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“The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”  (Jeremiah 31:31) This is the opening sentence of our Scripture reading from Sunday, November 22. The sermon that Sunday focused on how time and time again God has entered into new covenants with God’s people. It is important to note that these covenants should not be thought of as primarily between God and individuals. God’s covenants are between God and God’s people. These covenants are as much about how we relate to each other as how we relate to God. They are community covenants. That is what I would like to further explore during the season of Advent.  

Advent is the season of waiting and preparation for Christ’s arrival. But what exactly are we waiting a preparing for? This year we will use the theme "Waiting for Jesus' Covenant Community" to help us name that which we are longing for. The four specific signs of Jesus' Covenant Community we will discuss are: Grief, Fallibility, Abundance and Mystery. Please see the weekly schedule below.  

Advent Sermon Series: Waiting for Jesus' Covenant Community

  • November 29 - Grief not Quick Fixes: Luke 19:41-44
  • December   6 - Fallibility not Perfection: Luke 5:1-11
  • December 13 - Abundance not Scarcity: Matthew 6:25-34
  • December 20 - Mystery not Certitude: Luke 1:26-56  

At the time of this writing, we are assuming that we will be holding online worship for Christmas Eve. The Facebook Live Christmas Eve worship service will be at 3:00 pm on Thursday, December 24. It is very difficult to imagine, however, Christmas Eve worship without carols and candlelight. Therefore, we are also planning a brief Parking Lot Gathering at 5:00 pm on Christmas Eve. This gathering will not be a full worship service and will not be live streamed. We will gather in the parking lot for roughly 15 minutes during which we will hear the Christmas Gospel, light candles or flashlights, sing Silent Night and pray together. We will be using the FM transmitter so people can remain in their cars or step outside their cars depending on the weather.  

Christmas Eve, December 24

  • 3:00 pm: Online Facebook Live Worship                                                              
  • 5:00 pm Brief Parking Lot Gathering  

Narrative Lectionary: Reading through the Gospel of Luke           

  • December 27 - Simeon and Anna: Luke 2:21-38    

At the November Congregation Council meeting, the decision was made to continue with online worship. The Council will reevaluate at its December meeting. We will continue to stream our worship services on Facebook Live and have them available on our website. This will continue even when we move back inside for worship.