Advent

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Preparing the Way

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As the Gospels tell it, John and Jesus were second cousins, with Jesus being six months younger than John. The son of older parents who hadn’t expected to have a child by the time he came along, John was evidently a man who spent a great deal of time in the wilderness. Consequently at whatever point he felt called to become a forerunner of someone coming later, he didn’t go into the cities to urge people to repent and be baptized, but rather stayed in the wilderness in the region around the Jordan and let people come to him.

Listen to or read Sharon’s entire sermon by clicking “Read More”

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The Advent of Love

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Our second reading today come from Paul's Second Letter to the Thessalonians and in it he says, "How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face." These words from Paul strike a different chord nearly two years into this pandemic. This chord resonates more profoundly than ever before.

Listen to or read Bingham’s entire sermon for the 1st Sunday of Advent by clicking “Read More.”

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Lucy, John, and You: Witnesses to the Light

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Today is the 3rd Sunday of Advent, and today, December 13th, is also Saint Lucy’s day. The Feast of St. Lucy is not a major feast day, so it does not take precedence over a regular Sunday service. This is not like Mary Sunday where we get special Mary readings and Mary prayers. It is not like All Saints Sunday with special All Saints readings and All Saints prayers. And even though today is not technically a major feast day, for some people it is pretty major. It is definitely an important feast day for them.

Click “Read More” to read or listen to Bingham’s entire sermon for the 3rd Sunday of Advent.

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Waiting for God: Oh What Do We Do While We Wait

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Does anyone else feel a little bit of hope? Anticipation that an end to our horrors is nigh? We’re told that this end is coming, and we’re just now beginning to see it, breaking through the clouds like a single ray of sunshine. I’m talking about the Covid-19 vaccine, of course. We’ve learned to live with the daily messages of doom. We’ve secluded ourselves for reasons of hope, but too often with the result of hopelessness. We’re presented daily with sickness statistics and death statistics and dire warnings about wearing our PPE and staying home. But now, suddenly, it’s beginning to feel like our vigilance isn’t hopeless, and that is because of the “good tidings” we’ve heard about a vaccine that is coming soon. We’re still locked down, still washing our hands vigorously, still maintaining our distance from others, still doing what we need to do to safeguard ourselves and our neighbors. But where just a month ago it felt onerous, now it feels like there’s an attainable goal, and that gives new energy. It’s the energy of expectancy;

Click “Read More” to read or listen to Dr. Crow’s complete sermon for the 2nd Sunday of Advent

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Is this the apocalypse

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“Happy Advent! It is so good to be starting a new church year. I have heard many say over the past few months that they can’t wait for this year to be over. So I say, why wait for the solar year? Let’s go ahead. It’s a new church year, so let’s go ahead and say that this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year is over. That does not mean that the pandemic is over, of course, but it does seem that things will start looking up at some point this year. So let’s just go ahead and start in on that.”

Click “Read More” to read or listen to Bingham’s entire sermon for the first Sunday of Advent.

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God is with us

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On the Fourth Sunday of Advent, we always hear of The Annunciation, that story of the angel coming to prepare the new parents for the coming of their child. When we use the phrase, The Annunciation, we usually refer to Mary’s Annunciation when the angel came to her. That is Luke’s story, but this year we are given Matthew’s story, which is a lesser known annunciation of the angel coming to Joseph.

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