mary rejoice in God, who lifts up the vulnerable. John's wondering of "are you the one?" finds an answer in a litany of Jesus' saving actions. Where there appears to be no way forward, God makes a highway homeward. Isaiah 35:1-10/Luke 1:46-55/Matthew 11:2-11 Null Null Early Xmas Eve Candlelight Service and Music We will gather as a community of faith, to celebrate the birth of the Christ Child, through Word and music and glow of candlelight. Micah 5:2-5 / Isaiah 9:2-7 / Luke 2:1-20 / Luke 2:21 / Hebrews 1:1-3a Null Null Late Xmas Eve Service of Word and Sacrament Christmas carols, Prayers of Praise and celebration of Holy Communion. Titus 3:4-7 / John 1:1-14 Null Null Sunday, December 30th, First Sunday after Christmas This Christmas season we celebrate that in Jesus, God is with us. Joseph and Mary responded with faith and trust in God's promise as they protected the child, Jesus, during their flight to Egypt. When we declare our confidence in God's presence in times of joy and in times of strife, we join them in choosing to live with hope. Isaiah 63:7-9 / Matthew 2:13-23 Null Null Sunday, January 6th, Epiphany Sunday/Holy Communion Wise ones and powerful ones ask "Where is the child?" for different ends. Epiphany, the name for the season we enter, comes form a Greek word that means "manifestation." Epiphany celebrates the revelation of Christ to the world. It reveals God's coming in unexpected places and people. It reveals that God's coming in Jesus is for all who would follow its light. Isaiah 60:1-6 / Matthew 2:1-12 Null Null Sunday, January 13th , Baptism of Christ Sunday The Spirit is at work in our lives to help us claim our identity as God’s children and lead us in God’s way. In this short Season after the Epiphany, the scriptures invite us to wonder about the many ways that God’s Spirit brings change. This week, we hear the voice of God speaking new things into action, and consider the blessings and responsibilities that come with this gift of Spirit. Isaiah 42:1-9 / Matthew 3:13-17 Null Null Sunday, January 20th, Second Sunday after Epiphany The Spirit brings change. When Andrew and Peter meet Jesus, the Messiah, their lives change. They choose a new direction, the path of discipleship. God’s Spirit continues to form faithful servants who bring God’s way of justice and peace to the world. As we listen to the witness of those who have been called by God’s Spirit, we encounter our own Spirit-led call Isaiah 49:1-7 / John 1:29-42 ../sermons/012008.htm ../sermons/012008.pdf Sunday, January 27th, Third Sunday after Epiphany Following in God’s way is a journey that calls for choice and brings change. When Jesus calls ordinary fishers to follow, they choose to do so. Paul appeals to the church at Corinth to choose unity in Christ’s mission. As the call to follow in God’s way unfolds in our lives such choice is ours each day. Isaiah 9:1-4 / Matthew 4:12-23 ../sermons/012708.htm ../sermons/012708.pdf Sunday, February 3rd, Last Sunday after Epiphany As Advent opened, so the Season after Epiphany Sunday closes: on a holy mountain where God may be found. It is a place of sacred mystery, where shining and shadow convey holy presence. It is a place of community across time, where God’s people of past and present meet. It is a place of silence and witness, where visions are kept quiet and God says of Jesus: “Listen to him.” Exodus 24:12-18/Matthew 17:1-9 ../sermons/020308.htm ../sermons/020308.pdf ASH WEDNESDAY, February 6, 2008 The members of the Confirmation Class will assist Pastor Patti with their own creative presentation of our Gospel lesson from Matthew. At the conclusion of the service, Pastor Patti will be available for those who wish to receive ashes as a part of their Lenten devotional practice. Joel 2:1-2, 12-17/Ps. 51:1-12/Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 ../sermons/020608.htm ../sermons/020608.pdf Sunday, February 10th, First Sunday In Lent Lent opens with stories of testing and trusting. In parched wilderness and in lush gardens, temptation comes. Sin or faithfulness follows, not because of the testing itself, but by what gets chosen in response. Live out of traditions whose truth we have experienced. Trust God’s steadfast love. Rely on grace that ministers to our needs. Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7/Ps. 32/Matthew 4:1-11 ../sermons/021008.htm ../sermons/021008.pdf Sunday, February 17th, Second Sunday in Lent One teacher ventures out at night to meet another. Respect and challenge mark their encounter. Ambiguous language opens rather than closes conversation. At stake, then and now, is the potential for birthing to new life and opening to God’s blessing. Faith beckons us to go out from what is known and journey toward the One whose promises are trusted Genesis 12:1-4a / Ps. 121 / John 3:1-17 ../sermons/021708.htm ../sermons/021708.pdf Sunday, February 24th, Third Sunday in Lent Is God with us? Listen to these stories witness of water and word. Water flows from need to gift. Words shift from misunderstanding to revealing. The confluence of water and word in the Samaritan woman’s story witnesses to who Christ is and who we can be. Our need for living water is quenched by the God who is with us. Exodus 17:1-17/Ps. 95/John 4:5-42 Null Null Sunday, March 2nd, Fourth Sunday In Lent Rules and traditions intend to set helpful limits. Yet even the best-intentioned may be narrowly viewed so as to lose sight of what is needed: love. God sees and works beyond constricted perspectives so that opportunities to restore and anoint are not lost. Do we see and act that way? Or does fear of breaking with the old – or being open to the new – blind us? Psalm 23 / Ephesians 5:8-14 / John 9:1-41 Null Null Sunday, March 9th, Fifth Sunday in Lent Doubt and belief abound when death asserts that life and hope have boundaries. This week’s readings assure individuals and community of God’s people that the life, hope, and comfort we find in God’s care are boundless. Our song, even in the midst of tears, gives witness to such amazing grace and love. Ezekiel 37:1-14 / Psalm 130 / John 11:1-14 ../sermons/030908.htm ../sermons/030908.pdf Sunday, March 16th, PALM / PASSION SUNDAY Questions. Doubt. Belief. The readings for Holy Week hold these in tension, even as God holds us. God hears our voices and tends to our needs along this journey to the cross, as we shout “Hosanna” and cry out “Why?” Even when there are no words to express our wondering, God invites our trust. We are safe in God, whose hands hold all our times. Matthew 21:1-11/Psalm 31:9-16/Philippians 2:5-11/Matthew 26:14-27:66 ../sermons/031608.htm ../sermons/031608.pdf Thursday, March 20th, Maundy Thursday We gather in Fellowship Hall at 6:30 p.m. to share in a simple meal and a worship service of remembrance and recognition of Christ’s final meal on earth. Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10),11-14/Psalm 116:1-2, 121-19/John 13:1-17, 31b-35 ../sermons/032008.htm ../sermons/032008.pdf Sunday, March 23th, EASTER SUNDAY We can rejoice in Easter’s news because of its first witness: Mary Magdalene. Resurrection was not that day’s prospect. The voice of the Risen Jesus calling her name surprises Mary into recognition, then prepares her for surprising witness. Christ is among us. So said Mary, so say those who follow her lead. Christ is risen. Alleluia! Acts10:34-43/Psalm118:1-2,14-24/John20:1-18 ../sermons/032308.htm ../sermons/032308.pdf March 30th, FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EASTER / Daffodil Sunday Christ greets fearful disciples with the word of peace and the gift of Spirit. Easter joy results. Even Thomas’ doubt becomes faith’s stepping-stone rather than stumbling block. What kind of faith does God seek? God seeks trust that witnesses to a living hope; joy that celebrates God, who opens paths that lead to life. John 20:19-31 / Acts 2:1-4a, 22-32 / Psalm 16 Null Null Sunday, April 6th , Third Sunday of Easter : “Christ is risen!” With this traditional profession of Easter faith, we open ourselves to new life in Christ. We share this truth with the disciples whose hearts were opened along the road to Emmaus. We share this truth with the disciples in Jerusalem who preached the good news. In our rituals and in our living each day, we declare, “Christ is risen indeed!” Luke 24:13-35/Psalm 116:1-4,12-19/1Peter 1:17-23 Null Null Sunday, April 20th , Fifth Sunday of Easter In word and deed and character, Jesus shows us God. In that revealing, Jesus assures us we have a safe place with God. That promise remains secure in times of joyous presence and of troubled absence. Such hope takes shape in the psalmist’s trust of God as rock and fortress, and in Stephen’s dying graciousness. This is the way, and the One, we follow Psalm 31:1-5,15-16/1Peter 2:2-10/John 14:1-14 Null Null Sunday, April 27th, Sixth Sunday of Easter God has listened to our searching for holy presence. Spirit’s gift comes as response to that listening. The language of relationship with God is Spirit-ed love. Love keeps this relationship in word and deed. Love casts out fear. Love does not abandon. Love is eager to do good. Love provides place. Through love we find, and are found, by God. Psalm 66:8-20/ 1Peter 3:13-22/ John 14:15-21 Null Null Sunday, June 8th, Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time God’s powerful and restoring love provides a fresh start. In today’s texts, those who encounter Jesus experience new lives of wholeness as they believe and respond. Abraham and Sarah follow God’s leading, “Hoping against hope” in God’s promise of a new family. All find that God’s restoring work leads not to what has been, but to what can be in God’s reign. Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26/Genesis 12:1-9/Psalms 33:1-12/Romans 4:13-35 Null Null Null Null Null Null Null