Over the past couple of weeks, we have been exploring this Advent season. We have looked at big themes like judgement, repentance, and anticipation.

This Sunday is the third Sunday of Advent, traditionally called "Gaudete Sunday." Gaudete means "Rejoice." In the midst of waiting, we also rejoice. We look back on what God has done for us, on who he is, and we celebrate that.

This may seem strange to us: celebrating while we wait. But the Bible is full of stories which play around with time. These stories recognize God has already arrived. Yet, even as He is here, He is still (in another sense) not yet here. After the angel gives Mary the news that she will give birth to Jesus, she sings,

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;

he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones

but has lifted up the humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things

but has sent the rich away empty.

Luke 1:51-53

Is Mary singing about what God has already done? Or about what he will do? The answer is "Yes!" The God who has done is the God who will do.

This means that suffering and rejoicing can exist side by side. We recognize the severe brokenness in our world, while celebrating the goodness of the God.

This week is an opportunity to reflect on the goodness of God. We recognize that God has brought us through so much already, even as we anticipate that He will one day make all wrong things right.

What are you wrestling with today?

What has God brought you through?

This week we are challenged to ask those questions together.

This Sunday marks the second week of Advent.

Advent is about judgment, about God’s loving presence to reveal and to heal the world.

Last Sunday, we talked about how the world longs for justice, and that justice always comes with judgment.

This week, we talk about the response to judgement: repentance. Malachi speaks of "refiners fire" and "fuller's soap," both images that are stark, but both images of purification.

Contrary to how it is often talked about, God’s judgment is always rooted in God’s righteousness...his character...his goodness...his love. We have talked about how judgment is like a doctor shining light on our sickness. It is for the purpose of healing!

And yet, that doesn’t mean that it’s not scary. It stings. Sometimes healing hurts. And yet we trust in the character of the healer.

This Sunday marks the beginning of the season of Advent. Advent is a season of watching and waiting. We are watchmen/women, longing for his return. We join the chorus of Israel and sing, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel," anticipating the birth of Jesus. And we stand on our tiptoes waiting for that day when the world will be made right.

This is a season when we celebrate:

1) The past: God's initiative toward the world in Christ (the upcoming season of Christmas);

2) The future: God's coming victory in Christ, the second coming when the world will be made right.

3) The present: A cross-shaped life of love for the world in the present time.

Over the next four weeks, we will stand as a people waiting on the God who makes all things new.

Today is a wonderful opportunity to remind ourselves of the goodness of God: that our God created us and the world out of his love, he sustains us and the world by his love, that he has conquered sin and death, and one day all wrongs will be undone. It is also an opportunity to reflect on those times in our lives where we have seen God's faithfulness in specific ways.

A prayer for Thanksgiving,

Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

This Sunday is the last Sunday of the church calendar. It is the feast of Christ the King. Join us as David Walley guest preaches.

This Sunday, we will hear the story of Hannah and the birth of Samuel (1 Samuel 1:4-20). Our gospel text reveal Jesus' cryptic words about the coming fate of the temple (Mark 13:1-8).

These stories challenge us about where we put our hope: for strength, security, healing, identity, etc. Our dreams for life are often self-focused, me-centered. These two stories challenge our often myopic imaginations by inviting us to see a bigger picture. Perhaps, as we surrender our hopes and dreams to God, there is something different and yet better than we could ever imagine.

Join us this Sunday as we are challenged to trust in a truer strength.

This Sunday, the lectionary texts lead us to look at the power of weakness. The story of Ruth (3:1-5; 4:13-17) shows us two women who lost everything, including their identity. They took small steps, opening themselves up to healing and restoration. The passage in the book of Hebrews (9:24-28), reminds us that the Christian life is not primarily dependent on our work, but on Christ's work. And our gospel text (Mark 12:38-44)

tells the beautiful story of a widow who gave out of her poverty, out of her weakness, and yet Jesus said that she gave more than anyone.

The Christian faith is about responding in weakness rather than strength, a culturally counter-intuitive movement. When we follow Christ, we offer not only our strengths, but our weaknesses, our shame and our hurt--all that we have and all that we are.

This Sunday, we celebrate All Saints Day (which was yesterday). We commemorate those Christians who have gone before, often called "The Church Triumphant."

We stand in the beautiful reality that we are part of a larger Story than just our own. This is also an important time for us to reflect on Christ’s prayer in John 17, that his followers may be one as He and the Father are one.

We pray together,

Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer)

This Sunday, our guest preacher will be Tracy Balzer, as she continues our series "The Words and Music" on selected Psalms. Tracy will lead us through Psalm 73 around the theme of perspective.

Tracy is the author of several books on spiritual formation including her most recent book, Thin Places: An Evangelical Journey Into Celtic Christianity. She is an experienced traveler to the Isle of Iona (a significant place in Church history and Celtic Christianity) and is the founder of Sea & Stone Journeys where she leads pilgrimages to the island. Tracy is also the Dir. of Christian Formation at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.

You may also know Tracy as Langley Burton's mom! Tracy and her husband Cary have been friends to Sacrament and we are so excited to welcome them this Sunday.

This Sunday, we begin a new series called "The Words and the Music" looking at selected Psalms.

The Psalms are the prayerbook of scripture and provide language for the breadth of human emotion and expression. As we sing and pray the Psalms we seek to be transformed as part of the ongoing prayers of the people of God throughout history.

This first week, we will explore Psalm 8, a reflection on the "bigness" of God, and how he creates and sustains the world.